Expectations of a HS Coach

quote:

Originally posted by screwball:
Ok, our season is over and I have a simple question. Exactly what should a parent expect from a HS coach?

That is a loaded question if ever I heard one........

yep

I would say that a HS coach should be someone that cares about the kids he/she's coaching. Wants the best for them on the field and off. Knows the game enough to teach them the little things that will make them a better player. He/she should be able to help the kids that are able to play at the next level get there. He/she should be a good example of character and integrity.

I'm sure there are a few more, but these are important to me anyway.

quote:

As the years have gone on... I have realized that my own definition of a good coach is one that leaves my son still loving the game!

Very well said, momandcpa.

Yes.........I love this kind of thread.

When you never contribute, any old thread will do.

Parents should be able to expect:

Fairness - every player gets the same opportunity to earn playing time & positions, those who earn it get it

Integrity

An attempt to teach the game - I say attempt, because often there is only one true baseball coach in the program (the assistants sometimes being off-season football coaches who are well intentioned, but not baseball guys). And in such a situation, there is only so much one guy can accomplish when working with a large number of kids.

Discipline


These are the minimums to which a coach should aspire.

screwball-
you should expect the HS coach to teach your kid the objectives that should be taught in the classroom - that is his primary job... teach basic fundamentals on the field.

unfort. too many coaches (of major sports) get the boot because of W/L record and not how great of an educator/mentor they are... there is hardly a parent out there that wants to know how well the HS coach teaches is class...

of course, that is our society...

quote:

Originally posted by Texan:
When you never contribute, any old thread will do.

Come on Texan...don't let me get to you.

Just rub some dirt on it and play ball.

KG, do you still have connections in the MLBBPCU (MLB BullPen Catcher's Union)? I need a hook up man!

Another thing, if hired do I get to sign autographs?

I expect alot out of my son's HS coach - and I am getting it. I don't expect anything less or more out of his HS coach as I do his summer coach. Why would I?

One more thing - it would be nice if some people could post without making snide remarks at other posters. It is childish. If you don't agree with someone from past posts I don't see the need to put them down on current posts. Why drag baggage from post to post?

quote:

Originally posted by crawdad:
I expect alot out of my son's HS coach - and I am getting it. I don't expect anything less or more out of his HS coach as I do his summer coach. Why would I?

One more thing - it would be nice if some people could post without making snide remarks at other posters. It is childish. If you don't agree with someone from past posts I don't see the need to put them down on current posts. Why drag baggage from post to post?

Not to get off topic but of all the people that post on this forum. My favorite posts are from " CRAWDAD and PANTHER DAD."

He says it the way it is and means it. He and several others make this forum a pleasure to read. Most of all he is like that in person. A pleasure to talk to.

I expect him to teach baseball and the life lessons that come from "baseball".

I wish I understood why on so many things.

Thanks for the comments. Just wanted make sure i'm not "out in left field" so to speak.

And if your child were at a school with a coach that did none of the things mentioned in the above comments, what would you do?

quote:

Originally posted by screwball:
Thanks for the comments. Just wanted make sure i'm not "out in left field" so to speak.

And if your child were at a school with a coach that did none of the things mentioned in the above comments, what would you do?

Home School?
Move to Another Country?
Transfer?
Give Up the Sport?
Become a Teacher/Coach?

Some times it's like shooting fish in a barrel.

quote:

Originally posted by screwball:
Thanks for the comments. Just wanted make sure i'm not "out in left field" so to speak.

And if your child were at a school with a coach that did none of the things mentioned in the above comments, what would you do?

Be sure he plays on a quality summer team and teach him to be a leader on his HS team and make the best of it by working the his teammates to be as good as they can be, whether the coach is good or not. This came up on the JM thread and I will state my postion again. It is easy to run to the school next door, but be careful. There are warts hidden on every program...the devil you know might be better than the one you don't know.

Besides, fighting through a difficult situation for your son will teach him a greater life skill than finding a HS baseball program that you think fits all your criteria...that is what the summer is for.

JMHO.

quote:

Originally posted by JAFO:

quote:

Originally posted by screwball:
Thanks for the comments. Just wanted make sure i'm not "out in left field" so to speak.

And if your child were at a school with a coach that did none of the things mentioned in the above comments, what would you do?

Home School?
Move to Another Country?
Transfer?
Give Up the Sport?
Become a Teacher/Coach?

Some times it's like shooting fish in a barrel.

thanks jafo, i expected that from you.

I aim to please!

Thanks T-Bird Dad,

We do play for a good summer/fall team. The summer/fall are not the problem. Son goes from loving the game in summer/fall to not caring if he ever steps foot on a high school field again.

If you playing on a good select club with good connections, going to all the tournaments/showcases, and already have colleges wanting to talk to you, do you really need to put up with the kind of coach we have?

Home School? - Don't have enough kdis to form a team.

Move to Another Country? - Still an option. Lots of money to be made in Cricket!

Transfer? - please!!

Give Up the Sport? - Now thats teaching him something isn't it.

Become a Teacher/Coach? - Not sure how this can help.

quote:

Originally posted by JAFO:

quote:

Originally posted by screwball:
Home School? - Don't have enough kdis to form a team.

Move to Another Country? - Still an option. Lots of money to be made in Cricket!

Transfer? - please!!

Give Up the Sport? - Now thats teaching him something isn't it.

Become a Teacher/Coach? - Not sure how this can help.

So what you're saying is Cricket in another country is your only option?

if not, how about what you think? That should be an interesting "snipet".

I know you probably don't want to hear this one, due to it's author, but.....

I got it.......sit out a year or two. Really pound the books, get the GPA up, work the SAT to the highest exponential number and go play on an academic scholarship!

College coaches love that. It's like getting a free agent that the other team is still playing for.

quote:

Originally posted by screwball:
Thanks T-Bird Dad,

We do play for a good summer/fall team. The summer/fall are not the problem. Son goes from loving the game in summer/fall to not caring if he ever steps foot on a high school field again.

If you playing on a good select club with good connections, going to all the tournaments/showcases, and already have colleges wanting to talk to you, do you really need to put up with the kind of coach we have?

Yes, because there will be times when your son will have to put up with bad coaches, teammates, teachers, bosses, colleagues, etc. in the future and playing now on a less than perfect HS situation will help him develop skills that will serve him well when these things happen in the future (and they will).

He can take a leadership role and be a positive influence on everyone else out there. To me, he should commit himself to his teammates, be respectful to the coach, and do things the way he knows they need to be done. I would think a strength and quality of character will emerge from this approach if he takes it.

quote:

Originally posted by JAFO:
I know you probably don't want to hear this one, due to it's author, but.....

I got it.......sit out a year or two. Really pound the books, get the GPA up, work the SAT to the highest exponential number and go play on an academic scholarship!

College coaches love that. It's like getting a free agent that the other team is still playing for.

you may be surprised to hear this, considering the source, but son already has the highest GPA in the program, and in the top 5% in his school. Already been invited to numerous academic baseball camps/showcases this summer/fall that we will be attending.

all that aside, are you saying that if he doesn't play HS ball then the only option is an academic scholarship? Is HS ball that important?

T-Bird Dad,

Now those are some words of wisdom. thanks

Look forward to select ball summer and fall with a good club...

quote:

Is HS ball that important?

This is fun. All BS aside, my opinion is "yes" the adversity of the situation will help him in the long run. Teach him how to deal with the "other" side of baseball or life for that matter. i would venture to say "as stated before somewhere" there are issues in every program. From what you are saying this is an issue not unlike others and can be dealt with. I think it would be in the best interest to continue playing at the HS level. The key word here is to continue playing. I hear from people all the time that they are unhappy, don't understand what the coach is thinking or just don’t agree with the decisions. But.....they all usually understand the situation (may not agree) but understand and move on to try and adapt to the situation.

Bottom line is to continue to play. Every once and a while you’ll get a nugget that will continue your education of how the game is played. Sometimes it's from the opposing team. He needs to compete and play.

As for the academics .......so what's the problem? Evidently he will be able to attend any college he wants. What I am saying if he doesn't play HS ball, he can do anything he wants with his academic grades. That includes baseball if he has the talent.

Whew, glad i got that out of my system. I like the one sentence sneak attacks better than all this communication. LOL

I suggest your son play HS baseball as long as it is important to him and he has a passion for it. Whether it is worth it to go through the motions while being miserable should be up to him. I agree with T-BD that there are life lessons to be learned. For the record, I believe that HS baseball IS "important" if your son wants to play at the next level. How important is a subject fo debate.

We can pick sides....Texan can captain the "it's not so important" side....screwball may be a #1 draft pick....and many will stand in line, hoping to get picked for the team.

Kirk can captain the "it's important" side -- having gained new perspective on this subject since last year at this time.

In any case....I still love HS baseball!

OMG, there is something to JAFO other than one line attacks.

understand everything you said, agree, and will ultimately do that. however, as a parent sometimes its hard to put your kid in an enviroment where it does more harm than good. i know of at least two other juniors (will be seniors next year) that are thinking along these same lines. all of these kids are year round ball players but at the end of the season this year, they hated baseball.

quote:

Originally posted by screwball:
OMG, there is something to JAFO other than one line attacks.

understand everything you said, agree, and will ultimately do that. however, as a parent sometimes its hard to put your kid in an enviroment where it does more harm than good. i know of at least two other juniors (will be seniors next year) that are thinking along these same lines. all of these kids are year round ball players but at the end of the season this year, they hated baseball.

Shh, someone will hear you.

I do know of some of the exact things you speak of here and when that final year of HS Ball rolled around, things were a bit different, perspectives changed, ideas modified and all the sudden it was someone else that had problems.'

Some players use HS Ball as a tune up for the summer program. In the "Bigs" I think they call it spring training. But KG will have to respond to that as he is the self anointed professional of everything in the "Bigs". As he has "credentials" and played at every level and will undoubtedly be a hall of famer in his own mind.

Ahh, that felt good.

Screwball, you have a pm.

The ONLY coach that I can think of that you have complete power to PICK is your summer coach. All it takes is money and the talent to make the team.

Before anyone points out that you CAN choose your college coach (assuming that you can go to any school you want to), yes, you can to a degree. My older son who plays football just had his college coach resign and now he is entering his junior year with a completely new coaching staff that he certainly did not pick.

HS baseball is important - no less than summer baseball - it is just important for different reasons maybe, and for alot of the same reasons too.

I promise you, very seldem in baseball (or any sport) are all of the coaching situations going to suit every player all the time. It's like someone pointed out above - it really is no different than life or careers in general.

Now, this is easy for me to say as I have a kid who respects BOTH his HS (Steve Marrs) and his summer (Linty Ingram) coaches. But if he did not like Coach Marrs I would not move - I would just tell him to "man up" and bust his as s on the field - I ain't moving! If he didn't like Linty then I would just tell him to try out for another team (after first checking on how much it cost).

seriously, thanks for all the opinions and advice. even you JAFO.

It seems like all the things that were said at the beginning of the thread that we should "expect" from our coach are really qualities of a good coach. when actually, we have no right to "expect" anything and should teach our sons to make the best out of it, it will build character. that is a shame. if this coach were an english, math, physics, etc teacher we would be having conference after conference. however, because there is "coach" is the job description we can't question it.

quote:

if this coach were an english, math, physics, etc teacher we would be having conference after conference. however, because there is "coach" is the job description we can't question it.

Okay, I'm going to play devil's advocate here a minute.

If it were an AP class, it would be what it is. You could have your conferences. If it were a PE class, you could have conference after conference, also.

Baseball isn't a requirement, it's an option. AP isn't a requirement, it's an option.

quote:

Originally posted by screwball:
seriously, thanks for all the opinions and advice. even you JAFO.

It seems like all the things that were said at the beginning of the thread that we should "expect" from our coach are really qualities of a good coach. when actually, we have no right to "expect" anything and should teach our sons to make the best out of it, it will build character. that is a shame. if this coach were an english, math, physics, etc teacher we would be having conference after conference. however, because there is "coach" is the job description we can't question it.

screwball,

The biggest difference is your analogy is that those academic courses are core, required courses. Sports are extracurricular, therefore participation is by choice, both by the player and coach.

I don't know that you can't conference, but I don't know what you would hope to accomplish. The coach either won't (stubborn), or can't (lack of knowledge), change anything. The player can choose to not return, but I think he, and you, would regret that decision. I really doubt there is as much harm being done as you might think. Most players that understand the game will overcome any poor teaching and return to things that have made them successful.

It's still baseball -- how bad can things be?

it could be s****r!

I've probably said 20 words to my son's HS coach in 4 years. Most of them consist of "Good win coach"

He wins, consistantly, with or without the best talent on the field. He is also a gambler. He takes risks on underclassmen, and sometimes it blows up in his face, but he continues to take those chances.

Is he the type of guy I'd have dinner with on a weekly basis, probably not.

Has he made my son a better ballplayer? You bet.

A better person? I would hope so.

Make no mistake about it, 5A baseball coaches are paid to win....and if they don't, they'll be looking for a new job.

how long are they given?

i've intentionally stayed away and given this guy the benefit of the doubt. he has not made my son a better player, in fact just the opposite. like someone mentioned earlier, baseball players can overcome quite abit and we will as well.

he has not made him a better person.

he has made kids hate baseball.

he does not treat all kids equally. (kids from one select org are allowed to get away with just about anything)

he has not won.