Monday, June 15, 2009
Parent/Coach Blindness! It's an Epidemic!
I should not just leave it at parent/coach. I should add...parent/manager/assistant/comissioner/parks and rec.board/ect.,ect.,ect. You take a position in the organization to further your child's career or to get him on a travel team, or a tournament team or maybe just to insure some playing time. This post is addressing you fine folks who have convinced yourselves that you are doing your community a favor by volunteering your time for the children of your town or city. As of right now you may have your friends and neighbors on your side , but believe me they are catching on too. They don't understand why your kid plays more innings than their kid when he is not as talented. I work with players of all ages and from different towns and I hear the same thing every year from young players. "The coach's son plays my position and I don't really get a shot at it." "I didn't get to pitch because the coach's son and the assistants son pitched the whole game." "I only get two at bats per game because the coach's son and his friends bat before me." Parent/Coach you are the only one who is blind to the fact that your kid plays out of his league, out of position, and hits way too high in the line up. Doctoring the stats is cheating and your kid is not as good as you wish he was. Stop trying to live through your kid. Be honest with him and yourself. So, Is this for all parent coaches? No...There are some out there that really do have a clue about coaching and can be fair to the entire team, but from what I see they are a dying breed. I know these things tent to weed themselves out later on in HS and College, but too many young players are being discouraged and quiting before they even get to that point. If you happen to read this and get angry, maybe you are guilty. If you are offended by this, quit your position for a couple of years and see if your kid is really that good. I will end this by giving my advice to the players being effected by the type of situation I am describing..."Be better than everyone else on the field and you will never have to deal with politics."
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You have a point. Also i am tired of all the people who talk about how great their kid is and all they do is cheer and coach their kids ONLY! It is a team sport and I have never seen so many self centered people than those who profess they know the game and haven't a clue as to what their talking about. Watching the Phils for 20 years doesn't qualify and make you an expert. This is just the tip of the iceberg with me. I have plenty more to say so stand by.
ReplyDeleteExcelent! There are many individual parts to a team, everybody has a roll to play within the team system. I think what your talking about goes right along with the parent/coach blindness. Some are so dillusional that they only see what their kid is doing. There is nothing wronrg with cheering for your kid, but in a situation like this the TEAM will suffer losses and the child of the parent/coach will suffer down the line. Because the child is brain washed into thinking that their parent/coach knows best, they will never open up to the ideas of other coaches or instructors. I see alot of this with young teenage kids who get to HS and just cant hit a curve or a change or a good fastball. Like I said in the post, some of these things weed themselves out by HS and until then we will have to deal with these self centered people. I like what you say about watching the Phils. The experts don't just watch, they break the game down pitch to pitch, out to out and inning to inning. Sort of how you should go about playing a game right? Thanks for the post.
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