HS coaches say they like multi-sport athletes but......

[_MIA_]

Before DFP I would have never thought HS coaches cared so little about winning……

 

[Rolling Hard]

Use to have DD wear her 6 minute mile tee shirt to tryouts. It's not a great feat but it sends a message.

 

[_MIA_]

Use to have DD wear her 6 minute mile tee shirt to tryouts. It's not a great feat but it sends a message.

That would only be petty if the coach who ran tryouts said she didn’t have good enough endurance..

 

[Towny9]

A lot of the issues it seems like folks had would have been solved with better communication. I don’t care how good of a player you are if you missed my practice for another sport, you would not play in the next game. I’m OK as a coach with my sport not being a priority for you, just don’t expect it to be a priority for me to play you.

I have seen high school coaches try to be nice about it and get burned at the worst times. Recently my HS had Soccer players miss the regional tournament for a club tournament. It only happened to me once as a coach thankfully. I had two players miss the practice before the state tournament for a baseball showcase. They both sat out the state quarterfinal. We won without them, and the player who started in one of their places played so well, I played him in the next two playoff games.

The caveat to that is. That expectation is communicated upfront clearly with parents and players. It sounds like expectations were not set clearly in some of these instances.

 

[MNDad]

Volleyball isn't suppose to overlap softball but it does a little or a lot depending on coach. DD played VB this year at her HS and will probably do the same next year. She was a every game starter. By the middle of the season she never left the floor. (17 girls on the team) But there is no way she can play Varsity (weekend tourneys would be way to time demanding plus this is serious VB and she doesn't put in the time to earn a Varsity spot) and perfectly fine with me. It is a great sport for entertainment value. The good ole days of getting 2 or 3 Varsity letters are long gone.

They hand out letters like candy here. Girls can even letter for attending proms. To your point though I agree it’s hard to be a star, or even a starter in multiple HS sports theses days. DD played HS bball through sophomore year and the rest of the team all played AAU making the competition for playing time fierce. She liked bball, but she loved softball so it was a no brainer which to give up when the time commitments became too great to do both.

 

[Cannonball]

Before DFP I would have never thought HS coaches cared so little about winning……

Me either. Darn HS coaches.

As an FYI, and I will try not to bore you too much. My dd was awarded the underclass player award after leading the team in kills as a freshman. In sophomore year, she showed up with a minor softball injury from sliding and the coach wanted to make an example of her. She did not play for one second. She was not allowed to play on the JV and sat on the varsity bench. We gave her the option to quit. She cried a lot but they did not break her. She learned how to be tough. She played golf the following fall and lettered in both softball and golf. She was offered scholarships in both sports.

Presently, most of our varsity players are playing two sports and at least four starters are playing three high school sports. We even win a game or two each year.

 

[Northball]

...Girls can even letter for attending proms....

Are you serious?! If so, Good Gawd!!!

 

[Cruz]

Before DFP I would have never thought HS coaches cared so little about winning……

I don't know if it is just our area, smaller more rural school vs anywhere else but here they think they know everything and parents know nothing. When you observe, and I mean as objectively as you can it is obvious they are favoring their kids and other teachers kids over everyone else. All I can figure is they are giving those kids a boost for college because those kids were on varsity since 8th grade and that helps get them noticed more. Winning is secondary to that I think. I asked one coach if they ever read any other coach's books to learn and thus help the effort and the reply was "I don't need a book to tell me how to coach" which is pretty arrogant talk considering I didn't see any titles in the trophy case. So the sad truth is that we as parents need to have strong overwatch of our kids in HS sports and guide them away from bad scenarios when we can. In my day (I am old) HS coaches were all about winning, at all costs at my school.

 

[_MIA_]

In my day (I am old) HS coaches were all about winning, at all costs at my school.

There is a happy medium. My HS bball coach, who in general was a tyrant, let Chris Herren do what he wanted, on and off the court. A little discipline at that point could have saved him from years of struggles. Of course what he was doing (off the court) wasn’t exactly the same as missing practice for another sport hence the happy medium part..

 

[_MIA_]

I don’t care how good of a player you are if you missed my practice for another sport, you would not play in the next game. I’m OK as a coach with my sport not being a priority for you, just don’t expect it to be a priority for me to play you.

So do you actually think it is better for the team’s chances of winning in the long run to take this stance or are you trying to teach the whole “no I in team” thing (which some may see as connected to the first motivation ..) Or something else? Whatever the answer, your team, your rules. Just curious as to the motivation. Honestly instilling the idea that choices often come with (negative) consequences might be the best answer I could come up with if I was going the “life lesson” route with motivation..

The coaches you mentioned that got burned would likely not have had those players for that game even with your rule and at least were able to benefit from those players before that point in time (perhaps actually allowing them to even make it to the regional tournament in the first place giving all the more “loyal” players an opportunity to participate in it albeit undermanned..)