All times are UTC - 6 hours



Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 25 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1, 2, 3  Next
  Print view Previous topic | Next topic 
Author Message
PostPosted: 24 Sep 2010, 09:08 
User avatar

Posts: 314
Ken: man, thank you for your support, you are so damn cool..Coach mac


 Profile  
 
PostPosted: 24 Sep 2010, 09:11 
User avatar

Posts: 3139
Hey, you're the guy with all the heavy experince ..... You ALWAYS come up with good advice. Keep up the good work. Hope all is well.


 Profile  
 
PostPosted: 25 Sep 2010, 10:07 

Posts: 4
Thank you Coach Mac and Coach Sar. Good advice. I will stick to the agenda and wasn't even planning to attack the coach but have an open discussion. Let me explain alittle bit further. The team is only a 3rd grade team so they are only 8 years old. The team has been together since Kindergarten. Since the beginning we have not had a parents meeting. This will be the very first one. Probably because the coaches spouse was parent rep the first year and another parent was rep last year ao this is my first year volunteering. Obviously some of the parents were not comfortable talking to either rep until now. Also I don't have a good feeling on how the other parents whether or not they have any issues. They have never said anything to me yet. It's half 5 out of 10 excluding the coach and asst coach. So my feeling for me to go into an open forum right from the start seems alittle bit harsh because the others don't know about what's going on. Also I don't have any details of what the coach went through prior ao for him to assume it's going to be the same is very immature.


 Profile  
 
PostPosted: 25 Sep 2010, 10:37 
User avatar

Posts: 3139
D.O.

8 year old kids should be having FUN! That should be the MAJOR goal. Teach them how to dribble the ball, pass and catch it and then let them have some fun.... if you make things so difficult for them they will be burned out by the time they reach jr high or high school.

Have the parents meeting, keep it light and simple.


 Profile  
 
PostPosted: 25 Sep 2010, 10:38 

Posts: 176
I am going to take a different tack here. This sounds like an ambush. And the coach is right to be skeptical. You're setting up a disaster. If you have 8-10 kids on the team, that will be a group of 16 to 20 parents with some bottled up frustrations talking to one coach and maybe an assistant. IMO, bad idea. As a parent rep, it might be a better idea to have approached the coach privately to discuss some of the concerns. Clue him in on how people feel and see if he is willing to make some changes or accomadations. If necessary, he could call a meetting to clarify and explain things.

The fact that you talking about 3rd graders is extremely problematic to me as well. An 8 YO has the attention span of a nat. and little to no ability to pick up the complexities of basketball. If you played on a dirt court, half would probably be kneeling down building "sand castles." The other half would be fence climbers. I have been there and there is nothing more frustrating than "coaching" 8 year olds. For every parent who had something to say to me, I certainly could blast them back for their childs behavior, lack of effort, lack of practice, etc. Thankfully, it never happened. My goal was to get thru every practice/game without taking anyone to the hospital. Then if they learned how to dribble, pass, and possibly shoot, that was a bonus. It certainly was a very trying experience. Good luck.


 Profile  
 
PostPosted: 25 Sep 2010, 10:44 
User avatar

Posts: 3139
You have me laughing golfman.... but you are so right. These are young kids with little abilities right now, some have more than others true... but for the most part... not much.... and keeping their attention span.... well, good luck with that UNLESS you are having them do something that is a lot of FUN.

I still don't think that a parent meeting is a bad idea.... BUT, the COACH should be in charge of it.... and not the parents. IF anyone thinks that coaching is an easy task... just try it for awhile...... and to coach 8 year olds.... wow..... you better have the patience of a Saint.


 Profile  
 
PostPosted: 25 Sep 2010, 11:16 

Posts: 4
I have coached 8 year olds and never had any parents have an issue. The coach is very unapproachable. Several parents have tried to talk with him but he just blows them off. What kind of coach is that? Not willing listen or hear what the parents have to say? I'm the parent rep and doing this on behalf of the parents because if there's some of change, then the kids will quit and that is not what we want to happen.


 Profile  
 
PostPosted: 25 Sep 2010, 11:20 

Posts: 176
D.O. wrote:
I have coached 8 year olds and never had any parents have an issue. The coach is very unapproachable. Several parents have tried to talk with him but he just blows them off. What kind of coach is that? Not willing listen or hear what the parents have to say? I'm the parent rep and doing this on behalf of the parents because if there's some of change, then the kids will quit and that is not what we want to happen.


At 8 years old, what possiblly would the parents have to say? Unless the guy is completely clueless about basketball and kids, or abusive towards the kids, my guess is it would mostly be complaints.


 Profile  
 
PostPosted: 25 Sep 2010, 11:39 
User avatar

Posts: 3139
I agree.... and back to what golfman said earlier..... why don't you approach him yourself and talk about a few issues... is this what you are planning to do?
Make sure that you have some positives too..... no one wants to hear complaints only.

Can you give us some specific examples of what he is doing or NOT doing? That way we would have a better handle on this situation.


 Profile  
 
PostPosted: 25 Sep 2010, 13:01 
Site Admin
User avatar

Posts: 1280
Ok, I reviewed this entire thread and thought I would chime in.

I agree with Golfman. I think that's a tough situation for a youth coach. I also think Coach Sar asked the right question. What issues do you have with the coach? What do you and the parents want changed?

You need to keep in mind that Coach Sar and Coach Mac are very experienced coaches. They know their stuff. They also have worked at a much higher level (high school, college, pro). That's an entire different level of experience and comfort. These guys know how to handle almost any coaching situation or meeting that you call.

Is this coach a volunteer? When I hear this is 3rd grade my perspective completely changes. And even many high school coaches would feel uncomfortable in a meeting situation where all the parents are running the show. I've had parent meetings, but I run the show with my agenda! I would feel nervous if all the parents called me to a meeting.

You could also make a very good argument that 3rd graders shouldn't even be playing basketball yet. But I won't even go there because lots of kids play at that age and we're not getting around that.

So I think the most important thing is to answer Coach Sar's question: "Can you give us some specific examples of what he is doing or NOT doing? "

Then I think we'll be able to truly give you some good advice. Working with 3rd graders (or any young team like that) is completely different. There are very important things that need to happen at that age and if I'm being honest, parents are often the biggest problem because they are not educated about "child development" and they are also living through their children.

I applaud you for seeking advice. I think once all the info gets out, it will pay off for you and the team.

_________________
Jeff Haefner
http://www.BreakthroughBasketball.com


 Profile  
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 25 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1, 2, 3  Next

All times are UTC - 6 hours


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  
cron