My sports coaching history is extremely limited.
I coached what was called "Senior League" baseball in Lanark, Ill., for two summers while I was in college. One team of teens finished winless and in last place. The next year's team won its league title and the postseason tournament.
I used to have the little trophy from the kids on the second team on my desk at work. It served as a reminder that the team leader is only as good as the people around them. The coach's job is to get the most out of the people they have available. I think that applies in sports, as well as business.
My only other sports coaching experience was in YMCA soccer and T-ball in Freeport when my kids were 5 years old. The most important thing then was to make sure the kids knew which team they were on, which direction to run, and which goal to aim for. Since then, I've seen a lot of volunteer coaches savaged by parents who think they know better.
In life, I've vowed never to be that parent. I go to my kids' games, but I don't do a lot of yelling. Best to let the kids play, and the coaches coach.
As a journalist, with quite a few of my early years spent as a sports reporter and sports editor, I've seen and heard an awful lot of complaining about coaches. I've rejected many requests to do stories about the ineptitude of this or that coach. Remembering the lessons learned from my limited coaching experiences, I'm loathe to let anyone, including sports reporters, be critical of the men and women who coach our boys and girls.
So I was significantly chagrined this weekend when the big discussion among reader comments on this Web site involved criticisms of Monroe's football coaches. It started with one parent's reasonable, well-written regret about the lack of playing time for some of the Monroe seniors in their last home game Friday. The parent went out of her way to say she wasn't being critical of the coaches.
The conversation between readers, however, has turned into an argument about whether coaches should play all players, or whether coaches play favorites - starting the kids of certain parents whether they deserve it or not. Frankly, it's a really disheartening discussion.
As long as specific coaches, or certainly players, are mentioned, I allow the discussion to occur online. There actually were a few attempts by posters to name specific players (at schools other than Monroe, I need to add) they thought didn't deserve playing time. Incredible.
Anyway, my experience always has been that high school coaches will play the kids that give them the best chance to win the game. Within that context, coaches will make wrong decisions from time to time on which players to play. Heck, it happens at the professional level. Former Chicago Bears coach Dick Jauron didn't put Brian Urlacher at middle linebacker until he was forced into it because of an injury to another player! And, famously, a freshman high school basketball coach once cut Michael Jordan.
My experience also has been that coaching, like being a referee, is a thankless job. There almost always will be something to criticize. If the coaches don't play everyone the "proper" amount of time, someone will complain. If the coaches do try to play everyone and lose, they'll be criticized for that. It's impossible to please everyone.
I'm not going to cut off the conversations about high school coaches on our Web sites. But I'd like to ask our readers to stop and think about it a little bit before they do. That's all.
I coached what was called "Senior League" baseball in Lanark, Ill., for two summers while I was in college. One team of teens finished winless and in last place. The next year's team won its league title and the postseason tournament.
I used to have the little trophy from the kids on the second team on my desk at work. It served as a reminder that the team leader is only as good as the people around them. The coach's job is to get the most out of the people they have available. I think that applies in sports, as well as business.
My only other sports coaching experience was in YMCA soccer and T-ball in Freeport when my kids were 5 years old. The most important thing then was to make sure the kids knew which team they were on, which direction to run, and which goal to aim for. Since then, I've seen a lot of volunteer coaches savaged by parents who think they know better.
In life, I've vowed never to be that parent. I go to my kids' games, but I don't do a lot of yelling. Best to let the kids play, and the coaches coach.
As a journalist, with quite a few of my early years spent as a sports reporter and sports editor, I've seen and heard an awful lot of complaining about coaches. I've rejected many requests to do stories about the ineptitude of this or that coach. Remembering the lessons learned from my limited coaching experiences, I'm loathe to let anyone, including sports reporters, be critical of the men and women who coach our boys and girls.
So I was significantly chagrined this weekend when the big discussion among reader comments on this Web site involved criticisms of Monroe's football coaches. It started with one parent's reasonable, well-written regret about the lack of playing time for some of the Monroe seniors in their last home game Friday. The parent went out of her way to say she wasn't being critical of the coaches.
The conversation between readers, however, has turned into an argument about whether coaches should play all players, or whether coaches play favorites - starting the kids of certain parents whether they deserve it or not. Frankly, it's a really disheartening discussion.
As long as specific coaches, or certainly players, are mentioned, I allow the discussion to occur online. There actually were a few attempts by posters to name specific players (at schools other than Monroe, I need to add) they thought didn't deserve playing time. Incredible.
Anyway, my experience always has been that high school coaches will play the kids that give them the best chance to win the game. Within that context, coaches will make wrong decisions from time to time on which players to play. Heck, it happens at the professional level. Former Chicago Bears coach Dick Jauron didn't put Brian Urlacher at middle linebacker until he was forced into it because of an injury to another player! And, famously, a freshman high school basketball coach once cut Michael Jordan.
My experience also has been that coaching, like being a referee, is a thankless job. There almost always will be something to criticize. If the coaches don't play everyone the "proper" amount of time, someone will complain. If the coaches do try to play everyone and lose, they'll be criticized for that. It's impossible to please everyone.
I'm not going to cut off the conversations about high school coaches on our Web sites. But I'd like to ask our readers to stop and think about it a little bit before they do. That's all.
