$175 participation fee? Is this commonplace?
$175 participation fee? Is this commonplace?
Yes, the school I coached at was $365 per season, so the $175 would be a bargain.
hart crane wrote:
$175 participation fee? Is this commonplace?
Yes.
Good on this coach for stepping up against administration. The sad trend has been one where coaches are losing all rights to effectively have any control over their team and culture. This has spanned from the high school to the ncaa D1 level and it needs to be addressed
stopthemadness wrote:
Good on this coach for stepping up against administration. The sad trend has been one where coaches are losing all rights to effectively have any control over their team and culture. This has spanned from the high school to the ncaa D1 level and it needs to be addressed
Tell me what the kid did to warrant being kicked off the team? You can't because we don't know. Coaches have to answer to the AD and the administration. They can't just get rid of a kid because they want to. He should have had criteria listed for dismissal from the team. Criteria that would have had to have been approved by the AD at a minimum. If the coach wanted to be a boss, he chose the wrong field.
You don't have enough information to decide it was good for this coach to "step up" against the administration. Some stepping up...led to his resignation.
Typical Simsbury. Helicopter parents. Home of Big Hartford insurance execs. Wimpy little pu$$ies everywhere. Mommy and daddy must buy them big expensive cars to drive, or else! This kid ruins a great coach's career? And the school does nothing?
I agree there is not enough information. How do you know he didn't have team rules associated with his core values? How do you know the kid didn't break them?
I would agree that not having things in writing does make for difficulty in removing an athlete from the team. Because surely the school does have an athletic code, which might be what the school administers were using. When I coached, my school required team by-laws that were at least minimally inline with the school's policy. I would be surprised that this "old school" coach didn't have very clear policies in writing that this student violated (probably a rule on how many missed practices one could have before dismissal).
I would back the coach if he had a policy in writing that the student violated. If he didn't have this and arbitrarily removed the student, then I would have a more difficult time backing him up.
Coaches: If you want control over your team, have your rules in writing. Just expecting everyone to back you on how you run your team on your "core values" alone doesn't work. Show your team rules to the AD and Principal, and get them to sign off on it. Parents and athletes also sign off and then everyone should back you and everyone should be crystal clear on what your program is trying to do.
This is the answer wrote:
stopthemadness wrote:Good on this coach for stepping up against administration. The sad trend has been one where coaches are losing all rights to effectively have any control over their team and culture. This has spanned from the high school to the ncaa D1 level and it needs to be addressed
Tell me what the kid did to warrant being kicked off the team? You can't because we don't know. Coaches have to answer to the AD and the administration. They can't just get rid of a kid because they want to. He should have had criteria listed for dismissal from the team. Criteria that would have had to have been approved by the AD at a minimum. If the coach wanted to be a boss, he chose the wrong field.
You don't have enough information to decide it was good for this coach to "step up" against the administration. Some stepping up...led to his resignation.
Did you bother to read the article?
gahuga wrote:
Figures this curmudgeonly board would take the side of the coach.
It's high school, for God's sake. You pay the activities fee, you survive the tryout, you play on the team. Since XC doesn't have tryouts usually, skip step 2. As long as you weren't like, I don't know, beating up your teammates at practice, a new year should mean a new chance to show you can do the work and contribute.
All the coach's silliness about "but he has to learn LIFE LESSONS (TM)!!" is bunk. The kid is... well, a kid. Especially at that age, kids mature a lot from year to year. The lazy smart-arse from last year could easily become a hard worker in a year's time. Indeed, if that's how the kid is now, then maybe he actually learned the LIFE LESSON (TM) himself without the help of some two-bit running coach.
And if he hasn't, he'll probably quit again. But the coach, the adult, has to be the one who is willing to give the kid the benefit of the doubt. All it sounds like is that the coach is afraid that the kid might (emphasis, might) be difficult, and doesn't want to have to deal with difficulty. Therefore, since he isn't willing to do the job he's paid to do, difficulties and all, I guess he did the right thing by resigning and handing it over to someone who is willing to do the work instead.
But anyway, I'll wait for the next post where some guy says his boss makes him do too much work, and all the same curmudgeons defending the coach will say "IF YOU DON'T LIKE THE JOB THEN QUIT!!!!!"
Uh, the article clearly stated that the the kid failed step 2 in your book. Dragging that kid, kicking and screaming, into adulthood is a life lesson that he may or may not have learned from this experience but that's not on the coach.
Coach sets the rules, kid abides everything is copacetic. Kid does not abide, Admin steps in, everything is not copacetic. "Oh, but kids will be kids..."
I'm hoping the other members of the team kicked his sorry butt to the curb.
i left coaching because of pain in the neck parents as well - this guy will be much happier and enjoy life much more now and will wonder what took me so long to get out of the madness that is HS sports
jenapharm wrote:
i left coaching because of pain in the neck parents as well - this guy will be much happier and enjoy life much more now and will wonder what took me so long to get out of the madness that is HS sports
Why anyone would coach as high school or junior Olympic level is beyond me. The risk/reward (is there one?) factor is too high.
CapnPerv wrote:
All ADs are spineless dicks these days. Couldn't cut it as athletes when they were kids, same with sports writers.
+1 . You never see an AD stand up for a coach anymore , lest the parents start complaining about him. Easier to get rid of the guy who had 30 years experience and hire some30 5k type to coach .
For
If you've got a valued 68 year old employee who's still putting out a solid product, you'd better recognize he doesn't work for you or your institution. You work for him. If you don't understand that, odds are he'll soon drive home the point.
alanson wrote:
If you've got a valued 68 year old employee who's still putting out a solid product, you'd better recognize he doesn't work for you or your institution. You work for him. If you don't understand that, odds are he'll soon drive home the point.
That coach will not be able to be replaced. AD made his own life a lot tougher than it needs to be.
jenapharm wrote:
i left coaching because of pain in the neck parents as well - this guy will be much happier and enjoy life much more now and will wonder what took me so long to get out of the madness that is HS sports
I'm almost there myself. I've been coaching for years now & the grind is oh-so tough: time commitment, crazy parents, absentee athletes, etc.
Oh, and the pay scale is terrible! It works out to less than minimum wage per hour.
And, the risks! Don't forget the risks! You have kids running on the roads, supervision of them at huge invitationals, etc.
Why did the kid quit in the first place? Was he being hazed/bullied, were his grades bad, did he have issues in his personal life, home or at school? Was the coach last year making an example out of him? Maybe he was selfish.
With less than half the story we cannot just say it is the kids fault and that he is a quitter. Maybe there is something more. The kid said "nothing has changed" maybe that should be reworded to "None of your business" That is what I'd give my HS track coach. I did not like or trust the guy.
The coach quitting is just odd. What kind of example does that give the team. After 30 years the coach doesn't get his way and throws in the towel. Strange.
He is a great couch and I actually support him. Unfortunately he has spend too long there anyway. I'm not sure what he can do now. I don't think most people won't be willing to go to him anymore. I hope he finds something else good to move onto.
So the coach quit on his team because he couldn't handle a quitter?
There are times when, as a coach, you just can't continue to give and not have the backing of your administration. I went through a similar issue, also in Connecticut, where I was forced to keep an athlete on the team. This athlete had bullied and threatened other team members and called me a "f'ing ass..." when I confronted them about it. During a "hearing" the kid made the same statement more than once. End result? Keep the kid on the team. A month later, the kid fails a physical and doctor says they can't run. School makes me add them as a manager. I then find out the kid is being paid to "work" at track and cross country meets and it's coming out of my budget. I quit shortly after. If a parent complains there is zero support.
Got some insider info on this: Kids on the team weren't too upset that the Coach quit. Was able to ask a kid on the team how come the runners didn't "make a protest" or raise their concern that the coach should have stayed on. Kid said the Coach wasn't very well liked and was being unfair.
Take this at face value. Kid I talked to isn't very good, not anywhere near one of the top kids, just a simple "pay to play" kid who runs in the back of the pack.