Also over 20 year Power 5 D1 assistant. I Agree with you 100%. The only thing i would add to your list is protecting yourself from your athletes at all times because of all the coaches that they have attempted and succeeded in costing their jobs.
Also over 20 year Power 5 D1 assistant. I Agree with you 100%. The only thing i would add to your list is protecting yourself from your athletes at all times because of all the coaches that they have attempted and succeeded in costing their jobs.
Certainly beats working, digging ditches, classroom teaching or a cubical. It can be frustrating but that’s sports. I’m glad the job still make me feel. Gratitude.
behind the curtain wrote:
Also over 20 year Power 5 D1 assistant. I Agree with you 100%. The only thing i would add to your list is protecting yourself from your athletes at all times because of all the coaches that they have attempted and succeeded in costing their jobs.
Both of these posts are so true, and the topic of this second post is right on. The war on coaches is accelerating.
A few kids don’t want to work hard or feel their feelings are hurt, or fail to perform as expected, and they destroy their coach. They post lies on social media. They post online petitions for the coach to be fired that are signed by thousands, most of which have no affiliation with the school, they just like to be activists and they like to help destroy people.
Then the administrators fire the coaches, often without evidence, because of pressure and negative PR.
In most places, keeping your job as a coach now means not holding athletes accountable, not trying to win, not giving criticism. Basically, not coaching.
I've been thinking along these lines. It's tough to give it up as competing and coaching have been a part of my life for over 25 years. Once I quit, I don't know if I'd ever go back.
Typical season is 50-70 high school boys and girls athletes with one other coach who is part time.. June- November. 4-5 out of town meets. No transportation reimbursement. No good competitive meets in our area. I take them to a weeklong out of town team camp of my own making in July. I have to pay to put my kids in daycare for that week. We practice at school everyday and meets/practices on Saturday mornings. Win or lose- no one in school admin cares. No administrator has ever come to a cross-country meet. Our successes almost always surpass those of the other fall sports- soccer, volleyball, football, but no one notices. No one realizes the time sacrifices you make. Very few respect you as an actual coach. They think you just tell kids to "go run" and then take a nap on a picnic table. You spend more time with other people's kids than your own.
You only net a $1000 after taxes even with 15 years experience. You take a loss when you factor in your other costs. But, you still keep coming back each year for that feeling you get when a kid Prs or when they gain confidence in themselves from freshmen to senior years.
In the UK coaches don’t get paid at all.
The work to comply with regulations becomes more and more intense each year.
People of ability are finding far better things to do with their limited time even though they may well miss the real coaching part of it all.
Lamp Shade wrote:
Certainly beats working, digging ditches, classroom teaching or a cubical. It can be frustrating but that’s sports. I’m glad the job still make me feel. Gratitude.
Well, because of the low pay for a high school coach I am still digging ditches. I love leaving that to coach every day.
granfalloon wrote:
I've been thinking along these lines. It's tough to give it up as competing and coaching have been a part of my life for over 25 years. Once I quit, I don't know if I'd ever go back.
Typical season is 50-70 high school boys and girls athletes with one other coach who is part time.. June- November. 4-5 out of town meets. No transportation reimbursement. No good competitive meets in our area. I take them to a weeklong out of town team camp of my own making in July. I have to pay to put my kids in daycare for that week. We practice at school everyday and meets/practices on Saturday mornings. Win or lose- no one in school admin cares. No administrator has ever come to a cross-country meet. Our successes almost always surpass those of the other fall sports- soccer, volleyball, football, but no one notices. No one realizes the time sacrifices you make. Very few respect you as an actual coach. They think you just tell kids to "go run" and then take a nap on a picnic table. You spend more time with other people's kids than your own.
You only net a $1000 after taxes even with 15 years experience. You take a loss when you factor in your other costs. But, you still keep coming back each year for that feeling you get when a kid Prs or when they gain confidence in themselves from freshmen to senior years.
Good post.
liar soorer wrote:
In the UK coaches don’t get paid at all.
The work to comply with regulations becomes more and more intense each year.
People of ability are finding far better things to do with their limited time even though they may well miss the real coaching part of it all.
My Uni XC career was in the '70's in the UK (I now live stateside) We had a fairly good team that compared to todays US might have been low-to-middling D2 or so. We had ZERO coaches, a tiny budget, and did almost no fundraising unless it was fun for us. It was all just run by that years captain (which I was one year) a secretary and (sometimes) treasurer - all team members. That was it. The biggest job was ordering the bus for each Saturday. Between us all, all the training theory you would ever need was amply available, as was motivation. In the US when I asked "Who the hell needs coaches in XC?" I was met with blank stares. The US system it seems cannot be changed. It's wrong. Pity.
granfalloon wrote:
I've been thinking along these lines. It's tough to give it up as competing and coaching have been a part of my life for over 25 years. Once I quit, I don't know if I'd ever go back.
Typical season is 50-70 high school boys and girls athletes with one other coach who is part time.. June- November. 4-5 out of town meets. No transportation reimbursement. No good competitive meets in our area. I take them to a weeklong out of town team camp of my own making in July. I have to pay to put my kids in daycare for that week. We practice at school everyday and meets/practices on Saturday mornings. Win or lose- no one in school admin cares. No administrator has ever come to a cross-country meet. Our successes almost always surpass those of the other fall sports- soccer, volleyball, football, but no one notices. No one realizes the time sacrifices you make. Very few respect you as an actual coach. They think you just tell kids to "go run" and then take a nap on a picnic table. You spend more time with other people's kids than your own.
You only net a $1000 after taxes even with 15 years experience. You take a loss when you factor in your other costs. But, you still keep coming back each year for that feeling you get when a kid Prs or when they gain confidence in themselves from freshmen to senior years.
This sounds very familiar. I could have wrote almost the exact same thing about myself.
Tad Cooper wrote:
liar soorer wrote:
In the UK coaches don’t get paid at all.
The work to comply with regulations becomes more and more intense each year.
People of ability are finding far better things to do with their limited time even though they may well miss the real coaching part of it all.
My Uni XC career was in the '70's in the UK (I now live stateside) We had a fairly good team that compared to todays US might have been low-to-middling D2 or so. We had ZERO coaches, a tiny budget, and did almost no fundraising unless it was fun for us. It was all just run by that years captain (which I was one year) a secretary and (sometimes) treasurer - all team members. That was it. The biggest job was ordering the bus for each Saturday. Between us all, all the training theory you would ever need was amply available, as was motivation. In the US when I asked "Who the hell needs coaches in XC?" I was met with blank stares. The US system it seems cannot be changed. It's wrong. Pity.
Sorry Tad, but the high school teams definitely need a coach.
Good training theory coming from athletes not able to look objectively at their own training let alone someone else on their team is not happening.
I enjoy it where I am now, but am likely to move to a new school. I may give it up when that happens. Not totally sure.