This post is more of a rant- so excuse me. But I have an extremely important message about youth coaching.
This past weekend my daughter's team played in their first AAU volleyball tournament. They play in the 12 and under bracket. There were some very talented teams in this tournament and we (the parents) were all so proud of our girls because they came in second. The reason for the hint of surprise is due to the fact we played against regular volleyball club teams. I mean these girls practice all the time and that is pretty much what most of them do. We came in with little experience and practice time and performed outstanding. On to my rant....
The team that ended up being the 1st place team- and rightfully so, was a team made up of very good players. However, their coach did not represent what youth sports are about at all. She obviously knows the game and coached the girls well, but she is a bully and a poor example of a youth coach.
When we first arrived she had her team on the court warming up- no problem and great idea. When the girls made mistakes she barked at them relentlessly and made them do push ups and suicide runs. If they didn't do the suicides correctly they did them again. THIS IS WHILE THEY ARE AT A TOURNAMENT!? There are spectators in the crowed watching this. She would single out any player and embarrass them. Did I mention they were 12 and under???
This type of behavior tells me she is a bully and only can get what she wants out of these girls by using a motivation tactic of "Fear." The girls played hard out of fear of what she would do to them.
I know there are many coaches out there who agree with this type of coaching but I can't imagine how many kids she has left in her wake. Kids that loved volleyball when they started and ended up hating it by the end. There are going to many girls on that very team of 12 year olds that will have burned out and had enough before they ever play a varsity game. It is wrong!
The sad thing is I watched her coach her girls strategically and she knows the game well. She made great cues to help the girls when they needed it and put them in positions to play effectively. But she blew it when it comes to how to behave as a coach of young athletes.
Many parents will tolerate this because she turns her players into good players (those who last anyway), but once again we forget that the sports are about the kids, not the coach or parents. If this coach would just back off on the form of discipline she uses she would be fantastic for the girls. I am sure she loves the kids and is supportive of them, but that doesn't give her a free pass to act the way she does.
There are many ways to coach but the two main approaches is to coach from a dictator and fear standpoint (kids play hard from out of fear) or a respectful leadership approach. In other words you lead the athletes by being strong and direct with your coaching but you respect them and their opinions and don't try to fear them into doing things.
An example of coaching through fear is when a player makes a mistake and you threaten them with conditioning/running or by taking them out of the game and not letting them play and by embarrassing them in front of their peers and possibly audience. The athlete in this case doesn't want to make a mistake because of the negative consequence.
The other example is when a player makes a mistake and you talk to them and explain why what they did was wrong and how to correct it. You make it clear to them that you except more but you also let them know that you like their effort (as long as their effort is good).
The second example will most likely create a mutual respect between coach and player and the player will play hard and not want to disappoint the coach out of respect for them rather than fear of discipline as in the first example.
I know my rants won't change the world but hopefully a young coach getting into the profession will take a close look at his or her options as a coach and realize kids deserve better and being a bully of a coach isn't what young athletes deserve.
Like to hear your feedback.
Your in Speed,
Lee
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1 comment:
This is a very interesting perspective. I, too, coach girls at the same age level in volleyball, basektball, and softball. As a coach I do use some "conditioning" as a consequence, but only when players are not taking things seriously or to show the importance of what they are doing. If my girls are not concentrating on the skill or drill they are to be doing, my co-coach and I will have them do 1 suicide to try to burn off the unfocused energy. This is only done during practices where the learning is most important. Never at a tournament in front of others. The girls are out representing an organization (or school as in my case) and should be prepared ahead of time, not punnished during the games/warm-up.
As a competitve athlete, I have been subjected to the same type of embarassment by a coach. Between innings, I have had a coach make us do sprints because she was not happy with our play. She also threatened to keep doing it until we picked up our level of play. Knowing what this feels like as an adult, I would never subject young girls to this kind of embarassment during a game. Coaches are there to promote girls to continue playing the sport, not to chase them away. Winning is nice, but at what cost???
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