If you do,* maybe come bullshit about it here.

As background, I coached baseball when I lived in Chicago for two seasons. I wasn't very good at it, and (intentionally) served as "guy with a big bag of baseballs" who could be counted on to show up to practice twice a week. When I moved back to DC, I started coaching track at a high school near where I grew up. I have been an assistant for cross country since I was hired. I was an assistant for track for one season, then promoted to head coach for two seasons, then stepped back to assistant when my other job(s) conflicted with administrative requirements of being a head coach. Since then, I've been an assistant coach for track, left more or less to run the distance runners (hereforth defined as 800m on up) as I see fit.

It's been fun. I know I wont be able to do it forever, but I start every season expecting it to be my last one and then see some underclassman make the big leap forward and tell myself "well, I've got to see what this looks like when he's done cooking."

Possible topics of interest:

-Is coaching girls really different than coaching boys? How?

-How do you avoid one-size-fits-all motivation?

-What's your biggest individual success/failure?

-If you're at a school, how does the overall athletic environment there help/hurt you?

-How did your team do this year / How does your team look this year?

Or anything else of interest. I have a very indulgent social circle of smart, interested people who are happy to listen to me prattle on about this but don't really know anything about it directly. And I know people who do the same thing as me but it's weird talking to them about it because we're talking about the same kids, etc.

*If you don't, consider volunteering some of your time. It's usually kind of a pain to get looped in with most good organizations (more organized rec leagues, but especially schools) which, understandable, want to make sure you're not there for any villainous reasons. But it's worth it. And if you're like me and hate the idea of being in charge, I can assure you that most youth coaches would be thrilled to have somebody show up and say "I don't want to have any opinions, but I'm here to help things run smoothly by clicking a stopwatch (or whatever)."

Cross country is traditionally a pretty high-volume sport at our school, attendance-wise. Soccer isn't huge there, and though football entices a weird amount of tiny freshman, they usually look at themselves after a year or so and think, "my future might not be in a sport with a ton of physical contact" and find their way to cross country. But between a very successful swimming program, and the two most high-profile sports not only occurring in the spring (lacrosse and baseball) but "requiring" pretty extensive and specific winter training programs, we have a ton of attrition that usually leaves me with a distance group of about 1/5 to 1/3 of the size of the cross country team.

Last season, though, we got a small jump in size and a huge jump in commitment. I had a dozen kids who gave me blood and vomit* every single day and we scored the highest proportion of our conference meet points from the distance group than we had since I've been there. We didn't lose a whole lot in the way of talent (two solid contributors, but no high point-earners) but graduation did cost us a pair of kids who did a ton to make the environment into something that was both positive *and* still pushed people to do better.

I pretty deliberately steer away from sports psychology jargon because:

a)I don't think most of the people who use it are smart enough or have sufficient training to talk about something as complex as how we think.

b)it usually strikes me as an obstacle, rather than an aid, to connecting with athletes on an individual level.

... and as a result, my ideal has always been to have a group of distance runners that governs themselves. This probably isn't practical for other sports, but for us, one of the most important parts of the seasons occurs entirely outside the purview of coaches: summer mileage. I can monitor kids' workload and maximize their chances of success with carefully balanced workouts - but if they don't put in the requisite base of mileage in the summer then there's a pretty severe upper limit on their likely success. The short way to put this is: they have to want to put the work in themselves.

Last season went well because these seniors created an environment where their teammates wanted to come out and work - treat every practice seriously and race like they wanted to hurt feelings every weekend. I'm hoping that will trickle down even without them, and we have some seniors now that are more talented than them *and* definitely work at making sure everybody moves forward together. But I'm not ignoring the possibility that last year's crowd was special.

In any case, pretty much the only thing that I've accomplished that I can put a tangible milestone on is that a new kid has run under 2:00 in the 800m every single season. That's not a big deal in a track rich area, but we're a small school in a small state and it's not nothing. But I'd still like to add to it. This year I'm hoping to:

a)see our 4x800m team under 8:00
b)see one of our kiddeaux run under 10:00 for the two mile
c)see one of our kiddeaux run under 4:30 for the one mile

We'll see how it goes. There's still one more cross country meet, but practice starts in about two weeks.

*this is figurative. keeping kids healthy is important to me, but talking a big game about our hard work is, regrettably, part of the job.

kids are hard headed and watch too much tv.

i'm glad you find it rewarding.

Its something that i thought about doing bc i always loved watching youth sports, but kids don't listen and their parents don't help.

I could only see myself doing it if i was coaching my kids(don't have any) or my nephews/niece squad or something

>kids are hard headed and watch too much tv.

WAAAY too distracted. They really don't care about the X's and O's.


>
>i'm glad you find it rewarding.
>
>Its something that i thought about doing bc i always loved
>watching youth sports, but kids don't listen and their parents
>don't help.

Parents actually make it WORSE. Especially on Game Day. We got a flag thrown against us because a kid's dad cursed at the ref.

>
>I could only see myself doing it if i was coaching my
>kids(don't have any) or my nephews/niece squad or something

I was helping a friend who was coaching his step-kid. But yeah, I get your point.

they want more minutes, more plays run for their kid. Coaching from the sideline telling the kid to do the opposite of what the coach is telling them smh.

I've coached club basketball for 15-16 years now in Philly. Done it from the Local Rec League Level, Local/Regional AAU, National Tournament AAU, back to 5 year-old home league now with my son.

Had several offers to be a High School assistant but I was never able to make it work with my work schedule.

>How do you avoid one-size-fits-all motivation?
I don't profess to be some sort of zen-master Feel Jackson sports psychologist. I can't change who I am, so I tend to coach and motivate in a way that is congruent with my personality. I am a positive re-enforcer. Scoring is its own reward so I tend not to say much about that, but I praise the shit out of setting a good screen, making the extra pass, playing help defense. I try not to tear down/embarrass kids him in front of the team. Also, instead of lecturing them on their mistake, turn it around and ask them questions - i.e. what happened there? what went wrong? what could you have done better? You are having the same convo, but the kid doesn't feel "picked on".

>-What's your biggest individual success/failure?
Success - In 2011, A guy who had been coaching a squad in our AAU org for a few years had been dominating in local/regional circuit events for two seasons. He asked me to to come be his "co-head coach" (he was still in charge) for the upcoming season as his now 10th grade squad was going to be playing a national schedule. This was a big thing for our little program, playing against these shoe-sponsored teams.

Our team only ended up with 1 guy going low D1, a few others playing D2, and a handful ending up at D3 schools. While that isn't a bunch of bums, we were definitely "under-talented" for the schedule we were playing. We ended with around a .750 win percentage that season and beat teams like DC Assault, Boo Williams, Albany City Rocks and played teams like Cal Supreme and Team Izod/Sports U into down-to-the-wire battles. We got to the Sweet 16 at the Adidas Super 64 in Vegas. It was quite the ride.

>Also, instead of lecturing them on their mistake, turn it around and >ask them questions - i.e. what happened there? what went wrong? what >could you have done better? You are having the same convo, but the kid >doesn't feel "picked on".

Especially this. I feel like nothing you can lecture them about will stick as well as stuff they learned themselves. So a big part of your job is helping that happen.


>>-What's your biggest individual success/failure?
>Success - In 2011, A guy who had been coaching a squad in our
>AAU org for a few years had been dominating in local/regional
>circuit events for two seasons. He asked me to to come be his
>"co-head coach" (he was still in charge) for the upcoming
>season as his now 10th grade squad was going to be playing a
>national schedule. This was a big thing for our little
>program, playing against these shoe-sponsored teams.

Wow. This is kind of alien to me, but I recognize those kind of promotion moments where you're like "this competition is different by kind, not just degree."

>Our team only ended up with 1 guy going low D1, a few others
>playing D2, and a handful ending up at D3 schools. While that
>isn't a bunch of bums, we were definitely "under-talented" for
>the schedule we were playing. We ended with around a .750 win
>percentage that season and beat teams like DC Assault, Boo
>Williams, Albany City Rocks and played teams like Cal Supreme
>and Team Izod/Sports U into down-to-the-wire battles. We got
>to the Sweet 16 at the Adidas Super 64 in Vegas. It was quite
>the ride.

As I actually recognize a few of those names even though I have absolutely no affiliation with basketball leagues, I'm going to go ahead and be impressed. That game schedule couldn't have been easy on you though. Good for you.

>As I actually recognize a few of those names even though I
>have absolutely no affiliation with basketball leagues, I'm
>going to go ahead and be impressed. That game schedule
>couldn't have been easy on you though. Good for you.

One of my favorite points in the season was when we were playing in the Rumble in the Bronx tournament. My son was only 2 at the time so I was always trying to keep my wife in the loop on exact times I'd be back from the tournaments and such. I called her late on Saturday to let her know I'd be home early afternoon on Sunday. We won our pool but played shitty and we were up against Albany City Rocks in the tournament round the next morning - they're a Nike sponsored EYBL team, they're going to kick our ass. We end up beating them and winning our next tournament game too. Got knocked off by a team from Florida (forget their name but they had two kids around 6'10-7'0). Didn't get home until 8-9pm that night, wife was pissed needless to say. After that I decided to stop selling the team short.

Joined up with a school in NoVa two years ago.

Our program is . . . not good. We've won one game in the two years that I've been assistant, and 6 games in the last 5 years. The biggest challenges are 1) keeping morale high when we're losing. 2) doing enough teaching to make sure that we have a program, and not just one or two good players, while still offering strategy to make the best of the guys that know the sport. 3) spotty attendance. Part of this is that the school district is lower income compared to its surrounding area, and the kids get jobs.

The head coach I was working under just resigned (after an interest session in which we had 9 kids show up, and I found out that three kids that were going to make up the spine of the team transferred out or are opting to play elsewhere). I'm still debating whether to put my name forward for the head job. I know that there are some things we can do differently. The outgoing head coach was probably too much of a red-ass for this team. But, with the second child born this July, IDK that I can put in that extra time (though I was doing a LOT of the admin work for the team).

> The biggest challenges are 1) keeping morale high when
>we're losing. 2) doing enough teaching to make sure that we
>have a program, and not just one or two good players, while
>still offering strategy to make the best of the guys that know
>the sport.

I had both of those problems when I coached baseball. Every practice was a struggle to make sure the kids who were new to the sport (or who just sucked) weren't being left behind and, simultaneously making sure weren't just moving backwards to accommodate the worst players.

It's easier in track. A workout is a workout. Not a lot of teaching to be done until fairly late in the game.

>But, with the second child born this July, IDK that
>I can put in that extra time (though I was doing a LOT of the
>admin work for the team).

Shit, I had a hard time without that even without the kids. The suck thing is that the extra time is almost entirely the stuff that's hateable about the job. So you get to make a barely compensated jump in hours and in undesirable duties. Blargh.

I know you've mentioned this here before but it's still so strange for me to hear. Lacrosse has, for the longest time, been THE prestige sport at the school I work, so while I'm familiar with a team being relatively unsupported, it just sounds alien that it's a lacrosse team.

Provided completely new uniforms and practice gear last year, and generally gives us the equipment we need. Plenty of practice space, too.

The problem is that we have a middling youth program, skill wise, in a town that feeds three high schools. So last year, we had a starting lineup worth of players that knew the game and knew it well . .. and that was it.

Decided after the election that whatever I can do to help shape these kids' outlooks can be SOMETHING. So I'm now the head coach.

1. Yes, that seems like a reasonable reaction to the election
2. Yes, this decision makes you a total dummy

Is it weird to hold those two opinions at the same time?

Good luck. Head coaching is terrible. I felt like the only thing it added was that I had to eat shit sandwiches from like three new directions instead of the usual one or two regular directions.

Don't have kids of my own, but I have a slew of godchildren, and love most of my friends kids to death, and I also love bowling. I saw that sport is dying a (not so) slow death, so I took it upon myself to help develop a new generation with an interest in bowling. You try to teach basics without stifling individuality, which is what I believe kids leagues should be about.

I had a good time with it for the most part. The main reason i stopped (and I guess this is true of most kids sports) is THE PARENTS. Asking how come their kid that started bowling four months ago isn't shooting 200+...why aren't you giving my kid special treatment (3 coaches, 35 kids). After three years of that and other assorted parent-related foolishness, I had enough.

>I saw that sport is dying a (not so) slow death, so
>I took it upon myself to help develop a new generation with an
>interest in bowling. You try to teach basics without stifling
>individuality, which is what I believe kids leagues should be
>about.

Sounds right to me. Good on you. I guess the slow death was slow enough that I always assumed people would somehow automatically age into an enthusiasm for the sport. But in retrospect, that makes no sense.

>I had a good time with it for the most part. The main reason
>i stopped (and I guess this is true of most kids sports) is
>THE PARENTS. Asking how come their kid that started bowling
>four months ago isn't shooting 200+...why aren't you giving my
>kid special treatment (3 coaches, 35 kids). After three years
>of that and other assorted parent-related foolishness, I had
>enough.

I kind of assumed this was going to be a common theme of this thread, and I feel so so lucky that I don't really have any parent horror stories. Your story kind of shows that even more niche sports aren't immune to it. Rough, and I'm sorry to hear that.

i've bowled a lot of my life (6-13 then 22-now 25) but i've essentially retaught myself how to bowl the last 8 months with a hook and once i warm up 180 is about my low end with around 240 being my top end.

im sure my form and fundamentals are not the correct way as the league bowlers are always trying to give me tips about using the arrows and the angles and stuff (i do appreciate the effort) until they see that i've beaten them.

i mainly trust my eyes and then my arm to get it where i need it to go.

edit: i ask because other people have asked me to coach their kids and i feel like i wouldn't have a good/proper idea of what to teach them.

what does that mean you just aim for the pocket and not a target on the lane?

i just pick a spot where i want to hit and scale the arm action up/down depending on what i think need.

bowler but you'd likely be even better and have an increase in your average if you used the arrows/dots on the lane as your target points.

>i've bowled a lot of my life (6-13 then 22-now 25) but i've
>essentially retaught myself how to bowl the last 8 months with
>a hook and once i warm up 180 is about my low end with around
>240 being my top end.
>
>im sure my form and fundamentals are not the correct way as
>the league bowlers are always trying to give me tips about
>using the arrows and the angles and stuff (i do appreciate the
>effort) until they see that i've beaten them.
>
>i mainly trust my eyes and then my arm to get it where i need
>it to go.
>
>edit: i ask because other people have asked me to coach their
>kids and i feel like i wouldn't have a good/proper idea of
>what to teach them.


Basics...like many sports, a free swing instead of muscling the ball... timing and footwork...reading ball reactions (especially for those that hook the ball)..."proper" hand release points (trying to encourage stronger releases - staying behind the ball instead of coming around it)....learning how to make adjustments with your feet more than changing your armswing or hand positions (though those can be used too, but to start, better to solidify the hand/arm than to add more variables than necessary).

I strongly recommend targeting with the arrows as opposed to the pins for one simple reason...it's easier to hit a target 15 feet away than it is to hit one 60 feet away. Once you trust your release and armswing, creating higher scores is easier with a closer target.

most hardest and frustrating thing i've ever done. I'm usually around a 180 bowler on a house shot but i haven't been in a league in years, just hit the lanes here and there. I'm usually a low strike/high spare percentage bowler but was the opposite for the tourney. I had a 158 average over 6 games...found my strike ball and threw for a good amount of doubles and triples but couldn't get a spare to save my life.

i'm salivating to get on a house shot now. lol

Don't take this personally, but house shots, along with ball technology, have made it so that averaging 200 is fairly easy...striking is way too easy when you can miss by an arrow in either direction of the intended target and still strike. Most of the sport patterns greatly reduce that margin of error, and on the heavier patterns, reducing carry, turning strikes into weak 10 pins.

Do you happen to know what pattern they put out?

I haven't bowled more than once a year recently (before the last 2 weeks) and can still pick up my ball (the one I've had for 5+ years) and shoot a 180 and feel like I left 20-30 pins out there.

I met some older dudes and all they do is bowl on sport shots so i'm gonna start shooting with them

The patterns were highway to hell and boardwalk. 3 games on each.

>I haven't bowled more than once a year recently (before the
>last 2 weeks) and can still pick up my ball (the one I've had
>for 5+ years) and shoot a 180 and feel like I left 20-30 pins
>out there.
>
>I met some older dudes and all they do is bowl on sport shots
>so i'm gonna start shooting with them

Practice on those for a while and you'll feel like you can't miss on house shots. Your game will definitely improve.

>The patterns were highway to hell and boardwalk. 3 games on
>each.


Highway to hell can be very unforgiving, very tough. Boardwalk I have only seen once...bowled pretty well on if once the lane opened up a bit, but no picnic.

My last 2 games were 181 and 203 on Boardwalk once they dried up a bit.

i def had a lot of bad throws that went right into the pocket for strikes. I felt like i was playing with a cheat code lolol

>i def had a lot of bad throws that went right into the pocket
>for strikes. I felt like i was playing with a cheat code
>lolol

HAHAHAHA, that's funny...it's great to see your enthusiasm, your willingness to improve, and your realism that every shot that strikes isn't necessarily a great shot. Unfortunately the majority of league bowlers have become accustomed to the huge margin of area that house shots provide, and don't realize when they are making bad shots because of it, so when they go to a less forgiving condition, they automatically run to the excuse "this house sucks" instead of "I made a bad shot".

I'm guessing you're using reactive resin balls. Not sure if you are familiar with drilling layouts and various coverstocks, but a basic tip for practice that I would give you for long-term improvement is when you practice, use your ball that hooks the LEAST...less aggressive balls require better targeting and shot-making, making you a better player over time.

What balls do you use generally? Just curious...

a week at minimum lol. I know the difference in materials, drilling etc. but all the terminology is probably over my head at this point plus whatever new technology has come out in the last 10 years. I want to get back in to it but my crew is all over the country. The older dudes that I know that shoot on sport lanes go sunday nights and they are a good hour a way. I can't do that regularly but after shooting on the house lanes, i desire the comp that the sport lane offers.

I just have one ball, "Ebonite's the one".

http://www.ebonite.com/products/balls/retired-balls/the-one

It was a pretty strong ball 10 years ago lol but its dying at this point. I was never the dude that came to the alley with 3 and 4 balls. At most i had two, a dry lane ball and one for heavy oil. What you are saying about the least reactive ball makes sense.

I was just on the internet looking at balls bc my days of spending $200 on a ball are over.

i've always noticed a difference switching from open play lanes to league lanes on the same night but i always assumed the league lanes were just fresher and better kept up. learn something new every day.

>i've always noticed a difference switching from open play
>lanes to league lanes on the same night but i always assumed
>the league lanes were just fresher and better kept up. learn
>something new every day.


Well, there is that factor as well...most houses oil fresh for their leagues as a courtesy to their consistent customer base (often it's in the contract between the house and the league), but manipulating how much oil is put down, where it is put, how far down the lane they oil...all play apart in how ball reaction happens and can influence scoring.

This is the typical house shot (more or less) the darker the blue, the more oil on that part of the lane, letting you miss right and the ball hooks back and missing left lets the ball hold the line

http://www.transitlanes.net/lanepattern.pdf

Compare that to this, a less forgiving more evenly distributed pattern

http://www.shaunstournaments.com/uploads/2/7/6/4/27644211/2762095.jpg

that can make a 240+ guy become a 200 guy real quick if their game isn't versatile, and even if they are, no way they score nearly as high long term on the second pattern.

i was like wtf am i getting myself into.

I played ultimate frisbee in college and club level for a few years after that and a friend of mine's sister asked us to help out with her high school ultimate club. It was sort of a different challenge because ultimate is a new and growing sport and a lot of people don't take it seriously (I agree there are a lot of aspects of it that are dumb and ridiculous) but I've enjoyed playing.

It was sort of a similar experience to what Selassie had doing jr bowling (I am also a bowler FYI) where you're trying to grow the sport. There were probably about 10-12 regulars who showed up to practice who I all loved but it was hard to actually find another team their age to play against. We did once or twice but most of the we ended up scrimmaging ourselves (with a couple older players mixed in to bring up the numbers).

The other thing since it's a club level sport and also not a traditional super competitive sport like basketball or football or something was just managing the make it competitive/challenging factor with the make it fun and make sure people still show up factor. Even with older players it's pretty split between people who have more competitive sports background (I played basketball and ran a bit so I fall in this camp) and the more awkward kids who wanted to do something active but fun.

The biggest success for sure to me was that a couple of those kids went on to play club ultimate frisbee in college so at least we didn't suck the love of the game from them. We only really did it that one year and I don't think I'm a good enough player where someone would actively look for me to coach anything but I'd help out a youth team again for sure.

When I was in college, one of our conference rivals had cobbled together an All-American 4x400m team (this is D3, but still) that included two freshmen. The expectation, then, was that they'd end up dominating our conference (at least) for the foreseeable future. But after that season, *both* freshmen stopped running track in order to focus entirely on ultimate frisbee. One of them even transferred to a school in California with a better team.

This is a dumb story, but it always stuck with me because maybe the difference between a sport that's perpetually mockable due to its dumb and ridiculous elements and one that shrugs it off is just popularity. Shit, belts are part of a baseball uniform. Belts.

Anyhow, that's a lot of work, trying to create an atmosphere where people will enjoy it and can still come to it from different angles in order to appreciate the sport somewhere in the range of "appropriately seriously" where "appropriate" is whatever is enough to make sure folks keep coming.

I think coaches in more established sports really take that for granted. Track has a more traditional foothold than ultimate, but it's still most kids' second or third choice.

>The biggest success for sure to me was that a couple of those
>kids went on to play club ultimate frisbee in college so at
>least we didn't suck the love of the game from them.

That's kind of awesome. The few kids I know who did it even semi-seriously in college had almost universally positive experiences. Nice work.

and for 1 season jr high girls...

>Possible topics of interest:
>
>-Is coaching girls really different than coaching boys? How?

The girls team I coached was actually a church team, their original coach backed out at the last minute, one of the mothers was an assistant but she didn't really have any experience and didn't want the HC job so I was asked to do it since the boys season had just ended. I was apprehensive at first because I had never coached girls but it wasn't that bad. Most of the girls hadn't played as much as the boys but that was a positive because they hadn't developed bad habits so they took instruction well and were a lot more coachable than boys overall. Where as boys try do what they saw Kobe and Lebron do on tv the night before, girls generally do things exactly like you tell them to. One of the downsides was for a lot of them basketball just something to do with their friends and not necessarily a priority so I had to deal with things like "my mama said I can't come to practice tonight because I just got my hair done!", lol. Also to eliminate the possibility of the appearance of anything inappropriate I made sure my female assistant coach was present at all times with any interaction with the girls. A couple of times she wasn't able to be there and I would appoint one of the other mother's as my assistant coach.


>-How do you avoid one-size-fits-all motivation?

With boys its all about finding out what makes them tick, some need a pat on the back, some need a kick in the butt, figuratively of course.

>-What's your biggest individual success/failure?

On the boys church teams I coached I had kids of varying skill levels. Some played for their school teams and AAU teams and some who have never played organized ball before ever and the only team they would probably ever be on was a church team. To me the biggest joy was seeing those lesser skilled kids develop and grow and build their confidence. On one of my 7th grade teams I had a kid who couldn't even make a layup in practice and didn't play that much in games earlier on but he hustled hard and became a solid defender/rebounder and earned himself more and more playing time. The first time he made a basket in a game his reaction and the reaction of his teammates was priceless. His dad and I both did everything we could to fight back the tears, lol.

As far as failures, a lot. My personal philosophy was at the youth level players win games and coaches lose games. Whenever we lost I always to it personally and felt like and I had let my kids down by not preparing them well enough.

With the girls team I coached, like I said above for some of them basketball wasn't a priority and a lot of them would miss practices and games for various reasons and we ended up having to to forfeit some games at the end of the season because we simply didn't have enough player which was a huge letdown for the handful of girls that really were hardcore about basketball and wanted to play. I used to beat myself up about things I could've done differently to keep those other girls engaged.

>-If you're at a school, how does the overall athletic
>environment there help/hurt you?

I wasn't at a school, the rec league I coached at was in East St Louis, IL, so funding was minimal. Conversely the church that I coached for was "megachurch" so they had a big budget, they paid for all the uniforms and and equipment and had nice gym for us to practice in.

>-How did your team do this year / How does your team look this
>year?

My work schedule started getting crazy about 8 or 9 years ago and I "retired" but I definitely miss it. I still keep in contact with a lot of the kids, a lot of them have graduated high school and college and have started careers and families. I run into some of them around town occasionally and they still address me as "Coach" and I kinda like that in a corny sort of way, lol. I'd like to eventually get back into it if not full-time maybe as someone's assistant.

>Or anything else of interest. I have a very indulgent social
>circle of smart, interested people who are happy to listen to
>me prattle on about this but don't really know anything about
>it directly. And I know people who do the same thing as me but
>it's weird talking to them about it because we're talking
>about the same kids, etc.
>
>*If you don't, consider volunteering some of your time. It's
>usually kind of a pain to get looped in with most good
>organizations (more organized rec leagues, but especially
>schools) which, understandable, want to make sure you're not
>there for any villainous reasons. But it's worth it. And if
>you're like me and hate the idea of being in charge, I can
>assure you that most youth coaches would be thrilled to have
>somebody show up and say "I don't want to have any opinions,
>but I'm here to help things run smoothly by clicking a
>stopwatch (or whatever)."
>
>

>The girls team I coached was actually a church team, their
>original coach backed out at the last minute, one of the
>mothers was an assistant but she didn't really have any
>experience and didn't want the HC job so I was asked to do it
>since the boys season had just ended.

This is pretty much how I started coaching baseball in Chicago. A string of parent volunteers didn't have time and overnight I went from a guy who wanted to help to the only person standing willing to go to every game and fill out a lineup card.

It was kind of nerve-wracking, but at that point you're hooked. If you don't step up, maybe there's no team.

>I was apprehensive at
>first because I had never coached girls but it wasn't that
>bad. Most of the girls hadn't played as much as the boys but
>that was a positive because they hadn't developed bad habits
>so they took instruction well and were a lot more coachable
>than boys overall. Where as boys try do what they saw Kobe and
>Lebron do on tv the night before, girls generally do things
>exactly like you tell them to.

I don't think I've ever heard anybody make this observation about coaching girls, but it's congruent with some broader ones - that girls are typically a bit better at staking their egos around team success and coach's approval. I guess if that's true then your observation might logically follow?

>One of the downsides was for a
>lot of them basketball just something to do with their friends
>and not necessarily a priority so I had to deal with things
>like "my mama said I can't come to practice tonight because I
>just got my hair done!", lol.

Ha. Rough. The school and the parents where I work just schedule the hell out of these kids and I've heard some eye-rolling excuses. But that one just cuts right to the heart of "this is like fifth or sixth priority to me. you're gonna have to live with that."

>Also to eliminate the
>possibility of the appearance of anything inappropriate I made
>sure my female assistant coach was present at all times with
>any interaction with the girls. A couple of times she wasn't
>able to be there and I would appoint one of the other mother's
>as my assistant coach.

Big yep. I hate how necessary it is to be this smart. But part of protecting the kids is protecting yourself and not letting there even be the slightest hint of anything.

We had to sit through a three hour training, which was... deeply, deeply grim. It had an interview with a guy who, in the 80's, opened up a roller rink for the purpose of luring in children. He had no interest in roller skating on its own. It was horrifying.

>With boys its all about finding out what makes them tick, some
>need a pat on the back, some need a kick in the butt,
>figuratively of course.

Pretty much. The only thing I've really learned is (shocker) that you need to pay attention to what they respond to individually.

>>-What's your biggest individual success/failure?
>
>On the boys church teams I coached I had kids of varying skill
>levels. Some played for their school teams and AAU teams and
>some who have never played organized ball before ever and the
>only team they would probably ever be on was a church team. To
>me the biggest joy was seeing those lesser skilled kids
>develop and grow and build their confidence. On one of my 7th
>grade teams I had a kid who couldn't even make a layup in
>practice and didn't play that much in games earlier on but he
>hustled hard and became a solid defender/rebounder and earned
>himself more and more playing time. The first time he made a
>basket in a game his reaction and the reaction of his
>teammates was priceless. His dad and I both did everything we
>could to fight back the tears, lol.

This made me smile, especially when it's his teammates driving that response. That means you put together something really good.

>As far as failures, a lot. My personal philosophy was at the
>youth level players win games and coaches lose games. Whenever
>we lost I always to it personally and felt like and I had let
>my kids down by not preparing them well enough.

That's not a lot of fun for you, but it means that you keep trying to get better. I work with a lot of really smart, capable coaches who can't seem to get around the (fairly simple but not pleasant) observation that you've come to here: that if they fail then there's something you could have done differently. It seems like an easy bit of self-reflection to you, but I'm shocked at how many successful adults can't be bothered to do it.

And, though it sucks, opportunities to question your work can be really productive if you do it right.

>I used to beat myself up about
>things I could've done differently to keep those other girls
>engaged.

Yep. I've had this conversation with myself too. And then you get down to a certain point in the logical hole and you're like "nope. that's too far. Now, I'm just pandering."

>My work schedule started getting crazy about 8 or 9 years ago
>and I "retired" but I definitely miss it. I still keep in
>contact with a lot of the kids, a lot of them have graduated
>high school and college and have started careers and families.
>I run into some of them around town occasionally and they
>still address me as "Coach" and I kinda like that in a corny
>sort of way, lol. I'd like to eventually get back into it if
>not full-time maybe as someone's assistant.

It's fun catching up with them. I still get dinner with one of my baseball kiddoes whenever I'm back in Chicago. And it's probably a subtle prompt for them to get their own kids involved in sports because it creates a sort of positive continuity there: coaches give a shit about you.

It sounds like you got a lot out of this, and that you did a really good job. I hope that, if the time clears itself, you find something that works for you.

right now i've just been tracking with my kids' ages, but i've been thinking about getting certifications and having a more formal go of it.

the last two years of coaching i could really see the differentiation come into play. you could tell which kids did the winter soccer clinics and which ones were just signed up for something to do. so i think one of the biggest challenges i had was balancing team strength so that regardless of who was out there, we weren't too exposed in any area. but it's tricky, because in rec you need to have everyone out there (even the kids who want to sit on the sideline) and you want to make sure everyone plays every position so that they don't pigeon-hole themselves at an early age.

i also de-emphasize scoring and try to make sure i have a comment for each girl when she subs off. i praise them for hustling back on defense, being in position for a pass instead of chasing each other, getting around an opponent, being aggressive as a keeper, communicating to their teammates, etc. i tell them they should be the ones talking to each other on the field, because no one wants to hear me yelling from the sidelines.

but you kind of get a feel pretty early for their strengths and weaknesses, so i try to keep that in mind in terms of what i personally am looking for each of them to accomplish. you have to be realistic, because gains are mostly going to be marginal within any given season. but i try to bring up stuff from previous practices/games that i saw, or how they played as a team early in the season vs. later, and i like to think that somewhere deep down they appreciate that stuff being noticed, because not everyone is going to be the goal scorer.

this year it was hard to keep morale up early, because we were getting dominated and kids are not shy to say "we suck". but i told them that i was more concerned with improving their skills than winning games and by the end of the summer we won something like five of our last six, so that was rewarding.

I'll throw this one to the crowd and try to stat it as simply as possible.

1. I coach cross country and distance running. In area high schools, this sport is probably 95% white.

2. My two best underclassmen this year are black. There is a not-small club track scene in my area that's a bit more diverse, even in the distances, but neither one of these kids comes from the club track system. They're new to the sport and are just good at it.

3. I've found that kids don't typically like to give up on their favorite sports until they are juniors or seniors. It's not a hard and fast rule, but when the chances of playing football, basketball, baseball, or lacrosse in college start to look a bit diminished, that's usually when I get them.

So that's the framework. I've had a pretty strong stance since I've been doing this that I don't give the hard-sell to underclassmen. I love track, but I understand when kids point to the team dynamic and just plain fun of the above sports and say "I prefer those." I played baseball instead of track until my senior year, so I get it entirely.

But in the last year, I've come to realize that the structure of the recruiting season means I need to work harder to get strong performances out kids when they're juniors, not just seniors. That doesn't mean pushing them in ways that don't work, but it probably means trying to tell more freshmen and sophomores that "you can be DI good at this if you decide to start treating it as your primary athletic interest."

So, my questions are these - and feel free to dip into your experience as an athlete and not just as a coach.

1. How receptive would you have been when you were 14-15 to being told that a sport that maybe wasn't your favorite might be your best shot to be good?

2. How much would team demographics (joining a team that is pretty thoroughly white) have affected a decision to change which sport was your priority?

Obviously, the correct answer is that both of these kids are individual personalities who are going to deal with the (assuredly gentle) push differently. I'm mostly just trying to throw it out there so I can get my brain around the entire issue.

At the moment, I think I'm competing against basketball for one sophomore and one freshman - which I'm pretty okay losing to. Basketball is fun and if it were more than a winter commitment (AAU teams, etc.) then I'd already have heard about it with both of these kids. I'll see them in the spring and they'll be in shape but with relatively fresh legs.

I've also got a junior and a senior that I'm trying to talk about of lacrosse. That one isn't fraught with the same racial dynamic, but it's also tougher (and a more common problem for me - Lacrosse is *the* prestige sport at our school) because it means if track loses then they'll be gone from outdoor track. But there's the additional risk that the extensive and specific training demands of the lacrosse program will keep them from running indoor even though it's not in-season for them.

>1. How receptive would you have been when you were 14-15 to
>being told that a sport that maybe wasn't your favorite might
>be your best shot to be good?

Ennh. I played little league baseball up until I was about 13. I had a Bubble gum arm, and couldn't hit a beach ball with a boat oar. but that didn't stop me. I played for the fun of it, and because everybody in my neighborhood played. I knew that Little League was the end of the line. I was pretty good at football, though. I played flag as a kid, then moved on to full equipment and eventually High School Football. Two things screwed me up: I was a fat kid, so I was a lineman. But the summer of 8th grade, I lost a ton of weight, so I was skinny, but had never been a skill position player. Also, I'm short as shit, so being a short skinny lineman did me no good. I played LB freshman year, and had pretty good speed, but by the time I moved up to varsity, I was literally the smallest person on the team. So, I knew I wasn't going to make any significant impact ( I got it done on special teams though. With the occasional sub-in at Guard). If I had it to do all over again, I probably would've worked out with the DB's.


>
>2. How much would team demographics (joining a team that is
>pretty thoroughly white) have affected a decision to change
>which sport was your priority?

It wouldn't have mattered. I was basically out there just to have fun. But I learned a lot, and that helped me as a coach.



>

I really want both of these kids to start thinking of themselves as runners now, because they can be that good at it. But I can't be certain that either will help my team that much this year. Still, I'd love to have a huge group of distance runners that features some solid (the freshman I'm hoping chooses track over basketball will probably run about a 2:10/4:40/10:30 this year) underclassmen who can turn in borderline elite (for my area at least) performances in a year or so.

But I want it for them. Truthfully, my job is easier if I have fewer kids. There are only so many slots in our late-season meet to go around, and I hate telling good runners we don't have an entry for them.

It was fun, but once the kids figured out the legal parts of it, it kinda sucked.

Meaning, we had a kid who basically started a revolution of laziness. His exact words: "it doesn't matter, you still have to let me play." Once he did that, all the other kids started half-assing it in practice, and being generally disrespectful of the process.

I coached in one of those leagues where you had the Striper Rule, so the bigger kids ( we played based on weight) couldn't play skill positions. So it was hard enough getting the bigger ( read: good ) kids to play the line, and then we get this guy talking shit.

We also had that "have to be a starter on either offense or defense" rule too, so it was hard getting quality play out of a kid who didn't necessarily deserve to start. It got to the point where we were hiding bums.

I've been helping with my son's soccer team. Its crazy because there are times where I have to tell the coach, they're 5 let them chill. He's been trying to coach them up on every aspect of the game, and i'm sure it'll help them at some point.

I try and always remember that the kids are 5-6 and so I want them to learn the basics, but really have fun. My son is hyper competitive so keeping him interested won't be hard, it'll just be keeping the kids away from each other while they wait in line.

We already had one bad experience with basketball so I want to make sure that the kids have fun above all else.

i've reffed 9-11 year olds and half of them look like they are in space during the games.

Dog we're on the floor with them throughout the entire game.

This is going to be a fucking SHIT SHOW.

I guess I asked for this right?

Also, please let the answer be "yes"

In the huddle and then behind the LOS during play.

>Dog we're on the floor with them throughout the entire game.

I did the same age group the past two winters and truth be told I couldn't imagine not being on the floor with them. My major goal was to be less of a presence on the floor. By the end of the year I was almost invisible other than yelling for my gunning-ass son to pass the fucking ball.

Our talented freshman got cut from basketball. I think I did a really good job of pretending not to be happy, but I think he's got a real shot at qualifying for indoor nationals in the freshman mile category (4:40) and an actual future in this sport.

I am at least a little bummed for him. He's a pleasant kid and this team isn't going to sink or swim based on his presence.

But it was a side gig and it eventually got in the way of the full-time career.

I coached youth baseball for years but I eventually stopped because the parents just got to be too much to deal with and it became not worth it. Every parent thinks their kid is a star.

My daughter is getting into softball now and I helped coach this year but wasn't the manager. I think I'll stick with that for now.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

>I coached youth baseball for years but I eventually stopped
>because the parents just got to be too much to deal with and
>it became not worth it. Every parent thinks their kid is a
>star.
>

20 kids at try outs, and 19 of them were QB's according to the parents.

>Every parent thinks their kid is a
>star.

About 80% of my kids come to track (and distance running in particular) after getting cut from other sports. Their parents are usually shocked to hear that their sons might actually have some athletic potential.

Though my wife points out that I did coach the son of two olympians. They were (rather intentionally) pretty hands-off about his involvement. But track also doesn't give parents a big opportunity to bother me because it's more clearly a meritocracy. A parent can bother you because his son isn't playing shortstop and if only you'd get your head out of your ass he'd thrive. But it's a lot harder for somebody to tell me their son would be faster under different circumstances.

It was my first year as the head coach, but honestly it wasn't much different from years past as an assistant coach. I have coached in a variety of settings, but nothing too intense. I have helped coach my son's soccer team (under 5 team - which was a miserable experience). I have coached football at the junior high level (5 plus years at the 9th grade level and a few years at the 7/8th grade level).

>-How do you avoid one-size-fits-all motivation?

Never really thought about this one. When I played, I was always a team captain. I was also much more vocal as a player and have become much more reserved and quiet in my adult years. You have to be comfortable in your own skin, but also open to the idea of stepping outside your comfort zone. I force myself to be more outgoing and energetic for the sake of team.

One thing that helps is I motivate our responsible leaders to help take ownership of the team and provide them with leadership opportunities - like leading stretches or leading team breakdowns, etc.

I'm more of the 'focus and build on the positives' type of guy so I think that helps my players. My assistant took on more of a military style approach and surprisingly a lot of kids took well to his leadership style. So what the heck do I know? Personally, I think they responded well to both of us.

Also, rule numero uno: Always be fair and consistent in how you approach matters of discipline and praise.

>-What's your biggest individual success/failure?

As a coach? Not sure. I think the fact that many of my former players approach me - whether it's at school or in public - and thank me for my efforts and influence really means a lot to me.
>
>-If you're at a school, how does the overall athletic
>environment there help/hurt you?

Our head AD was my head football coach. He's like family to me and I know he has my back 100% in all I do. I can't ask for a better boss. I coach at the school I currently work for. I'm a school counselor which sort of complicates things, but for the most part it's been a great experience.
>
>-How did your team do this year / How does your team look this
>year?

My team did horrible. Our program in general is in a state of flux. From the early 80s through the mid 2000s our school dominated football in our region. I played on some great teams. Losing - especially at the 7-9 grade levels was very, very uncommon. This program has been very up and down for the past decade now. This year my team went 2-7 and quite honestly, 4-5 would have been our absolute peak. We had 2 games I thought definitely could have swung our way. However, we were greatly outmatched in most games.

Most 9th grade teams we played had the benefit of 4+ coaches whereas we had just 2. We had 24 players and on any given game or practice, we were lucky to have 20 guys dressed. Also, we just lacked players with grit and toughness. I never in my life have been around a bunch of football players who were so apathetic to playing physical. It was just weird. We did everything we could to motivate our players, but for many, it just wasn't in them. It was also the first group of players who I felt didn't truly understand and love the game. That was a weird feeling too.

All in all though, I had a blast (except for feeling the wrath of my wife throughout the season for the excessive time I spent away from the house). I coached the nicest collection of kids ever and I did seem some very real progress.


>If you do,* maybe come bullshit about it here.
>
>As background, I coached baseball when I lived in Chicago for
>two seasons. I wasn't very good at it, and (intentionally)
>served as "guy with a big bag of baseballs" who could be
>counted on to show up to practice twice a week. When I moved
>back to DC, I started coaching track at a high school near
>where I grew up. I have been an assistant for cross country
>since I was hired. I was an assistant for track for one
>season, then promoted to head coach for two seasons, then
>stepped back to assistant when my other job(s) conflicted with
>administrative requirements of being a head coach. Since then,
>I've been an assistant coach for track, left more or less to
>run the distance runners (hereforth defined as 800m on up) as
>I see fit.
>
>It's been fun. I know I wont be able to do it forever, but I
>start every season expecting it to be my last one and then see
>some underclassman make the big leap forward and tell myself
>"well, I've got to see what this looks like when he's done
>cooking."
>

>
>-What's your biggest individual success/failure?
>
>-If you're at a school, how does the overall athletic
>environment there help/hurt you?
>
>-How did your team do this year / How does your team look this
>year?
>
>Or anything else of interest. I have a very indulgent social
>circle of smart, interested people who are happy to listen to
>me prattle on about this but don't really know anything about
>it directly. And I know people who do the same thing as me but
>it's weird talking to them about it because we're talking
>about the same kids, etc.
>
>*If you don't, consider volunteering some of your time. It's
>usually kind of a pain to get looped in with most good
>organizations (more organized rec leagues, but especially
>schools) which, understandable, want to make sure you're not
>there for any villainous reasons. But it's worth it. And if
>you're like me and hate the idea of being in charge, I can
>assure you that most youth coaches would be thrilled to have
>somebody show up and say "I don't want to have any opinions,
>but I'm here to help things run smoothly by clicking a
>stopwatch (or whatever)."
>
>

>Most 9th grade teams we played had the benefit of 4+ coaches
>whereas we had just 2. We had 24 players and on any given
>game or practice, we were lucky to have 20 guys dressed.
>Also, we just lacked players with grit and toughness. I never
>in my life have been around a bunch of football players who
>were so apathetic to playing physical. It was just weird. We
>did everything we could to motivate our players, but for many,
>it just wasn't in them. It was also the first group of
>players who I felt didn't truly understand and love the game.
>That was a weird feeling too.
>


Exactly. At times, I felt like a babysitter. It's like they just want to wear the uniforms, and nothing else. We'd have kids comparing cleats and gloves, but when it came time to do drills, they wanted no part of it. Whenever we'd ask for 'volunteers' to run drills, the same four or five kids stepped up. Beyond that, the rest were content to stand on the sidelines. A few of them were definitely "dropped off by their parents" everyday.

I understand the positive message and meaning behind it, but I don't think they are fully motivated by those reasons. Some for sure. But for many it's just an opportunity to jump on the NFL bandwaggon. About half our games are played in October so pink naturally becomes part of our team colors. I'm just waiting for kids to ask about wearing various other colors that represent other causes.

That was a point of contention this year. My assistant coach didn't want kids to wear pink and that backfired bad. I stepped in and said they could wear wristbands/gloves & socks but that's it. For some it's a sensitive issue and I get that. But it's just one of those issues where you're like...'really? this is THAT big of an issue?'

but we had kids wanting to put visors and all that shit on their helmets. Along with, excessive eye black, not strapping on gloves, and all the other dumb shit NFL players do.

I'm curious to see how things shake out. In addition to the aforementioned freshman cut from basketball, I got some good news from a kid who is an excellent (for us) cross country runner but typically prepares for his lacrosse season in the winter. The best case scenario is that he just loves racing on the track and ditches lacrosse, but I'll settle for him sticking with his indoor commitment for as long as it lasts because he could get our 4x800m a lot closer to that Penn Qualifier during indoor.

I also finally got our head coach to concede that a former 200/400 sprinter wanted to move up to 800m this year. He's an impressive athlete, but I think he's getting close to maxed out physically in the shorter events. He's a quiet kid and extremely deferential to his coaches, but the first indication that he was thinking the same thing was when he quit football this summer and joined up with cross country. By the end of the season, he was running in varsity races for us and I think he has a chance to run in the 1:56-1:57 range this year.

Making sure that he runs with our 800m group will take some assertiveness on my part, though. Our sprint program had a kind of weird year this year and the people who run it want to emphasize the 400m more. This makes sense, tactically - as those runners are extremely useful for team points and it's just a weak event in our league right now. But I'm a bit worried that rather than build from the ground up, the sprint group wants to cull out some of my 800m runners and make them 400m runners. My objection to this is partly ego - I coach those kids year round. But it's also practical. The overwhelming direction that kids will have to move, event-wise, as they clarify their ability to compete beyond high school is up, up, up. 800m runners become milers. Milers become 5K runners. The athletic ones become steeplers. I think we're helping those kids more by taking 51 second 400m runners and trying to turn them into 1:54 800m runners.

So, I'm working hard to make a fence around my group without being a dick about it. Nobody's running 800 and up who doesn't run it, because that shit just doesn't work. But if they *want* to run those things, they're mine.

I ask because back in my day, our best 800 runner would also regularly be a part of our 4x4 team (which was apparently, the best in our region in the decade: (http://archive.northjersey.com/sports/all-decade-boys-indoor-track-1.300370?page=all)).

So there could be some room for detente there.

I've got an ... adequate record with 800m runners moving down successfully to 400m. The problem is that our sprint group has barely been able to churn out guys strong enough to run 400m. So, while I have confidence that the kids I work with can move down successfully, I don't have the same confidence that if they work with the sprint group that they'll remain strong enough to run good 800m races.

The push to improve the team at 400m would get a nice kickstart from poaching some of my 800m runners, and that's the source of a (fairly tame) turf war.

Aaaaaaaaaanyhow, it went fine yesterday. I have most the biggest group I've had since I've been doing this, and most of the kids that I want.

The guy I was referring to was an absolute freak who could run anywhere between 200 and 1600 and dominate. But not everyone has that sort of ability.

What's holding back your sprinters? Just not getting enough guys that have the aptitude, or is the training not quite there? Are you losing potential sprinters to other sports?

>The guy I was referring to was an absolute freak who could
>run anywhere between 200 and 1600 and dominate. But not
>everyone has that sort of ability.

Jesus balls. I would chop off up to three of my toes to have somebody like this on our team. Somebody like that makes things sooooooo easy. And it's fun to watch.

>What's holding back your sprinters? Just not getting enough
>guys that have the aptitude, or is the training not quite
>there? Are you losing potential sprinters to other sports?

I think it's the training. Only a handful of them are strong enough to murder an indoor 300m. Adding 33% to that race is a bridge too far for them. On the other hand, they've never *really* emphasized it, just said they've wanted to. So maybe this year they'll actually do it.