Pay-to-Play Sport at Private HS employing club coach - what's normal?

[Anonymous]

This has been our experience as well. Between our kids, they will have 14 varsity letters between them by the time they graduate. They are not D1 caliber athletes, but they take all of the life lessons from their sports and are having a blast while balancing the academics very nicely. They have friends and classmates who are planning to play in college and they have graduated teammates playing in college, some at the highest levels.

There is simply no reason to give into the grind that these athletic powerhouses are trying to sell in order to achieve the dream of college level sports.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this Bishop O'Connell and baseball?

Bishop O'Connell is not a DC private and baseball is not a Fall sport.

And O'Connell's baseball coach doesn't have a travel program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this Bishop O'Connell and baseball?

Bishop O'Connell is not a DC private and baseball is not a Fall sport.

And O'Connell's baseball coach doesn't have a travel program.

He also does a great job with O'Connell's program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a Bullis parent whose kids play on varsity teams for each season in different sports. I can tell you that there aren't any coaches or sports who are doing what the OP described at Bullis. Also, could people please just stop randomly stop slamming Bullis when it's not even being discussed? THere's already a 30+ page thread full of nonsense and half truths. It's tiresome.

Perhaps not in the sports your child plays, but I can tell you we experienced exactly what has been described the original poster at Bullis. What is most tiresome are the Bullis boosters' knee-jerk reaction to anything negative revealed about the school.

This was our experience at Bullis too. If the kid is connected to a coach either due to being on club team and recruited or comes from a family that donates big time they get the attention. It’s true. Both in basketball and track from our experience. I’m sure other sports too. I also know that coaches get commission on his much money they bring in from full pays. The school is a total disgrace.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a Bullis parent whose kids play on varsity teams for each season in different sports. I can tell you that there aren't any coaches or sports who are doing what the OP described at Bullis. Also, could people please just stop randomly stop slamming Bullis when it's not even being discussed? THere's already a 30+ page thread full of nonsense and half truths. It's tiresome.

Perhaps not in the sports your child plays, but I can tell you we experienced exactly what has been described the original poster at Bullis. What is most tiresome are the Bullis boosters' knee-jerk reaction to anything negative revealed about the school.

This was our experience at Bullis too. If the kid is connected to a coach either due to being on club team and recruited or comes from a family that donates big time they get the attention. It’s true. Both in basketball and track from our experience. I’m sure other sports too. I also know that coaches get commission on his much money they bring in from full pays. The school is a total disgrace.

UNTRUE.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a Bullis parent whose kids play on varsity teams for each season in different sports. I can tell you that there aren't any coaches or sports who are doing what the OP described at Bullis. Also, could people please just stop randomly stop slamming Bullis when it's not even being discussed? THere's already a 30+ page thread full of nonsense and half truths. It's tiresome.

Perhaps not in the sports your child plays, but I can tell you we experienced exactly what has been described the original poster at Bullis. What is most tiresome are the Bullis boosters' knee-jerk reaction to anything negative revealed about the school.

This was our experience at Bullis too. If the kid is connected to a coach either due to being on club team and recruited or comes from a family that donates big time they get the attention. It’s true. Both in basketball and track from our experience. I’m sure other sports too. I also know that coaches get commission on his much money they bring in from full pays. The school is a total disgrace.

UNTRUE.

This was OUR experience and we have friends who are still there dealing with it. Recruiting kids in from all over the world trying to win championships on top of the other favoritism.

[Anonymous]

100% untrue, or mostly untrue?

[Anonymous]

"What's normal?" or "what's acceptable?" Reading through these posts I have no doubt that there are lots of schools where coaches show favoritism to players who play for their club/travel/AAU teams. So that seems normal, even if it also seems wrong. But some posters are describing something different about the St Johns baseball program. If the coach there is in fact not letting kids play high school baseball (as opposed to starting other kids over them) because they don't play for his travel program in the offseason, then that is not normal or acceptable. Can anyone confirm that this is really what's happening? It's hard for me to imagine it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a Bullis parent whose kids play on varsity teams for each season in different sports. I can tell you that there aren't any coaches or sports who are doing what the OP described at Bullis. Also, could people please just stop randomly stop slamming Bullis when it's not even being discussed? THere's already a 30+ page thread full of nonsense and half truths. It's tiresome.

Perhaps not in the sports your child plays, but I can tell you we experienced exactly what has been described the original poster at Bullis. What is most tiresome are the Bullis boosters' knee-jerk reaction to anything negative revealed about the school.

This was our experience at Bullis too. If the kid is connected to a coach either due to being on club team and recruited or comes from a family that donates big time they get the attention. It’s true. Both in basketball and track from our experience. I’m sure other sports too. I also know that coaches get commission on his much money they bring in from full pays. The school is a total disgrace.

UNTRUE.

This was OUR experience and we have friends who are still there dealing with it. Recruiting kids in from all over the world trying to win championships on top of the other favoritism.

I'm the "perhaps not..." poster from above. It is absolutely NOT untrue that this was our experience as well. You can speak for yourself, but not for everyone else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"What's normal?" or "what's acceptable?" Reading through these posts I have no doubt that there are lots of schools where coaches show favoritism to players who play for their club/travel/AAU teams. So that seems normal, even if it also seems wrong. But some posters are describing something different about the St Johns baseball program. If the coach there is in fact not letting kids play high school baseball (as opposed to starting other kids over them) because they don't play for his travel program in the offseason, then that is not normal or acceptable. Can anyone confirm that this is really what's happening? It's hard for me to imagine it is.

Where is the line between showing favoritism and not letting play?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where is the line between showing favoritism and not letting play?

First, this varies from one sport to another. Some allow for free substitutions and flexibility in allocation of playing time, while others don't. In baseball and soccer, once you're taken out of the game, that's it. So being the starter matters. Being the one who "starts" is not as big a deal in basketball or football, though, because for symbolic or strategic reasons, those who end up playing the most sometimes start on the bench.

Second, showing favoritism vs. not letting play is not always zero-sum. It can be negative-sum. You can show favoritism to one player by having them start, while at the same time completely shutting out someone else who would otherwise be playing back-up minutes even if not starting.

[Anonymous]

Maybe look at from a different perspective. Could it be that the coach wants his HS players also playing for his club team so that he’ll get a cut if any of those players ultimately go pro? He then gives more playing time in HS games to the club players to increase their visibility and the likelihood of D1 recruitment. Thinking specifically about soccer here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe look at from a different perspective. Could it be that the coach wants his HS players also playing for his club team so that he’ll get a cut if any of those players ultimately go pro? He then gives more playing time in HS games to the club players to increase their visibility and the likelihood of D1 recruitment. Thinking specifically about soccer here.

What do you mean "get a cut"? Are you talking about training compensation payments? Even if US clubs end up getting any payments anytime soon (not a sure thing by any means), there are very few players who opt for college that will likely be getting big pro contracts, other than the occasional goalkeeper.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a Bullis parent whose kids play on varsity teams for each season in different sports. I can tell you that there aren't any coaches or sports who are doing what the OP described at Bullis. Also, could people please just stop randomly stop slamming Bullis when it's not even being discussed? THere's already a 30+ page thread full of nonsense and half truths. It's tiresome.

Perhaps not in the sports your child plays, but I can tell you we experienced exactly what has been described the original poster at Bullis. What is most tiresome are the Bullis boosters' knee-jerk reaction to anything negative revealed about the school.

This was our experience at Bullis too. If the kid is connected to a coach either due to being on club team and recruited or comes from a family that donates big time they get the attention. It’s true. Both in basketball and track from our experience. I’m sure other sports too. I also know that coaches get commission on his much money they bring in from full pays. The school is a total disgrace.

UNTRUE.

This was OUR experience and we have friends who are still there dealing with it. Recruiting kids in from all over the world trying to win championships on top of the other favoritism.

Are you actually describing playing the best player as "favoritism"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"What's normal?" or "what's acceptable?" Reading through these posts I have no doubt that there are lots of schools where coaches show favoritism to players who play for their club/travel/AAU teams. So that seems normal, even if it also seems wrong. But some posters are describing something different about the St Johns baseball program. If the coach there is in fact not letting kids play high school baseball (as opposed to starting other kids over them) because they don't play for his travel program in the offseason, then that is not normal or acceptable. Can anyone confirm that this is really what's happening? It's hard for me to imagine it is.

I can confirm that the St. John’s baseball coach, with approval from the St. John’s athletic director and administration, has told several players that they are not allowed to play baseball at St. John’s because they did not pay the coach to play on his summer travel team. I understand that there are other players who chose to not pay the coach for his side business and are awaiting their fate. I am told the administration is fully aware of the baseball coach’s personal financial requirement to be eligible to play baseball at St. John’s and have no issues with it. Someone figured out that the yearly costs for the coach’s outside baseball team is in excess of $5,000 so multiply that by 50 or 60 kids and you get a pretty penny in the coach’s pocket.