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Are all football coaches control freaks?
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Anonymous
| ah, a young Albert Haynesworth |
Anonymous
| OP, it sounds like your son is a talented and good hearted young man. Coaches and Marine D.I.'s have to be steely and tough in their speech, but inside they really care about the kids they coach. Be confident that you are doing the right thing and in the end your son will be a good football player, but most importantly, he will be a gentleman. |
Anonymous
| This is not just football, this is high school level team sports. My DS plays soccer and the message is clear - be there and be fully commited or don't play. We changed vacation plans and other plans to accomodate team practices and games. There were more than twice as many people trying out as there were spots. The next kid down would be delighted to have the spot of a slacker. |
Anonymous
 now this one confuses me. He will never get the chnce. He will nver get the chance because he's going to be be booted off the team due to his lackadasical attitude.
To allow him to stay sets a very bad example for the other players. |
Anonymous
Your words against somone so young are harsh and judgemental. Perhaps instead of calling this young man names like "slacker", you could cut him some slack and grant him the time he needs to mature, if not for his sake, then for yours. Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. Mk. 4.24 Clearly, this is a quote from the bible, but it's not about religion, it's about karma. |
Anonymous
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Anonymous
that last one should have read: agree with you about this if related to life in general, but Football is something completely different. You don't see that, o.k. you're getting a sense here how some othe rpeople see it. You simply do not miss practice more than for exceptional reasons - and never never because you overslept, went on vaction, party etc. The kid should be taught a life lesson now about hard work, committment, etc. I think you are the one letting him down by encouraging his lackadasical attitude toward the football team. |
Anonymous
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Anonymous
If a kid oversleeps, that's his fault. But if he misses "a few" practices because of a party, or a family get together, or a vacation - that's the parent's fault. Pretty obvious to me the OP just doesn't agree with the coach's priorities and is subtly or overtly trying to sabotage her kid's football career. |
Anonymous
| OP, your son made a commitment when he CHOSE to play football. Coaches go over the expectations during tryouts and if your son felt like he could not give up other things for practice, he should not have continued to try out. Sports teach kids about hard work, being a team player, responsibility, losing and winning gracefully, etc. These lessons are not learned by sleeping through practice or having other excuses for not working as hard as the other players. |
Anonymous
right. Any kid that dogs it like this in summer practice is likely to let you down in the big games when it really matters. It's all about character really, not just raw talent. |
Anonymous
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Anonymous
| OP - I can see that it would be excessive if the coach threatened to throw your kid off the team for attending a major event like a family funeral or wedding. But on a day to day basis, yes, this is about being committed to something he signed up for. Really no different than any activity where people count on you. Most HS coaches aren't jerks, but they do hold the kids to standards. There are extracurriculars that are just for fun, and sporadic participation doesn't impact others. But when people are counting on you -- whether it's a football team, or the HS newspaper editor waiting for the article you are supposed to write, or the orchestra for which you are first chair violin, or whatever -- then it's a problem if you make it only "sort of" a priority. |
Anonymous
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OP again, I will take him off the team. I don't get the culture.
Funny enough, my son is a great athlete, as was my father (alternate on an Olympic team), and a sister (national level track). However, we do not put sports over academics or other aspects of life. Even my father said the whole thing has gone too far, and he really trained hard when he was younger. One mother said to me, "if my son had the gift that yours did, I would work with it to get him to the highest level". Well that won't happen, she should work with her son. I see nothing wrong with a teen occasionally over sleeping, that's what teens do, sleep A LOT. That is why they get paid min wage, because they are notoriously unreliable. The responsibility comes with time. We shouldn't teach by expulsion. But still, the lesson that I think needs to be learned is that it is just not that important. These folks are wound tight. And in the end of it, with all the money for fancy equipment (my son wears cheapo shoes), and the time commitment of the parents nowadays (my parents never attended our games), they don't play any better than we did. |
Anonymous
| let's try all coaches...they have a control factor that can be misinterpreted. I have a son on an award-winning football team and a daughter on an award-winning cheerleading squad. The encounter with both coaches have left me with a bitter-taste AT TIMES. I think the freakish episodes are definitely parent generated. The scholar-athlete is the dream that many strive for...but it is the nightmare that many are having on a reoccuring basis. |