WWYD: youth sports coaching question
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Anonymous
There is no need to say anything at all. Send an email welcoming everyone to the team, state players are expected to attend practice, and play the child the minimum required time in the game. No need for explanations or conversations. You make your expectations clear. |
Anonymous
Um, then ask the rec league to move the kid to a team practicing on X day. The real truth is the travel parents don't care when the rec team practice is, because they aren't planning on attending anyway. They want their kid on the Friend Team, or jsut to get more game play time, or just think that hour of rec practice is not the best use of little Larlo's time. Its rude to the coach and the other kids on the team. |
Anonymous
| My kid plays rec for soccer and basketball for years. We do not know the practice schedule till the week before and the game schedule till the week before for each season sign up. We sign up a few months in advance just praying that it does not cause schedule conflict. He has other things weekly going on like his mental therapy and other lessons unrelated to these 2 sports. |
Anonymous
It’s not realistic to expect a volunteer run rec league to be able to accommodate a kid’s changing or unpredictable schedule. The reason you don’t know the schedule is because 1) counties don’t finalize gym or field permits until last minute and 2) leagues are usually struggling to get enough coaches, which affects the total number of teams and thus number of kids per team. A lot of leagues ask you to specify at least two days you can practice. They can’t realistically accommodate someone who says they can only practice on one specific day, or that they don’t know which nights they’ll be available but please put their kid on a team that will somehow work with their schedule. If a kid gets assigned to a team that practices on a night they can’t ever attend, the league can usually move them to a different team if the request is made ASAP. If a kid’s schedule changes so much that you can’t predict when they’ll be available, a team sport is not the right fit. |
Anonymous
This is what I suspect is happening in OP’s situation. The kid wants to be with certain other kids so wants to stay on that team without ever going to the practices. I agree with those suggesting to look into league rules or ask a league administrator. I think as a coach you have every right to say that players who don’t attend practice will get the minimum playing time. But f the parents complain, let them take it up with the league. Some people need to be told no. |
Anonymous
The point of practice for a team sport is to practice working together as a team. How hard a kid works at their travel team practice is not relevant. Lots of kids on travel teams do outside individual training and work hard there. Doesn’t mean they don’t have to show up for practices with their team. Missing practice sometimes for a conflict is different from saying you won’t ever be at a single practice. Even if your kid is the star, it’s not fair to just plunk them in at games. The other kids deserve to learn how to play with all of their teammates in a practice setting. |
Anonymous
It’s a nightmare no matter what you do. So it’s better to handle the requests and conflicts *before* making the rosters and practice schedules, than to get a bunch of emails after teams have been put together and schedules made, with people saying their kid can’t practice on this or that day and need to switch teams. |
Anonymous
This 100% I’d kindly offer them to switch to a different team with a different practice day. My kid does 3 dufferent sports right now ( travel soccer, rec basketball, school basketball) and some days I feel like I’m just ubering everywhere. I would never outright say we’re not doing any practices. |
Anonymous
+1 |
Anonymous
That kid will probably be your best player. |
Anonymous
Who cares? Its rec. If the child doesn't want to fully participate, she can sit on the bench and play the minimum time. |
Anonymous
| Quick two cents: I agree with the other posters about playing the travel player the minimum amount of time. Not out of spite like most posters, but because that travel kid is getting PLENTY of playing time outside of the rec league (likely year round too), and you don't want to take away from the kids for whom this is their only team and only season of year. |
Anonymous
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That may be your best player. You may have a ringer there. 95% of what you are teaching, that kid is probably already learning in club practice.
I’ve had kids that don’t show up to practice that are very unskilled players. Then they show up to games expecting to play. And the rec league will have some rule guaranteeing the kid 2 quarters of playing time or something. Atleast the kid you are talking about is working on their game. |
Anonymous
On the flip side of that, I've always had issues where it's really hard to enter basketball at later ages. In soccer there are more regulations where travel players can't play in rec leagues. But we know many aau basketball players who play on three or four teams a season, with one of the teams usually being a rec team. It makes rec leagues and teams very high level and hard for first time or beginner players and teams to compete in. Rec leagues should be set for beginners or players who are just playing for fun or want to try it out. I get it that some aau players want to play on the same team as their friends. So the team/coach has to kind of decide what their goal is. Is it just for a bunch of friends playing together? Is it to develop and have the players and team get better and become good basketball players? Or do they just want to win regardless if the win is a result of their players and team getting better throughout the season or it's because they have a ringer show up to the games? For some of the rec kids, the rec league is all they have in terms of getting to play organized basketball. |
Anonymous
| I allowed a player on my team last year who missed just about every practice due to conflicts with another sport. For a new player I'd have said no, but I knew the player well and was happy to accommodate. It wasn't ideal because there were things I wanted to work on, but it's rec league. |