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Post by coachcb on Oct 30, 2009 12:39:01 GMT -6
Now, I know this thread may turn into a work ethic/effort deal, bhut I want to present it a different way. In some ways, do you guys feel that athletics MEAN less to some kids than they have in the past? I'm not talking about being lazy or uncoachable, but just the bear bones; is there less DESIRE to play sports right now?
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Post by coachbiskits on Oct 30, 2009 12:42:35 GMT -6
Yes. Or at least to play the right way, for the right reasons.
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Post by coachcb on Oct 30, 2009 12:58:04 GMT -6
This doesn't have any bearing on the program I am in, we have a lot of tradition. But, from what I am hearing from other coaches and seeing in places is that there are kids out for football for reasons other than enjoying the game itself.
There's always going to be the basic fact that it's a sport and it's competitive (you keep score), but I guess I feel like there are kids who have no internalized reasons for playing it. Like enjoying the contact of the game, playing sports because of the internal pride factor, etc..etc..
I guess, I see the media having a huge impact on it.
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Post by brophy on Oct 30, 2009 13:17:41 GMT -6
it USED to be a rite of passage
Now, not so much, because we don't want to exclude anyone, we validate ANY and every time investment.
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Post by touchdownmaker on Oct 30, 2009 14:03:34 GMT -6
My school is full of kids who cant throw and catch or run...or even walk steps.
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Post by coachinghopeful on Oct 30, 2009 21:37:08 GMT -6
ESPN has turned all sports into an empty celebration of individual highlights and individual personalities.
Video games have turned all sports into contests to accumulate the most stats.
Pop culture now likes to ridicule "the dumb jock" who "takes it too seriously." The individual desires and being an "outsider" are now raised above the individual.
Kids often don't have the kind of supportive parenting that's conducive to athletics. So many parents either don't give a crap, expect everything to be handed to their kids, or they're so totally psycho and pushy about it that they make playing miserable for the kid. It's a balancing act and a lot of parents now are falling down.
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Post by touchdownmaker on Oct 31, 2009 5:39:32 GMT -6
I always think back to the "slacker and proud of it" tee shirts....the bart simpson role model.
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Post by coachcb on Oct 31, 2009 8:16:15 GMT -6
I heard a very successful volleyball coach say that she got out of coaching because she was tired of hearing about 'college scholarships'. She had parents upset with her because their kids weren't playing much and as such 'they weren't going got a college scholarship'. She told me that one parent told her that she was 'flushing her daughter's future down the drain'. Now, I mean, how do you respond to that kind of crap?
Now, this was a volleyball program that won many state titles and was the pinnacle of the sport in the state for a long time.
But, I still don't know that it comes straight down to the parents, because I have seen many supportive parents that are actually way harder on the kids than we are as coaches. I agree with coachinghopeful; I think that the media has a lot to do with it. When I played, I loved watching college and NFL football because I loved the game. Now, I see kids with the opposite attitude; they play the game because of college and NFL football.
It's just kind of funny, because the last game of the soph season, we took a thumping and we walked into the game 8-1. Now, soph records aren't real important to the program, but it was great, nonetheless. Towards the end of the game, there's no way we're coming back; we're down by too much. A time out gets called and I walk out onto the field and before I can say anything, one of our captains says "Hey goes, ignore the scoreboard, let's just go out and beat the sh-t out of these guys." FANTASTIC. So, I know there are groups of kids out there, not just in our program, that play the game for internal reasons.Made me very happy.
But, then I've got my 'stats safety'; he plays hard, but he's kind of a selfish kid who doesn't like sharing reps. All season long I heard the kid complaining that he didn't have any picks because they didn't throw to his side or that, when he dropped picks, it was because someone was in his way or that the ball was thrown to low... In this losing game alone, he dropped 3 picks; balls thrown right to him. Now, his complaining about stats, coupled with his bad attitude, shows me that this kid is playing for external reasons.
Now, I imagine that there has been kids like that for years, but I still think that a big part of it is the media. They hear all about the stats, all about the college scholarships, and that's a big part of the reason why they play football.
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Post by coachinghopeful on Oct 31, 2009 15:35:39 GMT -6
I think the "scholarships" thing comes back to parents and players just expecting everything to be handed to their kids. They don't know (or care) about the level of work and talent it takes to impress a college coach enough to want to invest money in a player, nor do they even want to put the time in to even research the recruiting process online. They just figure that if the kid's playing, he (or she) will instantly get a free ride out fo it.
It really kills me when parents tell their kids they won't get to go to college unless it's on an athletics scholarship, but then they won't take the kid to practice or let them stay for weights afterschool. Then they point fingers and blame the coach when the kid doesn't start or when their kid's not "featured" in a way that gets them attention. That's happened with a few of the kids at the school I'm observing at now (I'm in school and not coaching this year). They think all a coach has to do is magically call the right plays and their kid's going to be an All American.
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Post by fbdoc on Oct 31, 2009 19:11:09 GMT -6
Validation is a big reason. Kids used to need sports to be considered "cool". Now the skateboarder, rapper, slacker, stoner, x-gamer, etc. has a higher cool factor than the backup on the varsity football team. The culture has completely changed. I guess that's good in a way....
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Tampa
Sophomore Member
Posts: 211
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Post by Tampa on Oct 31, 2009 19:22:53 GMT -6
The last decade has gone more to "what the team can do for me" instead of the old "what can I do for the team". It is a shame when individual accolades override team goals. But even though the media is partly to blame, it's our entitlement society as a whole.
But when we do find some of those throw-back kids, dang it's fun to coach!
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Post by coachcb on Nov 1, 2009 9:03:21 GMT -6
I agree with fbdoc on his post; the culture has changed and it's something that always will' society doesn't remain static.
It wasn't that long ago that I was in high school (10-15 years ago) and I remember the 'gangster kids', the 'goth kids', 'the skaters' etc.. being viewed in a least a neutral light. Now, they have been accepted by the high school culture and that's not a bad thing, by any means. But, because they've been accepted, it provides kids external factors that might even keep them from playing sports. In a lot of ways, it provides instant gratification for kids; they can pop a game into their XBox, things that appeal to their competitive side and kind of detract from alot of intrinsic motivation. Look at the social side of things; they can play the same games online with their buddies, get all of the things that I talked about above, AND get their social fix.
So, I guess, we have to make football something that draws the kids away from Grand Theft Auto 1001. LOL
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Post by coachorr on Nov 1, 2009 9:34:10 GMT -6
ESPN has turned all sports into an empty celebration of individual highlights and individual personalities. Video games have turned all sports into contests to accumulate the most stats. Pop culture now likes to ridicule "the dumb jock" who "takes it too seriously." The individual desires and being an "outsider" are now raised above the individual. Kids often don't have the kind of supportive parenting that's conducive to athletics. So many parents either don't give a crap, expect everything to be handed to their kids, or they're so totally psycho and pushy about it that they make playing miserable for the kid. It's a balancing act and a lot of parents now are falling down. Bingo, very well said. |
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Post by calicoachh on Nov 3, 2009 16:06:30 GMT -6
these things are annoying, but there are still kids who "need" football. These are the kids that need the positive male role model in thier lives, even if they don't realize it right now. So, i think that football still means something, even if the kids are not aware of it right now, they will be aware of it ten years from now.
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