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Post by coachbeckham on Oct 12, 2010 21:32:19 GMT -6
Alright... here's a scenerio:
We had seniors gone on an overnight retreat (Catholic School) and everyone else had a half day...
4 non- senior starters decided to skip practice. Small squad about 16 or so varsity ready players. Districts starts Saturday.
One is our starting center, we run shotgun and not too excited about the prospects of having our backup in, although our senior guard can snap so we could possibly fill in his spot.
What would you do? Sit the kids? Not start the kids? Run them next week? This is a game we have to have...
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Post by Wingtman on Oct 12, 2010 21:56:30 GMT -6
So this has happend? It may happen? It could happen?
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Post by coachbeckham on Oct 12, 2010 22:08:17 GMT -6
It did
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Post by Wingtman on Oct 12, 2010 22:48:43 GMT -6
Ok, sorry, if I didn't understand.
Did they skip just because? Or could they not get a ride back to school?
Did they just not show up or come up with lame excuses?
What's your policy on missing practice?
Personally, run them first day back, make sure they know it wasn't just themselves they screwed but the other 15 guys by missing practice.
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Post by coachbeckham on Oct 12, 2010 23:15:14 GMT -6
I'm not the head coach so it won't be my decision... just couldn't believe that our "leaders" would do this.
Lame excuses (including rides) but none of them contacted our head coach directly which is team policy if you have to miss for any reason. I'm pretty sure that they realized that our seniors weren't going to be there so the figured it was a good day to take off (we also have the bball coach come in and work them pretty hard with agilities/speed/conditioning on Tuesdays before we do football stuff).
All of a sudden we're having success and becoming content (5 wins in a row)... just gets frustrating to show up and realize only 3 of our varsity players are there to participate in the drills.
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Post by lochness on Oct 13, 2010 5:43:58 GMT -6
If kids skip practice, and it's an unexcused miss, they would miss a half for us...and only go back in if the kid that's playing is stinking the place up.
Don't let "it's a game we've got to WIN" stop you from maintaining discipline on your football team. It will kill you in the long run when the kids realize that they can get away with stuff because you "need" them.
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Post by cnunley on Oct 13, 2010 7:16:26 GMT -6
If kids skip practice, and it's an unexcused miss, they would miss a half for us...and only go back in if the kid that's playing is stinking the place up. Don't let "it's a game we've got to WIN" stop you from maintaining discipline on your football team. It will kill you in the long run when the kids realize that they can get away with stuff because you "need" them. Very true. We are in a pretty bad situation at the moment. 0-6. We started the year with around 25 kids. Once the losing started kids began to quit. Had homecoming 2 weeks ago and that following week we've had 12 kids at practice ever since. This week we've had 2-3 kids skip practice because they believe "they are going to start anyways". Luckily for us, we have 8-9 JV's that will play up the remainder of the season. We are using the rest of our season to prepare for next year and build more discipline into our program. You don't practice, you don't play. It's a hard pill to swallow, and these last 4 games are going to be rough, but it's what has to be done for the overall future of our program |
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Post by dacoordinator on Oct 13, 2010 7:49:57 GMT -6
Yea I was going to say, if a kids feels like you need him. He's going to take advantage of you and the situation. It's just how it goes. Whatever policy you guys have stick to it. Even if district starts and you want to win. I'm sure the first week wont put you out of the hunt. Do what you guys feel is best for your team and go with it.
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Post by blb on Oct 13, 2010 8:01:06 GMT -6
You must be willing to lose (short-term) in order to have discipline.
And you will most certainly lose (long-term) if you don't have it.
First unexcused absence for us, kid does extra work after practice. If it's in-season, he's demoted or sits a half also.
Second, he sits out a game. Third...three strikes and you're out.
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Post by dacoordinator on Oct 13, 2010 8:23:24 GMT -6
Agreed! You must be willing to lose (short-term) in order to have discipline. And you will most certainly lose (long-term) if you don't have it. First unexcused absence for us, kid does extra work after practice. If it's in-season, he's demoted or sits a half also. Second, he sits out a game. Third...three strikes and you're out. |
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Post by phantom on Oct 13, 2010 8:33:14 GMT -6
What's your normal policy for unexcused practices? Go with that. If you'd normally run them extra, then run them extra. If you'd normally bench them for a set period of time, then that's what you do. Nothing more, nothing less.
I feel for you. I've been on good teams and bad. It's not hard to teach a lesson when you have a bad team. When you really have something to lose is when it takes real balls to enforce discipline. Good luck.
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Post by coachcb on Oct 13, 2010 12:03:11 GMT -6
In all reality, I am in a situation right now where I can't sit guys for what I considered unexcused absences. If I did so, I wouldn't have enough to field a team. It's generally been my policy to sit them for a certain period of time and I wish I could do it right now.
In my experience, nothing sends a better message than benching someone for ditching practice. I've run kids in the past (it's what I'm doing right now), but it doesn't have as much of an impact as not playing them. One year, I overheard a kid say this to a teammate:
"So what if I have to run for twenty minutes? I didn't have to practice for two hours."
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Post by touchdowng on Oct 13, 2010 19:43:27 GMT -6
Spare the rod, spoil the child
ROD = BENCH
Send the message to all that skipping isn't tolerated. You can do this without dehumanizing the skippers.
If your admin had one backbone (or at least a vertabrae) they should support this.
Kids clearly did not follow team policy with not contacting the HC. Case closed. Move on and play with your depth. But send the message to all.
If you lose because of center snaps, you need not say anything more.
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Post by tango on Oct 14, 2010 6:59:48 GMT -6
All programs are different. No correct answer. At my current job they would be removed from the team. This is my third head coaching job and the first job he would run and bench him. My second job run and benched and never play.
Our summer program takes care of most of this at my current job.
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Post by rystaylo on Oct 14, 2010 7:21:34 GMT -6
Unexcused- does not play that week.
2nd unexcused he is off the team.
you have to call the head coach before the start of practice or it is unexcused.
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Post by seagull73 on Oct 14, 2010 11:07:53 GMT -6
For us an unexcused missed practice = missing the next game no matter how important the game is. The only excused absences are family emergencies (death) or medical (must have a DR. note).
This situation is why you need rules and consequences in place before the season in writing. Take the emotional & competitive part out of your decision making. They make the decision, you uphold you rules.
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Post by coachguy83 on Oct 14, 2010 11:24:00 GMT -6
Our rule is pretty cut and dry.
First Unexcused=1 Game Suspension
Second Unexcused= 2 Game Suspension
Third Unexcused= Off The Team
Players that had unexcused absences before the season start were given the option of doing conditioning to take away an unexcused, but it was a whole lot more than 20 minutes of running. I believe it was 30 laps around the practice field, 30 one hundred yard bear crawls and 100 up downs.
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Post by coachbeckham on Oct 15, 2010 11:39:26 GMT -6
I'm regretting not having specific penalties in writing prior to the season. Something learned for next year.
Either decision is unfair to the rest of the kids. We had a fun day at practice the day after the skips (played kickball) and we had the skippers run during it and also called their parents. I think we got through to them...
Thanks for all the feedback
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Post by jg08mhs on Oct 16, 2010 8:59:54 GMT -6
If kids skip practice, and it's an unexcused miss, they would miss a half for us...and only go back in if the kid that's playing is stinking the place up. Don't let "it's a game we've got to WIN" stop you from maintaining discipline on your football team. It will kill you in the long run when the kids realize that they can get away with stuff because you "need" them. Yesterday, one of our kids who is not a starter skipped. What would you do in this situation? We cannot bench a kid who already is not playing. |
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Post by phantom on Oct 16, 2010 9:11:43 GMT -6
If kids skip practice, and it's an unexcused miss, they would miss a half for us...and only go back in if the kid that's playing is stinking the place up. Don't let "it's a game we've got to WIN" stop you from maintaining discipline on your football team. It will kill you in the long run when the kids realize that they can get away with stuff because you "need" them. Don't dress him. Make him come as a manager. Yesterday, one of our kids who is not a starter skipped. What would you do in this situation? We cannot bench a kid who already is not playing. |
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Post by jpdaley25 on Oct 17, 2010 7:56:01 GMT -6
Our policy would allow them to play. 1st unexcused absence - Two hours of running, 2nd unexcused absence - 1 game suspension + 2 hours of running, third unexcused absence - dismissal from the team.
Whatever your policy is, you need to follow it, or it becomes a joke.
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Post by spartancoach on Oct 19, 2010 6:46:16 GMT -6
Follow your policy. We did this two years ago. First round of the playoffs. Our stud TB and our MLB (both captains) both decided to show up game day after positional and team meetings with conflicting stories (car trouble vs. slept in because out late). Our HC sat them both for a quarter, and we lost in a shoot-out by one score. However, both players are now excelling in college and both have been described by their college coaches as the hardest working players on their respective teams. No one game is bigger than the integrity of your program.
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juice10
Sophomore Member
Posts: 200 
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Post by juice10 on Oct 19, 2010 11:52:56 GMT -6
If a kid isn't in school that day, home sick, if he doesn't show up for practice do you consider it unexcused? If he calls you, do you consider it excused. Just trying to understand better.
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Post by 3sportcoach on Oct 19, 2010 12:13:18 GMT -6
This may not be for this particular situation, but it has been very effective for me - in a variety of sports. Everybody else runs. The rulebreakers watch, or even better, they can blow the whistle to start each sprint.
It is especially effective if you have good leadership on the team. If it's the leaders that break the rules, then this won't work... But you'd have bigger problems anyway!
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samson
Freshmen Member
Posts: 18
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Post by samson on Oct 21, 2010 11:14:32 GMT -6
Our program's policy is that if its an excused miss, and there 's not many excused reasons, then you run. The running is for "conditioning reasons" since they missed practice. If its unexcused you run for "conditioning purposes" then you run more for the unexcused miss. Both of these running situations are a huge deterent for these players missing. They run their butts off. They quickly found out it is alot easier to go to practice. This way the team and coaches aren't punished by having to sit players out etc.
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Post by ajreaper on Oct 21, 2010 17:52:44 GMT -6
I'm regretting not having specific penalties in writing prior to the season. Something learned for next year. Either decision is unfair to the rest of the kids. We had a fun day at practice the day after the skips (played kickball) and we had the skippers run during it and also called their parents. I think we got through to them... Thanks for all the feedback You have an important game coming up and have time to play kickball? I found that interesting |
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Post by mrucoach on Oct 22, 2010 18:21:35 GMT -6
I make the entire team do 10 up-downs after conditioning for every player who does not contact me before practice with an acceptable excuse for missing practice. They put pressure on their teammates to get to EVERY practice.
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Post by shields on Oct 24, 2010 11:12:21 GMT -6
For every missed practice, a player sits one quarter...no matter the excuse.
I just "fired" a senior last week for missing two days of practice because he "didn't want to come." I felt like we needed to make an example for the younger kids that when you commit to something, you have to see it through...win or lose.
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Post by schenk11 on Oct 24, 2010 14:37:55 GMT -6
1st Time - Miss half (Strike One)
2nd Time - Miss game (Strike Two)
3rd Time - Kicked off team or suspended indefinitely depending on school policy (Strike Three)
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