dangerzone
Freshmen Member
[F4:jthompson383]
Posts: 35
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Post by dangerzone on Apr 30, 2012 23:47:01 GMT -6
Hey coaches, something just happened to me that I have never heard of before. I run a program that has been resurrected after an 8 year lay off for the past 2 years. I got a call from the Commissioner of my league to say that they basically don't want us to return! He told me flat out that the other teams just can't compete with us and that we were "over most of the teams heads" last year.
Then he proceeded to tell me how well coached the team was etc etc and that he needed to make sure kids on other teams come back so this is the best course of action.
Is this what the world is coming to? If you can't beat em throw them out and play easier? I don't even think I could have the balls to admit that to another team. We dumb down school...have everyone get trophies, some sports don't even keep score and now this? This is why our country isn't competing on the world stage. I could go on and on but I think you guys get my drift...
My question has anyone ever experienced this before? What did you guys do? What was the dialog like?
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Post by coachd5085 on May 1, 2012 6:05:28 GMT -6
What was the age, and what were the levels of commitment for both your team and the other teams in the league?
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Post by pittss11 on May 1, 2012 7:49:02 GMT -6
Everybody wins. What a joke. We just keep lowering the bar for the people that won't work hard.
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Post by coachrobpsl on May 1, 2012 10:47:02 GMT -6
We were they whipping post of our conference for years. We got better because of tough competition and hard work. You only get better when you go up against somebody who is better than you. Is your association more talented or do you have better coaching or is it both? Kids don't like losing but parents hate it even more. Alot more. I have a sneaky suspicion this is more about parents then kids. A kid will not stop playing football because they went 6-2 and lost a game or 2 by a wide margin. A kid may stop playing if they go 0-8 and get blown out every game. That is usually about coaching and not talent. Sounds like the other associations need to step up there coaching and figure out how to beat you. Sounds like the commissioner needs to think about all of the kids that won't be playing on your teams as well. How many will quit compared to how many won't be able to play if you guys don't have a team?
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dangerzone
Freshmen Member
[F4:jthompson383]
Posts: 35
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Post by dangerzone on May 1, 2012 14:48:44 GMT -6
What was the age, and what were the levels of commitment for both your team and the other teams in the league? 7/8TH grade team...We all have the same practice time allowances ect. I mean we didn't rout any teams biggest score was 35-0 we gave up 23 points all year lost a game in OT 14-13 but beat the team the next week in the championship 20-0 |
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Post by coachrobpsl on May 1, 2012 17:08:49 GMT -6
I really don't get it if that is the case. It sounds like you have some good competition. If I was the coach that you beat in the finals I would want you to be back more than any other team out there, lol. I bet you would feel the same way. Are there other organizations you can become part of? It would be a shame to not have those kids and coaches not having a season. Sounds like politics to me. Nothing worse in youth sports than parents politics ruining it for the kids. If you have no other options and talking to the commish, and I hate even suggesting this, but media pressure is an option. Do they even have the right to exclude you without reason. We are Pop Warner and we cannot ask teams to just leave. We need very good reasons. Being good is not a reason to kick somebody out.If the rest of our conference was poor we would of never stepped up and gotten better. The one thing many adults are forgetting to teach kids is that life is difficult and you better work your tail off if you want to succeed. Sometimes you get your head handed to you on a silver platter served with a smile. You don't get trophies for performing poorly(except in youth sports). You are rewarded because of hard work, never giving up, discipline, not being selfish etc. Aren't these the values we are trying to teach these kids? Or is it better to to teach them to expect to be rewarded no matter what they do?
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Post by bobgoodman on May 2, 2012 1:26:47 GMT -6
Being good is not a reason to kick somebody out. Sure it is. You never heard of class competition? Promotion and relegation? It all seemed perfectly reasonable to me until I read dangerzone's post of 3:48 PM May 1. Considering that the team wasn't even undefeated, it looks like something fishy's going on. |
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dangerzone
Freshmen Member
[F4:jthompson383]
Posts: 35
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Post by dangerzone on May 2, 2012 12:19:50 GMT -6
Thanks for the responses, The team has already decided to play in another league even before the announcement was made but for other reasons ( the new league included special teams, allowed for open offensive and defensive formations ect) Its thinking like this that makes our kids unprepared for events in life that are tough or hard.
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Post by bobgoodman on May 2, 2012 21:07:26 GMT -6
Thanks for the responses, The team has already decided to play in another league even before the announcement was made but for other reasons ( the new league included special teams, allowed for open offensive and defensive formations ect) Its thinking like this that makes our kids unprepared for events in life that are tough or hard. How do you figure that? This looks exactly like practice for events in life that are tough! |
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Post by coachbuck on May 3, 2012 7:55:07 GMT -6
I think this is very typical of youth sports. The more you win the more the other coaches and youth board complain. It's happened to me for years. I get the "you must be cheating". Not very often do they look at the quality of the coaches that we face. Very frustrating.
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Post by davecisar on May 3, 2012 8:18:20 GMT -6
Unfortunately, this is the world in which we live
Can we change it? Probably not
That's one of the reasons I wont ever go over 50 pts= I dont want my kids not to have a place to play
One season we scored 3 TDs in the first quarter of 8 games- yet never went past 49 pts etc
That in a 100 team league- no one else would take us Im sure- we cant even get outside league teams to scrimmage us or play extra games etc
Be self aware and understand who you are dealing with- you cant cut off your nose to spite your face when it comes to kids- lots of ways to influence them without winning in blowouts every week etc
Even when you bend over backwards and do everything right, those that fail will look at you and cast stones to make themselves out less to blame for their failure- even if it is just in their own minds. Many youth coaches dont have a clue what is actually possible with the right priorities, pace and teaching methods
If you have other- better options- go for it
Sometimes you dont- or have exhausted your options
Whenever you leave, do so with a smile on your face and with no hard feelings- you just never know what the future brings, circumstances change, leadership changes etc
Best of luck
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dangerzone
Freshmen Member
[F4:jthompson383]
Posts: 35
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Post by dangerzone on May 4, 2012 14:44:18 GMT -6
Unfortunately, this is the world in which we live Can we change it? Probably not That's one of the reasons I wont ever go over 50 pts= I dont want my kids not to have a place to play One season we scored 3 TDs in the first quarter of 8 games- yet never went past 49 pts etc That in a 100 team league- no one else would take us Im sure- we cant even get outside league teams to scrimmage us or play extra games etc Be self aware and understand who you are dealing with- you cant cut off your nose to spite your face when it comes to kids- lots of ways to influence them without winning in blowouts every week etc Even when you bend over backwards and do everything right, those that fail will look at you and cast stones to make themselves out less to blame for their failure- even if it is just in their own minds. Many youth coaches dont have a clue what is actually possible with the right priorities, pace and teaching methods If you have other- better options- go for it Sometimes you dont- or have exhausted your options Whenever you leave, do so with a smile on your face and with no hard feelings- you just never know what the future brings, circumstances change, leadership changes etc Best of luck Thx Coach we have moved on to another league well before the phone call, we will do so with the same character that we demand of the kids. |
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Post by nolesbowl1 on May 6, 2012 21:18:56 GMT -6
Our league has come up with a new rule this year to try and make game close or at least try...: if you are up by 18pts at anytime during the game according to your roster size..you have to take kids out of the game until the score gets back under 18 point threshold...so if your roster is under 23 kids: 2 kids comes out, 24-30 kids you take out 4 and over 30 you take out 6..The kicker is....the other team picks which kids will sit out!!!! I'm quite shocked and upset about this new rule...also I have heard we may have to play A's vs. A's : B's vs. B's as well.. I coach 9-10 yr old boys and the rules are getting extremely out of hand..Every year they come up with something different. Last year we had a Mercy rule: if you are ahead by 20 or more points after the 3rd qtr. that will be the final score and both teams were to play their B & C players..Problem with that, losing teams kept their A's in and little kids were getting killed!!!Youth Football is amazing....
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Post by coachrobpsl on May 7, 2012 10:42:46 GMT -6
Pop Warner has a mercy rule and I have always said the rule put the feelings of kids before the safety of kids. I believe in having a mercy rule. Without it some coaches would feel the need to beat a bunch of 10 year olds by 60 points. Pop Warner starts its mercy rule at 28 points. From then you are supposed to put in back ups(which is only partially enforced), can only run between the tackles and you have a running clock. The defense is not allowed to blitz. I have never seen a team penalized for blitzing in the mercy rule. Go ahead and have a back up line and a back up rb and tell him he has to run the ball between the tackles against the other teams starting 11(who are all in the box blitzing). We have actually kneeled or punted early on more than one occasion because we were worried about our kids safety. My problem with the mercy rule is that the game, from that point on, has no point. Just end it.
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