bighit65
Junior Member
Make a statement without saying a word.
Posts: 397
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Post by bighit65 on Jan 22, 2019 4:44:41 GMT -6
We all know that without parental support youth programs would be in trouble. So my question is, what are some ways that everyone has created an atmosphere where parents have no problem helping as volunteers, or are willing to work to help make their child's experience better? We are looking at having a Parent Appreciation BBQ at the kickoff to the season where we will have our season packets detailing all of the things that will be occuring that season. I would love to hear what you all are doing in that regard.
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Post by cqmiller on Jan 22, 2019 11:40:56 GMT -6
If you can figure out this answer... write a book, sell it, retire. My kids are just entering the youth sports circuit and I have already seen the following on my son's 5 year old basketball team:
1) parents think practice is optional
2) parents think their kid is the best on the team
3) parents ONLY have their child's interests in-mind
My son was called for each of the following in his little-league basketball game (again age 5):
1) Stealing - cannot steal the ball because it makes other kids feel bad
2) Blocking - cannot block a kid's shot because it makes other kids feel bad
3) Defensive Rotation - cannot leave your man when someone else's man is dribbling directly to the basket
On top of that... they turned the scoreboard off at halftime because they were winning by more than 10 points!!!
Sorry, rant over... again those are all things caused by parents getting involved. If you can find a way for them to buy-in and it works, you are gonna have a lot of success.
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bighit65
Junior Member
Make a statement without saying a word.
Posts: 397
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Post by bighit65 on Jan 23, 2019 4:57:43 GMT -6
I hate to say it, but that story about your boy does not surprise me, anymore. The first year that I coached a 4/5 y.o. tee ball team, I was given a quote "It's all fun and games until grown ups get involved." Holds true across all contexts. That is why I am really trying to get parents on board. It's a rough ride without them.
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Post by coachcb on Jan 23, 2019 13:50:36 GMT -6
I had virtually nothing but negative experiences with parents when I coached youth league ball. I couldn't very well hold a Parent Appreciation BBQ as there really wasn't much to "appreciate". I handed the clipboard over to a group of parents on the second to last practice as they stood 10 yards away from the kids, complaining that I was running them for being a half hour late.
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Post by Chris Clement on Jan 23, 2019 18:19:50 GMT -6
If you can figure out this answer... write a book, sell it, retire. My kids are just entering the youth sports circuit and I have already seen the following on my son's 5 year old basketball team: 1) parents think practice is optional 2) parents think their kid is the best on the team 3) parents ONLY have their child's interests in-mind My son was called for each of the following in his little-league basketball game (again age 5): 1) Stealing - cannot steal the ball because it makes other kids feel bad 2) Blocking - cannot block a kid's shot because it makes other kids feel bad 3) Defensive Rotation - cannot leave your man when someone else's man is dribbling directly to the basket On top of that... they turned the scoreboard off at halftime because they were winning by more than 10 points!!! Sorry, rant over... again those are all things caused by parents getting involved. If you can find a way for them to buy-in and it works, you are gonna have a lot of success. Only regarding #3, I know many youth basketball leagues have to get extremely strict on playing man D because otherwise too many coaches were planting their biggest kid in the right-handed layup lane and then collapsing around the net. I know the response is to just hit jumpers, but it's unreasonable to ask kids to hit a 15-footer with any regularity unless you'd like to see the game end 6-4. So in the interests of not grinding the game to a halt because Coach SuperDad is going to scheme his way to victory they have to ban any kind of help defense. Now if they'd lower the rim to something age-appropriate maybe this wouldn't be an issue, but hey... And the scoreboard thing is also because Coach SuperDad turns into this dude:  |
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Post by cqmiller on Jan 23, 2019 20:55:08 GMT -6
The hoops are set at 6 feet. kids are hitting 3s and have some range since they are that low. I'm just sitting on the side hoping that they don't convince my son that playing defense is a bad thing. Gonna try to move him up to a level that isn't as "everyone wins" as this one seems to be. He may end up 3 years younger than everyone else and get his @ss kicked, but it's all good
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Post by Chris Clement on Jan 23, 2019 22:09:34 GMT -6
Oh. Well if the nets are at 6 feet then I got nothing. Though watching five year olds play basketball seems like torture.
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Post by coachcb on Jan 24, 2019 8:22:41 GMT -6
I hate to say it, but that story about your boy does not surprise me, anymore. The first year that I coached a 4/5 y.o. tee ball team, I was given a quote "It's all fun and games until grown ups get involved." Holds true across all contexts. That is why I am really trying to get parents on board. It's a rough ride without them. In my last year coaching youth, every kid played equally (two evenly matched teams that rotated between offense and defense by quarter), we won games by 40+ point margins, won the "league championship" and we didn't have any Bobby Knights on staff. The parents made everything a friggin' nightmare and I have no idea what more we could have done to get them "onboard". I had one mom try to chew me out before a game even started because her 14 year old kid burst out in tears because I moved him to FB from TB. I know that I'm not much help here but it was a matter of addition by subtraction in my situation. The harder I shot parents down, the quicker they "got on board". And by "on board" I mean being a rational adult and behaving themselves. Each parent that I was blunt with backed off in a hurry; I couldn't have a rational conversation with the majority of them about anything. It took me telling four of them to just take over the team for them to finally go away. |
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