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Post by airraider on Mar 9, 2008 0:39:04 GMT -6
I had a situation arise this past week. During track practice my QB had $300 stolen from his pants pocket which were laying rolled up on the ground with the rest of his belongings.
Due to my best receiver leaving practice for a moment and going into the locker room and then out to meet his girlfriend in the parking lot, along with some other things.. the QB thinks he is the one who stole the money.
The receiver supposedly had his pants and wallet with $50 stolen from his football locker. The locker was not broken into. He said that he had just received the lock and wrote the combo on the locker so he could remember it.
After the fact while we were all in the locker room, he was very chatty about everything in general.. one of those saying way more than he needed to things..
now.. there is no proof that he did this.. but the QB thinks he did.. in his mind KNOWS he did..
so.. where do I go from here? How do I build team chemistry with this situation?
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Post by mwpilots on Mar 9, 2008 5:35:14 GMT -6
It seems as if stealing money from athletes at practice may be a lucrative business. What kid walks around with that kind of money and then just rolls it up in his pants during practice. He should take $14.99 of that money and go and buy a duffel bag from Wal-Mart. How did anyone know he had $300? This is probably another example of a teenager talking too doggone much. 1)You need team rules;If you have them,then you need to review them.Team meeting. 2)An administrator needs to be present when you go over these rules.Explain consequences. 3)Parents need to be made aware of these.Either have a parents meeting or send a letter home to be signed by the parent if the kid wants to participate. 4)As coach,you may want to provide a place to lock up valuables for the kids.Get some freezer bags to put their stuff in and lock it in your office.I personally hate this one because I am not a safe deposit box,but in some places measures like this are needed. 5)If you are able to find out who stole the money they need to be dealt with accordingly.(public flogging--I hate a thief more than anything)  |
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Post by wildcat on Mar 9, 2008 7:04:56 GMT -6
Sorry to sound crude, but if some dumba$$ is going to leave $300 in the pocket of his jeans that are unsecured on the floor of a high school lockerroom, then he kind of deserves to have it stolen. My guess is that the kid is out of luck. Unless the kid who stole the money confesses ( :  or someone else who knows the kid stole the money rolls over on him, your QB is not getting that money back. |
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Post by ghscoach on Mar 9, 2008 7:12:13 GMT -6
If you have ever seen the movie “Full Metal Jacket” the seen in which the drill instructor finds Private Pile’s foot locker unlocked describes they way I feel to a “T”.
As mentioned above why was the kid toting around that kind of cash? Who did he run his lips to about the money? And most importantly why wasn’t it locked up in a safe place or given to someone trustworthy to hold on to?
As far as who stole the money without an eyewitness it will be impossible to prove who took the money. Ask around the rest of the team maybe someone saw something. If not I am afraid this young man just learned a very expensive lesson that he will not soon forget.
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Post by tiger46 on Mar 9, 2008 7:29:51 GMT -6
I'd put up a sign that says, "NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR LOST OR STOLEN PROPERTY!"
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Post by airraider on Mar 9, 2008 7:33:35 GMT -6
You are all completely right. He SHOULD not have had that kind of money laying around. He also should have given the money to the track coach to hold. ANYTHING other than just letting it sit outside 100 yards from where he was practicing.
But how do I mend the situation for my football team? Will those two ever be able to play together? Its one thing if one was a CB and the other a QB, but this is supposed to be my deadly combo..
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Post by CoachJohnsonMN on Mar 9, 2008 7:40:27 GMT -6
We had the same issue two years ago. Most of the boys left their lockers wide open when we went out to practice and there was collectively around $200 stolen. Each kid lost like $10--nothing like $300 but they were still pretty angry. It was not one of our players because none of them left practice. When reminded of our pre-season meeting to lock everything up, one captain's response was "But why should we have to lock our things up--that is pretty sad when we can't trust our things when out to practice."  Truth of the matter is, they didn't want to fiddle with their locks for the extra 10 seconds so they could play graba$$ with their girlfriends. Anyway, it happened again two weeks later. At that point, the geniuses decided to lock their stuff up. Lesson learned--your QB is S-O-L. |
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Post by airraider on Mar 9, 2008 7:53:18 GMT -6
Yea, I know the money is gone.. and he does too.. He even had a good outlook on it.. well as good as you could have.. he says he cant prove it, but he knows the other guy did it.. so in his mind there is no doubt..
The school I just came from.. no locks.. no doors.. no problems.. you could walk through the lockeroom.. cell phones just laying there.. Money Im sure as well.. never had a problem..
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Post by CoachJohnsonMN on Mar 9, 2008 7:58:45 GMT -6
But how do I mend the situation for my football team? Will those two ever be able to play together? Its one thing if one was a CB and the other a QB, but this is supposed to be my deadly combo.. First, you need to have a very frank individual meeting with each of the boys. Give them a chance to express their beliefs about this situation and you express your concerns. Remind them that their success and team success depends on the trust of the other doing the right thing. I realize that this may not get you very far, but you need to open up communication and take this head on. Try to find ways for these guys to work together in a team setting prior to the season. Put these guys in the same lifting group, find ways to pair these guys up in summer throwing drills, put these guys together in the same group in team building activities. Bottom line--do not allow these guys to avoid each other. If any problems will arise, it will happen in these settings. At least you will find this out in the privacy of the team setting and not on a Friday night in the fall. Not perfect but I don't think there is a perfect solution to a situation like this. Good luck. |
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Post by rideanddecide on Mar 9, 2008 7:59:40 GMT -6
Anyone ever feel like people don't read what was written?  The QB shouldn't have had $300 in his pockets! Just kidding, kind of. The heart of this post is that is DID happen so what can the coach do to help rebuild team chemistry. Yes, kids were stupid, consequences should be dealt out, etc....But the coach wants to know how he can help rebuild trust within his program. Sorry, I posted at the same time as the previous post. Coachjohnsonmn must have read the posts. He has some good ideas. |
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Post by Yash on Mar 9, 2008 8:06:21 GMT -6
$300 on a high schooler? Thats a teachers monthly salary, i'd start checking the staff. Jk
I would go as far as to require lock use. Really for $6 you can prevent any theft.
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Post by brophy on Mar 9, 2008 8:18:24 GMT -6
we used to have a big problem with this.
1) have the kid file a police report
2) lock the locker rooms when you are not in there.
.......a) if a kid needs to get into the locker room when it is locked;
..............i) tough
.............ii) a coach will be present with him and lock it up immediately when the player leaves.
If you're worried about keeping kids happy - tough *$%#.
They are either going to get along or they aren't - you don't need to be buddy-buddy to play football, just as long as you do your job on each play.
If there IS a kid you know is stealing - get rid of him as quickly as you can, because you won't be able to contain his damages (lost a DI recruit because he was too stupid to quit stealing)
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Post by airraider on Mar 9, 2008 8:22:04 GMT -6
But how do I mend the situation for my football team? Will those two ever be able to play together? Its one thing if one was a CB and the other a QB, but this is supposed to be my deadly combo.. First, you need to have a very frank individual meeting with each of the boys. Give them a chance to express their beliefs about this situation and you express your concerns. Remind them that their success and team success depends on the trust of the other doing the right thing. I realize that this may not get you very far, but you need to open up communication and take this head on. Try to find ways for these guys to work together in a team setting prior to the season. Put these guys in the same lifting group, find ways to pair these guys up in summer throwing drills, put these guys together in the same group in team building activities. Bottom line--do not allow these guys to avoid each other. If any problems will arise, it will happen in these settings. At least you will find this out in the privacy of the team setting and not on a Friday night in the fall. Not perfect but I don't think there is a perfect solution to a situation like this. Good luck. excellent info.. I will do that for sure.. both of these kids are on the sprint relays.. I will observe their interactions from there.. |
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Post by kcfootballwv on Mar 9, 2008 17:21:07 GMT -6
I find it pretty sad that so many people are saying this kid deserved it, or he learned a lesson. He is a high schooler that was so nieve as to trust his teamates. What a Jack@$$.....Pretty sad that those are our thoughts
The amount of money stolen is not the issue. The fact is that there is a thief and you are not going to catch him this time.
Just take some preventive measures to hopefully avoid it in the future.
As for the team chemistry......it's gone if the QB feels he did it. Agree with Brophy though, just get them to perform. Get the QB to throw him the ball when he is open. The WR is going to catch it regardless if he gets along with the QB or not. The QB having blinders is your only possible issue now.
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Post by dacoachmo on Mar 9, 2008 20:46:14 GMT -6
Sorry to sound crude, but if some dumba$$ is going to leave $300 in the pocket of his jeans that are unsecured on the floor of a high school lockerroom, then he kind of deserves to have it stolen. My guess is that the kid is out of luck. Unless the kid who stole the money confesses ( : or someone else who knows the kid stole the money rolls over on him, your QB is not getting that money back. ditto! *always start the year by telling them TRUST NO ONE! *after a theft, I always ask the player did you lock your locker? *We always let player put items in our office. *Last year we started locking the locker room. worked great! |
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or someone else who knows the kid stole the money rolls over on him, your QB is not getting that money back.
Truth of the matter is, they didn't want to fiddle with their locks for the extra 10 seconds so they could play graba$$ with their girlfriends. Anyway, it happened again two weeks later. At that point, the geniuses decided to lock their stuff up. Lesson learned--your QB is S-O-L.
