Sorry Coach, I am late for practice....Again!

You will probably receive a variety of responses to this question, all with very legitimate points of view!

My personal feeling is that kids occasionally being late to practice is not a big deal. I've always tried to be understanding that Mom and Dad (coaches too!) have plenty of other things to do besides getting Jr. to football practice. If it becomes more than occasional or begins to become a significant distraction, I'll address it with the parent after practice to see if it's something we as a staff can help with (like providing a ride to or from practice) or if its something the child is doing (or not doing) which needs to be subject to a "teaching moment". I do have kids who miss our warmup period at the beginning of practice catch a couple of goal posts upon arrival, not so much for punishment, but to simply get their blood flowing before joining the workout.

Dave Hartman
CYFL Coach

The problem is when parents aren't even at practice, they drop little Jimmy off and take off to their hair/nail/salon appointment.

I make players stay after practice so that the parents have to wait. If they don't want the kid to make up the time, no problem, he can sit on the bench this week.

I plan my time with the thought of leaving 30 minutes after practice anyway so it doesn't bother me. It really bothers the parents who were late though.

And if parents are late picking up their kids, well, that is handled in a pre-season parents letter explaining that kids left 15 minutes after practice will be picked up by the police and they can collect their children there.

Not only that, but while they're running laps, they're missing even more of practice.

If I could make the rules, there'd be a formula translating a portion of time late getting to practice or being picked up after practice (for those who aren't nearby and can't walk or bike home), or being taken early out of practice, into time off the minimum plays in games. Of course that won't matter to those who get more than minimum playing time anyway, so there'd have to be another sanction, like mandatory time off in games.

Coach Mike wrote:
I've done too much of that lately. Last year I found that the position I was given supposedly of head coach of a team turned out to be baby sitting of about half a team. Later, in the guise of "vocational rehab" (unemployed and taking temporary assistance), I was given another group baby sitting job that had been advertised as tutoring. Later I was sent back to that institution but not allowed to do even that, because of stupid bureaucratic rules, and was sat in the hall all day as "security".

I don't mind being a babysitting service during practice as long as the kid is motivated and wants to learn the game. If he doesn't seem interested or is a problem, I talk to the parents and push them to be involved or take their children somewhere else.

Where I coach, I have a lot of kids with single parent families, parents that work two jobs, or other problems and the child is caught in the middle. Football is their oasis and I don't want to take that away from them. I've had a 12 year olds look at me and tell me that their mother went away for the weekend and left him and his 8 year old brother alone at home so he could play football. I can't turn that kid away.

As for players being late, our organization has different colored practice jerseys for every team on the field (8). It makes it very easy to see my players coming across the field. I tell them in the beginning of the season that if they are late, once they step on that field they better have their equipment on and sprint to practice. If they do that, I usually won't do anything, they warmed up with the sprint and they showed as much effort as possible to get across the field. They can't control when their parents drop them off most of the time, but they can control how fast they get across the field. If they take their time getting across the practice field, then they owe me a lap (to warm up) and extra work after practice. Once I made them responsible, I rarely saw late players walking across the field.

Good point.

Coach

I figured out about 15 years ago that pier pressure is the best way to instill discipline into a football team. It is also is a very good team-building avenue.

I have an entire program that I follow that is considered odd by others. Football is 90% mental so I teach kids to flip that switch as young as possible. Godzilla actually helps in many ways.

My attrition rate is nearly zero so it has worked for me. At the end of the day that’s all that really matters.

I have coached in very wealthy suburbs and in poor inner city areas. The one constant is if you hold everyone’s feet to the fire they will respond…and its always a positive. For some kids, sports is their only means of structure. So as the coach…have structure. Being on time is only the first step.

Coach Mike

Man, I love the idea of letting them run around without any real structure in the beginning of practice. That takes advantage of their free spirits. Thanks.

I agree with TD maker, You know I haven't the time to watch slow kids run a half mile so I just let parents know prior to season, if you get your kids to practice on time they leave on time.

Also, we practice in the rear of a school so a late players generally see their teamates getting warmed up so they'll sprint over, As we see them coming we make them hustle so it works out as far as getting each player warmed up. I notice that the players that got to practice early showed up with pads off and had a chance to goofy off before practice, if they came late that rolled out of the car with helmet on. My parents understood the importance of being on time, if not make sure they didn't waste more time once at practice.

I dont hold the player responsible inless they don't call me. In this day and age kids know how to use a phone well enough to call me to tell me they are going to be late or miss practice. I tell them they need to call me, not mom or dad. I have spoken to parents as to why their child is constantly late and have helped make arrangements so the player isn't late anymore.

I hear you loud and clear Mahonz! I wish it was that easy to call parents out, maybe suggest parents ask for a refund etc.

However in my league parents have the advantage. All coaches are required to play all rostered players 12-15 plays per game. Required, Should the coach fail he is warned and the kids gets to start next game to get the plays he missed and then gets his 12-15. Should the coach fail a 2nd time he can be removed from the team by the board. With that in mind and a 14-15 man roster I have to make sure all my players get in their work late or on time. I barely have a 2nd string ai't no way I'll ever see a 3rd string.lol So to enusre that the team is ready each Sat. I'm almost having to do anything possibel to get the kids to practice and on time so the other players don't suffer. I'm sure I can complain to the board but if it as anything to do with less money coming in or a child not getting to play they won't listen.

Parents know that their son(s) will play even if he misses practice all together. So I don't have the time to run the crap out of each player for being late nor can I bench anyone. I drive a suburban, I'll load it up with players if I have too! lol

o