What do you want the kids to call you?

Coach (last name).

I make all players say "Coach" first. As far as sir goes, (IMHO) kids don't use that much nowadays. It just seems to be one of those things that's not being taught to them as they grow up. It would be a good thing to teach to your players, again, IMHO.

Coach (last name), Coach, or Coach (Letter). Not a big "sir" or "mr" guy yet..would prefer just coach lol.

Same here. I've never had a kid call me anything other than "Coach" or "Coach Steve"

let me ask this...do you use the boys first and last name or just his last?

I love nicknames for the kids. Makes them feel special.

I think the key here is not what's right and wrong, but what's your style.

You can't demand respect because of who you are. You need to earn it and to do this it doesn't matter what the kids call you it's how you treat each other.

I make a point of addressing the players as "Mr. Smith", "Mr. Hobbs", etc., and of referring to them collectively as "Gentlemen".

For a lot of kids these days it comes as a shock at first, some even think I'm joking. The funny thing is, once they realize I'm not, a fair number of them start acting more like gentlemen to each other and to me -- I've even seen some spillover effect with teachers, parents, peers, etc.

Combined with a realization that I honestly care about them as people, I find this is an effective way to maintain both discipline and team cohesion.

And none of this stops them from understanding that I want the snot knocked out of the other team before a hand goes out from my guys to help them back up...

I use different terms when I am talking to the kids. I have used first and last name together or one or the other, have used nick names. I guess it just depends on the kids name and what is the easiest to say. I know growing up I always used sir, mam, mr or ms. I was actually one of the worst kids around, but I still used sir, mam, etc... when I talked to teachers, police, SWAT team, bomb squad. I guess the whole respect your elders comes to mind for me. I know they can still respect you and use your first name. I would have to agree with the comfortable response. It was the kids that I had to stay after practice and wait with them for there ride or give them a ride home(Jr High). At those times I am more relaxed and joke around with them a little more.

We teach our kids to call all adults by their proper handle.

"Mr. Smith"
"Ms. Jones"
"Coach Johnson"

And we model this for them.

If a kid calls one of us or a teacher by their last name, we correct them. Most of my coaches will ignore a players if he doesn't say "COACH Smith". The kids then self-correct.

Not a big deal. Our kids are about 50% on addressing adults properly at the beginning of the season and are closer to 90% by the end.

I think that's what we call teaching. This isn't a hill to die on, just a place to help them grow.

We have teachers in our building who allow kids to call them by their last name and some with their first. This drives me nuts but you can see what a conflict this puts kids in. So many mixed messages that turn out bad habits.

So, we teach them our way but understand that it's a process.

The players call us Coach ___. I teach at a different school so what they call me in the classroom is not an issue. We also make sure that all of the coaches call each other Coach ___ around the kids. I normally call the kids by last name although I'll use a nickname if that's what most people call him.

Something that I do is call the player Player ___. He'll say, "Hello, Coach Narvid." and I'll say, "Hello, Player Smith.". It's just kind of a joking thing that the kids kind of find funny for some reason.

At school sometimes (not often) a kid will call me by just my last name. I treat that on a case-by-case basis. Nine times out of ten I'll ignore it because it's not disrespectful. It usually happens when a kid sees me in the hall and is saying "Hello". Doesn't bother me in the least.

As long as it's prefaced with Mr. or Coach, I don't care. This is one thing I'm now particular with. In my younger teaching days, I let the kids call me just "Fern" and it led to respect issues. Now, I don't have any problem with respect.

I don't know about the Mr. in the classroom and Coach on the field differences. When I was a high school student, I wouldn't have caught the emphasis unless it was specifically pointed out to me.

Coach Walker, Coach Tye, Coach ____, or just Coach it doesn't matter to me. However when I addres you you respond with yes sir/no sir.

Not teaching yet but I still expect the same. I don't care if they use MR._____ or Coach____. As long as they are respectful.

The players I like asking them what they would prefer to be called. I ussually start by calling their number until I can remember their name. Some kids have nicknames some we end up calling them by a nickname we made up. As long as it isn't disrespectful to the player or if he ask not to be called by it, I'll ussually stick to it.

sounds like you are better off..... I would have returned the favor to him as well.....