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Post by flexspread on May 3, 2007 12:15:05 GMT -6
A response on the string "Starting QB leaves" got me thinking and I didn't want to take that thread over. How can you talk sense into kids convincing them that they should come out for football, if they say "I don't want to get hurt for basketball" or something along those lines? We are a small school and we are short on athletes. There are a few kids, some of who are our best athletes, that don't want to play football because they are afraid of injury, while I realize we are a lot better with these kids out on our team? I run the spread so I've got the schemes that fit their ability. Any ideas would be welcome. Thank you.
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Post by kloranc on May 3, 2007 14:51:55 GMT -6
I coached at a small school for a number of years. I found that sometimes those great athletes won't help you as much as you think because they aren't tough enough for football. I relied on peer pressure too! Sometimes a kid's friend can get to him a lot quicker than you can. It is worth it to try and get the good athletes. One of the best athletes I coached at my previous school was basketball only until his senior year. I thought he would have too much to learn and might not help us. It turned out that he picked up everything quickly and was first team all district offense and defense! Another "great athlete" got hit in the mouth his first day and decided that basketball only was the way to go. You just never know!
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Post by kboyd on May 3, 2007 15:03:10 GMT -6
The first school that I coached at was quite small and they had a policy that if you wanted to play one sport, you had to play two. Most of the basketball team were football players, for example. There those on the team that weren't very good athletes (most of my O Line) who were involved with shot put or something else of that nature. I though that it was a great way to make a more well-rounded athlete plus a great way to get the most bang for your buck with a limited number of athltes in the school.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on May 3, 2007 15:43:53 GMT -6
That's a great polich, kboyd, but how often did people try to challenge it? I wouldn't think it would hold up if the right people decided to fight it.
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Post by coachpoe on May 3, 2007 16:50:45 GMT -6
school I coach at every student has to participate in a sport two out of three seasons. Third season they can take off or take an after school "PE" class, which is basically all the football players who don't play basketball, wrestling or hockey lifting in the winter.
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wccoach
Sophomore Member
Posts: 159
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Post by wccoach on May 3, 2007 17:13:38 GMT -6
My current situation is a little different than what you are asking but might be of some help. We are an inner city school that has been very bad for many years. Our current staff came in two years ago and the administration was very vocal about getting more kids out for the team. We run a spread offense and try to put up big offensive numbers. We were able to almost double the number of kids on the team in the first year and we lost every game. Many of these kids did not have the mental or physical toughness to play the game correctly and would give up very quickly when hit hard or put under pressure. Many of these players were great athletes and looked very impressive in helmets and shorts, but became very slow when game time came around and would not tackle at all. The administration was thrilled by our increase in players and understood that it would take some time to teach them how to play the game. Our second year was much like the first and after another winless season the administration was looking for answers for why the kids did not play to the level of our competition.
This year we are not looking for numbers, only real football players. We are now very demanding in our off season workouts and will be taking 35 absolute warriors into this upcoming varsity season. The coaching staff's opinion has been that we will use the kids that will never give up and fight for each other rather than allow a great athlete that cannot be trusted in the heat of a game to poison our ranks. We will win games this year and I believe the numbers will increase, but with our kind of player. Numbers for numbers sake is a recipe for failure. Our administration did not believe us two years ago when we told them this and they really hurt our team by not backing up the coaches with player discipline issues. After 2 years of winless football they have backed off and are letting football people run the football program and we are very much improved. I cannot wait to get our season started and let these 35 hard nosed, extremely aggressive young men take the field and ruin more than a couple of homecoming games for our opponents. Just my opinion.
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Post by fbdoc on May 3, 2007 17:55:41 GMT -6
Its a challenge that many small schools face. At my current school we are just wrapping up a cycle where the basketball studs did not want to play football. My first few years all the best athletes did 2 and 3 sports, and did them well. Then we hit a cycle where 3 or 4 really good kids thought they were college basketball prospects - although they were pretty good small HS players, there was just no way they were going to play at the next level, but there was no telling that to the parents or the kids! Now we seem to be back on track. You just have to do a good job with the kids you do get out and encourage the rest to give it a try. Hopefully you'll get to a point where you can begin to select the players you need rather than hope that they come out.
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Post by bulldogoption on May 3, 2007 18:46:53 GMT -6
NOTE: Small school
Facing the same situation, and gaining some ground, right now.....
Get involved with jr. high sports if you can. You can really develop some great relationships with kids before its too late.
Administrative support is very important.
All coaches on a staff working together in the best interest of ALL sports is important also. I want my kids lifting weights. They don't need to go to a million football camps in the summer. I would like them to play three sports and go to other sport camps in the summer (including our own). We are very close to installing a weight program consistent thru all sports. Small school. I have the baseball, track and wrestling coaches on staff. We all see the need to work together.
Time will tell of course.....
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Post by kboyd on May 3, 2007 20:23:38 GMT -6
That's a great polich, kboyd, but how often did people try to challenge it? I wouldn't think it would hold up if the right people decided to fight it. I only coached there the one year, but I never heard anyone complain about it. It was a small town (1500 in the town and I coach at a school with 1200 kids now) that was very much into athletics. I'm sure your right about not holding up if people fought it though. It was a good North Dakota town with a farming background, which probably helped out a lot. For camp, both practices of 2-a-days were held in the morning so the kids could help out on the farm in the afternoon. |
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Post by coachwarner on May 3, 2007 22:20:56 GMT -6
If you want to catch fish, go to were the fish are, and since you might work in the fish bowl it should not be hard to catch fish. try to think out of the box.
1-A player should not have to be good to get good out of the activity.
benefits should accrue to everyone in the activity,not just the most talented.
2-One athlete of character, one person making positive behavorial changes, can make a team better. One team of character can change a school. One school of character can change a community(qoutes from Bruce Brown Sport Video)
Go fishing-Host a John Maddon video game tournament. you may get every kid in the school to enter . Hell my daughter even plays it. promote it! Make it fun! and the whole time sell and promote your football program. Buy lots of pizzas the big guys everyone is looking for, like pizza.
You may get some 300lb computer geek who loves football. Tricky part, you have to turn him into an athlete of character.
if he doesnt play OL well then he can keep stats. If he wins the tournament, maybe he should help call the plays.lol
Try to catch as many fish as possible. The whole time trying to build community football. I would bet even the guys who worry about
getting injured enter the tournament.
You may catch 5 or 6 lunkers you didnt even know were in the fish bowl.
Once again just keep selling and promoting your football program,try thinking out of the box. Just a thought.
sorry for the fishing analogy. I like to fish in my spare time it relaxing.
it might sound stupid but all your big companys promote the crap out of there product in the dumbest ways sometimes. and quess what it works!!
fbdoc made a great statement,You just have to do a good job with the kids you do get out and encourage the rest to give it a try. Hopefully you'll get to a point where you can begin to select the players you need rather than hope that they come out.
;D
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Post by coachcalande on May 4, 2007 12:49:35 GMT -6
recruit the kids best friend and use peer pressure. Sometimes that works best. I also feel that if a kid is worried about injury they are often not going to contribute much. You can talk about playing wr and cover corner...things that might reduce the contact some...
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Post by CoachMikeJudy on May 4, 2007 13:16:35 GMT -6
Number will come with success. (Usually) More wins=more kids that want to play football.
I'm a realist. When kids tell me that they don't want to get hurt before basketball season, I basically call them soft and every one of my players would agree. The players that have gone through the fire don't want some faker to line up next to them. Peer pressure is tough to swallow.
I also try to point out that Iverson was state player of the year as a HS QB. Labron James was a stud WR.
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Post by superpower on May 4, 2007 13:24:18 GMT -6
Number will come with success. (Usually) More wins=more kids that want to play football. I'm a realist. When kids tell me that they don't want to get hurt before basketball season, I basically call them soft and every one of my players would agree. The players that have gone through the fire don't want some faker to line up next to them. Peer pressure is tough to swallow. I also try to point out that Iverson was state player of the year as a HS QB. Labron James was a stud WR. Good post! If they are worried about getting hurt, how useful will they be? They will play tentatively, and that is when they are more likely to get hurt. I think you are better off without them. I once had fifteen kids total (grades 9-11) out for 11 man football, but they weren't afraid of getting hurt. They laid it all on the line and were better young men for the experience. |
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Post by rbcoacher on May 7, 2007 9:34:51 GMT -6
You might be in a situation where you need to require your athletes to compete in at least 2 sports. This is probably not the best idea to have if you have already been at a place for a while and tried to establish a quality program. However, if you are new to the school, this would really get the kids involved in other sports. After they see the success of HAVING to play in at least 2 sports then they won't feel like they are forced to....they will love it. I have heard of a coach here in Texas that did this and after 2 years he didn't even have to enforce the rule anymore because of the participation. As a result of having to play in multiple sports, your star basketball player or whatever will have to do something else...probably making him a better athlete in the long run anyways. Just a thought.....
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Post by CoachMikeJudy on May 7, 2007 10:15:40 GMT -6
I think it would be great if kids would play more than 1 sport- I think that is the backbone for a successful athletics program at your average school. I would love to "force" the kids to play other sports, but it just wouldn't fly here. I can always wish though...
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Post by superpower on May 7, 2007 10:34:25 GMT -6
I know of some schools who used to require participation in at least one extra-curricular activity per semester. It was a graduation requirement. I didn't teach at any of those schools, so I am not sure how successful it was.
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brmurf
Freshmen Member
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Post by brmurf on May 7, 2007 20:10:46 GMT -6
We, like the rest of the respondents are in the same boat. The first couple of years I begged andborrowed and even changed the offense to entice the "athletes" to play that werent. I got none of them.......long story short I am going back to my roots (option) and and have focused on trying to make us tougher and more of a team. I liek the fishing analogies and the selling the program, I will continue to try, but I tend to think if you win they will come LOL
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prossi
Sophomore Member
Posts: 108
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Post by prossi on May 7, 2007 20:54:46 GMT -6
What's with basketball those coaches are pumping these kids full of hoop dreams, when in reality 6 foot 4 guy is a dime a dozen in b-ball but a 6'4 receiver or any one over 6' you really got something. And if he can catch then you really have something. Anyone who is afraid to get hurt will be a cancer on your team and poison the rest. Best to make the few you have better then when you get good they will be knocking on your door. These are the same kids that can get a rebound if their life depended on it, and the coaches complain and want to tuff them up. Play football that will tuff them up. Any way give me a hard nose grunt wrestler any day.
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