[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

This certainly isn't winsports, and from some of the comments about parents spending all that time and money makes me think that they don't realize that this isn't about the adults, its about the kids.

I've noticed some things coaching youth players that makes me want to basically at times burn my coaching card.

A) Some parents have lost all perspective on things and made the sport about them instead of the kids.

B) Adult behavior that is not ok in the real world is certainly not ok in the fake world of sports

C) In most things, parents or fathers should not be allowed to coach the same team that his son or daughter plays for.

D) Most coaches are volunteers, we don't get paid anything. We do it for the love of the sport and various other reasons. But that doesn't give any parent the right to yell at a coach, or abuse a coach, or talk negatively about a coach to their child behind his back. Do you want to know the primary source of kids not respecting coaches. Its the parents with their BS "Conversations with their kids. If you want to find out why your kid isn't the starting QB maybe talk to the coach and ask him instead of blasting him to his face, telling your kid that the coach is screwing you, and complaining to every other parent in the association or whatever that the coach has it out for your son or daughter. Most coaches don't.

Oh and here's a big one

E) Kids are an emotional sponge. So when coaches start complaining about the refs, or players on the other team, the kids soak that up and then relaunch it at times 10. If they hear their parents screaming at the refs in the crowd, or screaming at other teams, its the same effect x 50.

F) Parents also need to quit counter coaching their kids. You know son, let me show you some things that I learned playing hockey of football, lets go out in the backyard and the old man will show you how to play the game. I'm sorry dad, do you have safe contact training? How well do you know the game, or the game plan the coaches are running, or the techniques that they're teaching. I've had so many kids show up after a weekend a way from practice and their technique is gone to pot because daddy-o has decided to teach him a heads in block or tackle technique. "Leave a smoking hole son, just like I did when I was the best linebacker in Olivair country".

I'm not saying that parents shouldn't be involved in their kids athletic development. But the whole parental culture in sports has really changed, and not for the better. Its not about the betterment of their kids, its about the parents. I spent thousands of dollars, my son isn't being coached right, the refs are out to screw me errr my kids.

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

Its funny because the one thing I've noticed is that a lot of coaches are walking away from the game because of interactions with parents.

Absolutely there are some bad coaches out there, and coaches with rage control issues, and coaches who have really lost touch and are stuck in the past and refuse to evolve.

But every year that I've come back I've seen less and less long term coaches that I know. And even when I go to courses or certification classes, the conversation is around the wear of coaching and the loss of fun.

This is all very true. I'm a first time coach this year who helped with some coaching duties last year and it is my kid's third year in minor hockey. I won't be returning to a head coach role next season because of the negative interaction with one of our assistant coaches. He has ruined the experience for myself, our other coaches, our manager, some parents and maybe the players. All the team volunteers are pretty new to the experience and probably made some mistakes in handling the various situations that came up but at the same time they shouldn't have come up. This guy actually got upset because his kid couldn't be awarded player of the game twice in a tournament and instead the award went to another player.