Quote:
Originally Posted by Sample00
MelBridgeman and Flashpoint!
some outstanding advice and I will take note of it.
as I mentioned to someone else already. I think I need to take a step back and let the cards fall where they may. I have said what I needed to say to the coach and his assistants and I dont think there is any point in belabouring it anymore.
we will just have to deal with the cards that have been dealt.
If I dont like the way something is going, I best get up and go for a walk. 
this is afterall about my son and not me. and I just want whats best for him, but he may have to find his own way a bit. |
MelBridgeman did emphasize a very good point in that the Parents Vs. Coaches issue is a difficult one. I coached a Bantam 1 team and easily the most difficult thing to deal with was the parents. I actually had a fairly significant run-in with a parent who also happened to be an ex-NHLer. I lost a lot of respect for him.
Your situation is difficult because the other goalie is also the head coach's son and that creates a fairly significant conflict of interest. Ultimately, at the age of 9 and 10, goalies really shouldn't get pulled. It should be on a rotation; in AA and AAA we rotated goalies all the time. It's good for the forwards and defense to get used to playing in front of different goalies and it's important for the the goalie's development as well. They'll experience all kinds of situations that way.
I never minded talking with parents as long as they are level-headed and come to talk about the validity of their play. This is only if I really need to though, as ultimately the coaches should be talking with the kids and that's it.
One idea that may work with your son's team is having the coaches perform mid-term evaluations during one practice. Let the kids hear it right from the coaches what they have been doing well and what they need to work on. We told the parents they could sit and LISTEN if they really felt the need to, but encouraged them to let their kids tell them afterwards. It's important for the kids to learn to talk with the coaches and not always get supported by their parents.
We also told the kids at the end of the mid-term reviews to talk about it with their parents if they wanted to.
Unfortunately, hockey politics exist all the time and it is a really difficult situation to deal with. As long as everyone is respectful of each other's interests and treats one another with dignity, then hopefully the situation will work out alright. Either way, this is a good learning experience for your son and hopefully he takes something positive out of it.