The Road to Varsity : Dealing with Disappointment

Submitted by Barbara Bleiweis on Fri, 05/25/2012 - 19:12. | comments

The 2012 Summer Evaluation Program, or SEP as my association calls it, is coming up and several officials have been invited to attend and be evaluated for potential promotion. I was NOT on the invitation list and am very disappointed to say the least. The elation of last year's promotion has been abruptly and unceremoniously replaced with a lousy feeling of failure and self-doubt.

A high school basketball official reminds herself that, if it is one thing she has learned about life's setbacks, it is that they often represent blessings in disguise.

Emily Cohen

Do Players On High School Varsity Deserve At Least Some Playing Time?

Submitted by Emily Cohen on Sat, 04/21/2012 - 01:36. | comments

I'm writing this blog under the protestations of my 15-year-old son. He would prefer that I don't write this at all, or that I write it anonymously, so that he doesn't suffer the playing-time repercussions from his coach, but it can't get any worse than it is. And, frankly, I will be completely quiet if someone - anyone - can explain to me the benefits - to the coaching staff, the team record, AND the kids - of having an entire group of players (say, 5 or 6) ride the bench the entire season and see no playing time.

Is it okay for bench-warmers on a high school varsity baseball team to get no playing time whatsoever, even when their team is way ahead? One sports mom is looking for answers.

Teaching Life Lessons As a Coach: Be Careful What You Teach

Submitted by Greg Covi on Mon, 03/05/2012 - 21:44. | comments

There seems to be a phrase that every coach has embraced of late which I think needs a closer look, and it is "teaching life lessons." It's phrase you have probably heard a lot lately, so much so that it seems to have taken on a life of its own, particularly in the context of middle and high school sports.

"Teaching life lessons" seems to be a phrase that every coach has embraced of late, so much so that it seems to
have taken on a life of its own, particularly in the context of middle
and high school sports. But the life lessons a coach teaches can be negative or positive. It's up to the coach.

Are You A Nightmare Sports Parent?

2012 Field Hockey Rules Changes Focus on Responsibilities of Coaches

In an effort to emphasize coaches' responsibilities, the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) has made ten rule changes in field hockey to reduce gamesmanship and improve sportsmanship.

Private and Public School Sports: Same Problems With Coaches, But Handled Differently

Submitted by Greg Covi on Thu, 02/09/2012 - 05:52. | comments

The subject of which has better coaches: private or public school always seems to spark some petty good debate but my experience and insight into the differences between private and public school sports is a subject that I have spent some time studying for the last year, and I have made some really profound discoveries.

The most revealing discovery was the dynamics of the high school teams that I researched from both private and public schools all had one very common thread. They all have the same coaching issues, the same drama, the same politics, the same favoritism, the same nepotism, and most critically, the same breakdown in coach/player relationships and lack of understanding. But they are all dealt with in a very different way.

Public and private schools have the same coaching issues, the same drama, the same politics, the same
favoritism, the same nepotism, and most critically, and the same breakdown
in coach/player relationships and lack of understanding, but tend to deal with these issues in a very different way.

Youth Sports Coaches Need To Lead, Not Just Manage

A good youth sports coach needs to be both a leader and a manager in order to be successful. The difference between the two is a subtle but important one says a longtime youth baseball coach.

Brooke de Lench

High School Coaches of the Year: A Flawed Selection Process?

Submitted by Brooke de Lench on Tue, 01/10/2012 - 16:41. | comments

As it has for the past thirty years, the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Coaches Association yesterday announced its 2011 National Coaches of the Year, honoring high school coaches in the top 10 girls and boys sports by participation numbers, along with one coach in another high school sport.

According to the NFHS, the awards are presented to individuals who have gone above and beyond and who exemplify the highest standards of sportsmanship, ethical conduct and moral character, and who carry the endorsement of his or her respective state high school association.

The 20 high school coaches recognized by the National Federation of State High School Association Coach's Association are no doubt great coaches deserving of the awards, but perhaps it is time for the NFHS to put in place a process for identifying the coaches on the other end of the spectrum, not by surveying other coaches, but by asking all the other stakeholders - players, athletic trainers, and parents - who see them every day what they think.

NFHS 2011 National Coaches of the Year

Twenty high school coaches from across the country have been selected 2011 National Coaches of the Year by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Coaches Association.

Brooke de Lench

Parents Who Interfere: Was Quitting The Only Way Out For Coach?

Submitted by Brooke de Lench on Mon, 01/09/2012 - 16:17. | comments

This weekend a father from Michigan sent me an article in the Detroit News about a highly successful high school basketball coach in his daughter's league who had just quit as a result of what the newspaper described as "extreme parental interference."

He wanted to know what I would suggest to the coach, who happened to be a personal friend.

Coaches who don't have problems with pushy parents tend to be the great communicators; they let them know where they stand early, before the season even starts, at a preseason meeting.

Coaching