GAY GEISER-SANDOVAL -- Educationally Speaking
As I stand on the precipice of coaching an amateur youth team for a third
year, I decided that I should evaluate what the role of a coach is when
dealing with a youth team.
1. Is it my team as the coach, or is it their team with me as the helper?
2. As coach, should I be the dictator or the facilitator?
3. What should I articulate as the team’s goal? Should the team’s first
priority be to have a winning season?
4. Should I spread the word that I’m the best coach with the best players
so that other really talented players, who would otherwise get on a
competing team, end up on my team?
5. If I can end up with a better team -- even if it means breaking the
rules but no one will find out but the team -- should I do it?
6. Should I make the team practice all of the time, so they can be the
best, even if it means they have to give up other activities and time
with their family and friends? Is it important for them to understand the
commitment to the team to the exclusion of all else?
7. What are the consequences to the team members who have to miss a
practice? Do I kick them off the team, no matter what the reason, or do I
make judgments as to whether it was reasonable to miss practice for that?
What if the team member misses practice to study for a test? Do I place
team practice above school work? What if practice is missed because of
the parent instead of the team member? Does that make a difference?
8. Because I’m the professional with all of the experience and they’re a
bunch of kids, should I make all of the decisions and have the kids
execute my decisions? What if I let them make decisions, and they make
the wrong ones? Should I step in then so they don’t make a mistake? How
will the team members learn strategy best -- if I tell them the right
way, or if they try it and it doesn’t work out?
9. What happens if a team member doesn’t take my advice, and the team is
hurt by it, but the team member tried something she thought of? Do I make
that team member an example and humiliate her in front of the whole team?
Do I do my best to stifle creativity and original thinking if it puts my
team in jeopardy of losing?
10. Should I degrade and humiliate those team members who messed up
during the competition, so everyone understands the importance of winning
and not messing up? Is humiliation the key to making a better team
member? What if I don’t use a name, but everyone knows who I mean? Is
that all right?
11. How do I pick the team? What if one person has a handicap or
disadvantage that I know will keep him from ever being as good as the
other members, no matter how hard he tries? Do I keep him off the team?
Do I let him on the team, and let him work and practice, but never let
him compete? Do I spend time with the less talented, even though the team
has a better chance of winning if I focus on the most talented team
members?
12. What do I tell the parents who think I should have their child
participate more so that the team can win? What do I tell the parents who
think I should have their child participate even if it means that might
hurt the team’s chances of winning?
13. To instill a winning spirit, do I denigrate the other team, and tell
my team how much better they are than the other team? Because this is an
amateur youth team, do I ask God to help only us? Is it so important that
we win that we need to get God involved?
14. Do I show the team some moves that won’t be caught by the judges but
that are against the rules? Is my message that it is all right to cheat
if you don’t get caught?
15. Is my main goal to have a winning team, so that all participation of
team members and strategies for the team are based on that goal? What if
it means that I do the work that the team members could do, but if they
do it, it won’t be as good and the team might not win? Then, is it my
obligation to take over?
16. Is my main goal to showcase the talented team member who might be a
professional or get a college scholarship based on their performance on
the team? Do I give that member more roles, even if it means a less
talented member doesn’t get to participate in the competition at all?
17. Is my main goal to give every team member a start on learning the
skills necessary for the game and hope that they become lifelong learners
of the game? Should I hope that they have some fun, meet new people, make
new friends, learn to think and have better skills? Should I hope that
they become ethical players in the game of life, even if they lose the
competition?
18. Is my main goal to keep my job as coach or to be able to brag about
how good of a coach I am? By my actions and my answers as the coach, what
ethical lessons do I impart to my team members?
Please e-mail me with your answers to these questions. While I don’t need
your name, I would like to know if you are a coach, a parent or a youth
team participant. In two weeks, I’ll talk about your answers. It will
help all of the coaches to know what our community wants.
GAY GEISER-SANDOVAL is a Costa Mesa resident. Her column runs Mondays.
She can be reached by e-mail at GGSesq@aol.com.
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