The Coaching Conundrum

It seems that every year there is an issue concerning coaches. By that I mean coaches decide to retire from coaching; coach another sport; take some time off; take a job in another district or fill in the blank reason. For colleges the transfer portal and NIL have definitely been part of the reasoning to move on from coaching especially guys like Roy Williams, Coach K from Duke and Nick Saban. Kids are looking at more money and more playing time because if they get more playing time they become more popular and more NIL endorsements can come their way.

A little over 50 years ago Title IX was signed and women's sports were a result of that historical act. When I graduated from RHS in 1970 the sports offered were football, basketball, wrestling, baseball, track and tennis. And tennis was the only sport that girls could play. The school did have GAA featuring girls' basketball which was different than today's game. I suggest that you research it if you want to know because once I start thinking about it I get a headache. Today's game is so much better anyway.

Getting back to coaching I remember when a coach moved on we anticipated the next hire because it was going to be a teacher that would fill a teaching position. Sometimes the need was a coach and then hope they could teach a high school or Jr. High subject. I had four head basketball coaches in my high school years. The first taught Journalism, the next two were HS Math and finally Journalism again. The Assistant Coaches taught Biology, Journalism and math. The last Biology teacher coached wrestling and track.

After I graduated and Title IX came into play it was evident that there would be a need for more coaches and finding those coaches in the classroom would be even more difficult. That would be the time that parents and community members would be recruited to coach a sport or two in order to be able to field a team. Some schools were lucky enough to find former athletes that could teach the game to the boys or girls.

If the school is lucky the community member might coach for several years if not then it's back to the recruitment procedure or maybe a teacher has the 'want to' to coach. In this area we are certainly limited mainly due to lack of population, miles between communities and lack of interest.

A lot of times you hear people say that dealing with parents is one of the biggest reasons coaches call it quits. High expectations for a child is great but coaches need to be able to coach a kid that has some talent and if no one has worked with the youngster until they join a team in middle school the parent will really be upset to know that the coach doesn't have a magic wand in their back pocket that will turn a kid into a super athlete. If a parent works with their son or daughter and teaches them the basics and works with them on a weekly basis then a coach has a golden opportunity to teach the kid the fundamentals to be a really good player.

I will be honest, when I hear about a parent getting upset with a coach I wonder just how good they were when they were younger. I can say that if they never started, or had significant success as a player then they should watch as a fan and not criticize. After the season they should go to the coach and ask what camps they might recommend or what drills their kid could work on in the offseason. If they would simply do that then maybe the coach could see that the parent is serious about their child being a contributor to the team.

If a parent is concerned about playing time they should encourage their child to talk with the coach about what they need to improve on in order to get more playing time. Those one on one relationships can be vital to the player's success.

There is a real coaching conundrum happening right now. Older coaches that would like to step away from coaching feel obligated to help out because of their experience and could care less what a parent thinks. These coaches want the athletes to be successful and that relationship is the most important thing to deal with.

- Dale Anderson is a sports columnist from Ritzville. To contact him, email [email protected].