By: Coach Ray,
After watching the Williamsport tourney, I would like to know how those teams handled controversey and dissension. In my own expeirence I did a poor job in that area with the all star teams I coached. A few yrs back I managed a team all the way to final 8 in the state, before dissension tore the team apart. After playing very well in the sub districts, and districts, the team double dipped in the state tourney and came home. Losing the second game to a team we should have beat easily. The parents of a few kids on that team caused so much controversey ( their boys not playing mostly) that it disrupted the team. By the time we got to the state, I was the worse coach in America, despite all that we had achieved. I noticed in Williamsport that each team had several players on the bench. I wonder about the attitudes of those kids and those of their parents? Does anyone on here have any insight how those mgs were successful in squashing dissension? Perhaps those boys and famlies are more interested in winning then who gets to play where? Or do those mgrs "give in" and try to make everyone happy and by so doing quell dissension. Any thoughts?
Date: October 01, 1998 at 15:27
It was after that season I stepped down as a mgr. Just too much controversey came with me, for me to be a effective mgr. The kids have to be confident in the coaches to get the best players on the field and give them the best chance to win. If kids keep hearing how awful the coach is, its a good bet they will lose that confidence. In HS the kids know who the best players are usually and this problem takes care of it self. No amount of parent gripping can convice a HS sr. what he sees for himself on the field. I can trace most of the problem back to my teams domiance of the local league for 3 yrs. and it caused jealously that could not be sit aside for all star play. In later years my son's all star teams enjoyed great success under different mgs. but many of the problem famlies,and boys, had given up the game so we will never know if it was me or the the dissident crowd.