Today I will be writing in response to the many questions I have received about parent, player, and coach relationships. The parents have the athlete's best interest in mind. The coach has the team's best interest in mind. How many times have you heard a parent say that their kid isn't playing in the right position?
I actually dealt with this situation back when I played football in high school. I was being recruited by colleges to play running back. My coaches had me splitting time at linebacker as well. My parents wanted to limit the amount of time I played at linebacker so that I could put full effort into showcasing my talent as a running back. Below are the things I learned from this situation about the relationship between players, parents, and coaches.
Things High School Coaches Can Control:
The position their athletes play
How college recruiters view the charecter of their athletes (Recruiters speak directly with the head football coach)
How much play time each athlete gets
The principles they govern their team by
Things Parents Want:
Full focus on their kid showcasing talent
College coach attention for their athlete
Their athlete to be apart of a winning team
Athlete Wants:
Being apart of a winning team
Making their parents proud
Family-style bond
To serve and sacrifice for their team
Coach's Wants:
The freedom to lead and make decisions for the team
A coachable player
Supportive parents
Players to be well mannered off the field
Coaches need a team to work with. And inorder for an athlete to go to college, they need a high school team to showcase their talent with. This relationship works best when both understand the mutually beneficial relationship. Neither party is more important.
Most athletes I encounter are playing with the intentions of playing playing in college. Coaches have to support this to get the most out of their athletes. Weather they want to or not, college coaches will turn to them to get charecter assessments.
Parents must manage this key relationship delicately. An athlete doesn't want to get on the bad side of any coach. The athlete's reputation relies on that relationship. I want go on record and say that a parent should provide the utmost support to coaches. They should be asking coaches what they need. Asking how their son or daughter can better serve the team better. That's an important relationship.
As for me and my personal life... This we was recap week for me. This is when I take a step back assess my effort and production toward my goals. So this is usually an anxious time for me.
I set some high goals for this quarter of work. I hit less than 50% of my targets. So you can imagine how uptight I was. I usually go to my father for counsel when I feel overwhelmed with my ambition. I sent my pops a text and asked, "how do you deal with the pressure to perform as a leader when you are the one people are looking to?" He texted back and said simply, "that's when I do my best work."
He then called me and knew exactly what to say in order to calm my spirt. We talked for about an hour. One of the longest convos we have had in a while actually. But as he told me about his life and made references as to how I'm going through similar situations, I started to relax. My biggest take away was when I heard him say that we have to grow into our leadership roles. Those skills are sharpened through experience. Which ultimately takes time.
Like I said, my pops probably doesn't understand how powerful his words are to me. I encourage everyone to find powerful people they can confide in. Someone to coach you through your goals.
"Blessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding." ~ Proverbs 3:13
Thanks for reading,
- Josh
No comments:
Post a Comment