It’s what you fail to imagine that kills you.” - Michael Lewis, The Fifth Risk
What could possibly go wrong? Players worry about beating opponents; coaches worry about everything including beating yourselves.
Control what you can control. Model behaviors you want reinforced.
Personnel. Coaches have a Cori check. How do we know about player problems? I don’t have that issue as a middle school coach, but how do you assess and manage character?
Development. Do we have opportunities to maximize off-season training, skill-building, and education? Create better experiences to get better players.
Progression. How do you account for maturity, work ethic, emotional growth, and capacity to translate experience into productivity? Playing a lot of chess won’t guarantee anything approaching grandmaster status.
Academics. Have a handle on academic progress. Encourage reading and learning, while modeling your own process of lifetime study.
Health. Encourage healthy nutrition, adequate rest, and positive mental health. Have injuries evaluated promptly and respect long-term health over short-term expediency. Stay free of substances and vaping and maintain healthy relationships. The ‘can’t miss’ prospect can sustain an Achilles or ACL injury or get bad luck with major illness.
Teamwork. Don’t let pettiness or jealousy bring the team down. Heroes and drama kill teams. Communicate with team leaders regularly to discover cliques forming or unity evaporating. “Fight for your culture every day.”
‘Public Relations.” Stars radiate and get recognized. Go out of our way to recognize players contributing without the hype. The glue guys, energizers, and championship attitudes make the team special. Give them the love they deserve.
Recruiting. Players can go where they want. All we can do is work to add value, promote a desirable culture, and foster great relationships among players and coaches. If a player finds better education, training, and experience elsewhere then perhaps we should celebrate their good fortune. However much that might hurt.
Sustainability. Successful coaches build programs from the ground up. Help younger or less experienced coaches organize, train, and teach. We need a constant pipeline of talent, getting meaningful minutes to grow their game. Young players need minutes. We can’t have it both ways, murdering our parents and seeking mercy as orphans.
“Never be a child’s last coach.”
Lagniappe: brilliant SLOB from Wofford via Coach Finamore
SLOB post backdoor