is this about the greenies?

[argh!]

or the alpos?

http://www.pressherald.com/news/Westbrook_athletic_director_resigns_after_difficult_year.html

 

[mtgrizrule]

Great article. In my opinion there are many quality coaches and potential AD's who are not part of high school programs because of all the politics involved. I applaud this man for choosing his dignity ahead of unrealistic schools, faculty, parents, and communities.

I can only speak for myself, but the main reason I have not pursued high school coaching positions is because of all the politics these days. Myself and others are much more comfortable volunteering time for camps, working with youths, and coaching travel/AAU teams. It is a nice luxury to have coaches, parents, and players all on the same page with common goals and expectations. Unfortunately though, travel/AAU coaches are often given a little too much control when it comes to their athletes being recruited.

The dynamics will continue to change. It really stinks that amateur athletics have gotten to this point. I wish this man the best, and hope he finds a job where he is has the right support behind him to be part of.

 

[argh!]

bump, just because i think those with greenie-leanings would benefit from reading the article. brint.

 

[lynn sellegren]

bump, just because i think those with greenie-leanings would benefit from reading the article. brint.

Isn't a Greenie something you give your dog to chew on if it has bad breath?

 

[BelierPeaux]

bump, just because i think those with greenie-leanings would benefit from reading the article. brint.

Isn't a Greenie something you give your dog to chew on if it has bad breath?

I thought it was amphetamines!

 

[NorthEndZoneDan]

The dynamics will continue to change. It really stinks that amateur athletics have gotten to this point.

Have you been around Little League lately? The season hasn't even started and I'm already getting overbearing parents chewing on my ass. Unfortunately its part and parcel of coaching any more and it sucks.

 

[mtgrizrule]

The dynamics will continue to change. It really stinks that amateur athletics have gotten to this point.

Have you been around Little League lately? The season hasn't even started and I'm already getting overbearing parents chewing on my ass. Unfortunately its part and parcel of coaching any more and it sucks.

I am several years removed from it. You are preaching to the choir here. Not sure if you have been part of the all star process there in Missoula yet. However, that is when things can get nasty. Not sure how it is these days. A lot of effort was done to make sure Southside had as much as possible working for their all star teams. Also God forbid you not selecting certain kids for a team. Parents throw a fit and the coaches are the worse coaches ever. Once a good staff is in place in any league and the results start speaking for themselves, coaches have a little more power are better heard though.

Hate to say it, but I do know some kids were not selected to various all star teams because some coaches or presidents did not want to deal with certain parents. We found it best to be candid with the parents, and tell them their child is deserving of being on an all star team, but with that were expectations of the parents as well. Part of that would not be interfering with the coaches decisions in terms of coaching such as playing time, position, batting order, discipline etc. Fortunately when those few parents found out the league president, and the other all star families were supporting all this, those parents either were all in or told it would be their actions keeping their son from all stars.

Surprisingly enough over several years we only had one set of parents not abide by those expectations of them, after they agreed to them for all stars. Finally their son what more he had to do to play more, we told him we need to meet with his parents. That was a pretty heated discussion with his parents, but after that his parents got on board and had 4 more great years of experiences with their son playing LL.

The trick is for the league president to 100% support the leagues coaches, and lay it all out on the table from the get go. The coaches and president need to communicate these things from the onset of the season every season. We wrote letters, sent emails, and had in person meetings to make sure every parent was aware of how things would be done. I am not sure which league you coach. I do hope you get through it and the league gets better for everyone involved. Thanks for your time and efforts. I know those things go unappreciated by a few too many. :thumb:

 

[NorthEndZoneDan]

thats so true mtgrizrule, so very very true. Some parents have a hard time when they hear for the first time that their child isn't all star material. I started coaching over 20 years ago at Jumbo and I'm now at Westside. My roommate in college was an education major and part of the curriculum was volunteering for a youth organization. He came home one day and said we were coaching. We had so much fun we did if for years, like an idiot I kept at it after graduation. All stars were a heck of lot easier back then. Now we have the players themselves select the first 8 players for the all star team. The kids at that age want to win and they know who can play and who cant. They show no mercy or favoritism in filling out their ballots. The coaches fill the last 4 spots. This system isnt perfect but it sure has put a muzzle on a lot of overbearing parents who are convinced their kid is the second coming of Derek Jeter.

On a completely different note but so appropriate for this forum, we just finished installing and refurbishing the bleachers from Dornblaser Field at Westside fields. They are pretty well traveled but still in good enough shape that we were able to re-use them with some new benches, lots of sweat and cussing, and plenty of elbow grease from a couple of guys who knew how to weld. The story I was told was that when the U of M rebuilt the facilities at Dornblaser they gave the bleachers to the Mavericks. The Mavericks hauled them over to their facility and rebuilt and re-used them for a decade or so until they built new bleachers. We went across the street and hauled them over and now the old bleachers from Dornblaser live on at Westside! When we were putting the bleachers up it was hard not to think back to how crappy Dornblaser was and how bad the Griz were and how far we've come! :lol: :lol:

 

[argh!]

follow-up article:

http://www.pressherald.com/news/Steve_Solloway__Will_message_of_athletic_director_s_resignation_be_heard__or_go_to_waste_in_Westbrook__.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

i note that greenie hasn't chimed in - c'mon greenie!