Softball HS coaches...

You never give the kids your second best. Unfortunately the best that can be offered is sometimes the lesser of two evils. This is why I am so thankful for those who are there for the right reasons and have the expertise to make a difference. The problem is there is just not enough of them to fill the need.
erms

 

There would be plenty enough to fill the need if they would hire coaches that aren't teachers. Most of the better coaches are NOT teachers. You wouldn't hire a high school dropout to teach physics, english, math ect. Why hire a teacher who is not qualified to coach. I really believe the leasons they learn on the field are as important as the ones they learn in the classroom and I don't want them to have incompetent classroom teacher so the same should be said for the field. As for the pay teachers get I would love to make what they make for the amount of time they work.

 

coaches

We have a good coach at our HS but in our county, the only persons eligible to be coaches are employees of the school system, so going "outside" is not an option.

It really is a shame for a school not to make the effort to get the best coach available. Think about it, if you compare HS , TB, rec coaches, etc., it is the HS coach that has the most available practice time to work with a TEAM , train them, and mold them into a unit that can handle situations offensively & defensively that will come up in games.

 

HS coaches

My take is this... as someone who watches and follows high school sports in NC. ( mostly eastern NC ) and has had a daughter and son play high school athletics.

Girl's HS softball as well as the other women's sports do not have the committment from the top, ie... the AD's and schools as a whole.

This is not to say that there are not some talented and committed high school coaches who prepare our daughter's on and off the field, but they are certainly the exception, and not the norm.

When the high schools start accepting our athletic daughters the way they support our athletic sons, then the level of coaching will improve.

Facilities will be equal, and funding in line with it's male counterpart.

When a high school hires a new football or baseball coach, it is front page news, with a bio of the coach, detailing their qualifications. It is amazing that they always find them a job within the school system...

When they hire a new softball coach, you meet them at the first practice....hopefully.

Our daughters deserve better..

 

great points erms!

thanks for sharing.

 

I agree 100% that schools should hire outside for coaches of a sport that noone at the school is qualified to coach. No school I know of would ever hire an incompetent football coach regardless of the situation, and I don't want to hear any bull about it bringing in more money. Who cares?! If you don't love softball, and have knowledge of it, don't coach it. You are cheating the girls.

On the other hand, take it from someone who has played fast pitch, coached fast pitch, and taught school, the comment about the amount of time teachers work is way off base. That was by far the hardest job I could imagine, so I don't teach anymore. I do love softball, though, and would love to have a school team, mainly because you get to practice every day, (although the weather is not good early on). You could actually work on things over and over and over!

Most of the principals and athletic directors seem to not care, or they just don't get it. ERMS does love softball though, so he's not in this bunch. We are in football country here, so things will never change, I don't think.

 

So the problem of poor coaching exists in some HS programs.
Is there a solution? Just kicking it around the message boards will never solve anything. Do these schools have parents who are interested enough and motivated enough to roll up their sleeves and do some work??
There are booster clubs to join, there are administrators who can be approached (with a constructive plan in hand), there is a newly formed state coaches association that might could play some kind of role.

The answer is not to just throw up your hands and go play travel ball. The full experience players gain in a quality school program will never be matched in travel ball.

 

I know plenty of people who have tried :banginghe

 

non-teaching coaches in high school

Obviously, it would be great if every high school softball program could have a quality coach. However, that's just not gonna happen. It is a no brainer that if possible, high schools want teachers to be their coaches. These teachers know they are representing the school and its values and have a really good reason to represent the school in a positive way. (their career) This is not to say there are excellent non-teaching coaches available that would do the same thing, however, it is also obvious that there are those that would not. I have personally seen, on several occasions over the years, non-teaching coaches, act a fool on the field or court and disgrace the school and in each case be removed from coaching. The only thing they lose if asked not to coach would be about $2.00 per hour. Like they say, a few bad apples spoils the whole bunch. This is a sad reality. Schools feel they can't take that chance. This is why some school systems will not allow non-teaching coaches. For those that will allow non-teaching coaches, I think this is the main reason they would choose a lesser coach that is a teacher over a better coach that is a non-teacher. Twenty years ago, people chose to be teachers just so they could coach (me being one of them). Now, it is becoming more and more difficult to find teacher/coaches, especially in the non-revenue sports, thus our teams suffer.

 

nailed!! thanks touchemall!

great discussion/insight and truely appreciate you sharing with TBR Softballers. great educator too...