Player Attuide & Grades

attitude and grades

As far as attitude, every parent and coach handle different attitudes differently. Some will tolerate more than others. I, personally, have never tolerated outbursts on the field or off, as a coach or parent. The kids that I "coach" (I use the term loosely since it is just a fall team) are 16-18 years old, but my rule is simple, if you toss a helmet or bat or pitch a fit, you go pick it up or calm down and then you babysit it, for awhile next to me on the bench. Now granted that is easy to do when it really doesn't mean alot, but I have always handled my kids that way since Little League and now that they are in high school it will happen once in a blue moon, but to none of these kids is it the norm. Was funny last year in a high school game, when a kid made a 3rd out in a big situation and slammed his bat on the ground, after he ran out the play, he picked up the bat and went and sat down on the bench with it, his high school coach thought he was pouting, but he was just used to my rules and was ready to accept the punishment.

As far as grades, I have always told my kids, if you take 2 players who are on relative even terms as far as ability and attitude and size, and one kid has a 2.5 gpa and the other kid has a 4.0 gpa, who do you think is more likely to get that spot on the baseball team in college? I have also tried to instill in my own son the importance of setting aside an hour or two a night to work on school work whether you have homework or not. Because if you play a sport in college, if you aren't used to studying everyday for a couple of hours during a hectic schedule, then most people won't suddenly be able to do it. In my opinion and experience, in college, time management becomes one of the most important attributes to any person so that you can budget time for sports, studies, and social interaction (dating). If you go out in the job market and 2 people are on relatively even terms, ability, attitude, not so much size anymore, 1 person has a 2.5 gpa and the other a 4.0 gpa, who do you think is going to get the job? Grades are important!

 

Great Post

Thats a great post Kevin11. You said alot better than I did. I never tolerated and still dont the throwing helmets etc etc. Show some class and dont be an individual. How do your actions impact the next guy going up to the plate when you are acting like that. Instead of him concentrating on getting on base he has to watch you act like a clown first. Stay positive and pull for your team. Go in the dugout and get it under control and go back to work. Plus your actions speak for the rest of your teamates and your coaches. Play with class , respect the game , go 100% all the time and never back down. Hey its rare to see a kid on any team act like a clown. Most of the boys do it the right way in fact the vast majority do. Its just the ones that dont get all the attention.

 

That's what they are looking for. But if i had to place the order in priority it is this:

- talent
- grades
- attitude

It's not that a college coach will tolerate a bad attitude, but the few times they watch a player, they don't always pick that up. And as Coach 27 mentioned. Some people mistake an attitude for being competitive...and I'm not talking about jawing with the ump. Any way you look at it, they are still kids and their attitudes can be adjusted

 

Here, Here. Adjustment of the attitudes seems to be in order. I do however think that some programs over look this. The talent factor is the big reason. I think that most would set them but they have their $$$ coming from the many M & D that I think makes them look the other way. Being honest, but due to the dollars it is a fact of life.

 

Not sure. You would think that since the sport is played by the same rules, they would apply the same here.Not to put any kid down or suggest you have to be a brain. Mine is not. But with all the special assistance that kids get in learning today (old school here). I think that the GPA needs to be raised by .25 or.50. acroos the board. We expect players to work 110% on the field> Why not the classroom? Thoughts????

 

Without mentioning names or High Schools, I once had the priviledge of sitting beside a college coach watching a game. He had a stopwatch in his hand and was clicking it every pitch. I did not know what he was doing. I had an idea who he was watching, but was not sure. Well to make a long story short, this guy was watching the catcher on the losing team. He was timing the amount of time the catcher took to return the ball to the pitcher. Did it the whole game. Do you know that the catcher never faulted in his times. He always popped up and fired the ball back to the pitcher, never lazy but fired it back even though they were losing by a large margin. That is all this coach was interested in. He told me I can teach a kid to hit and work on catching fundamentals, but I can't teach intensity. By intensity he meant his focus on the game even in losing situations. This coach by the way did sign the catcher because of that. He also was one heck of a player!!! My thoughts. Great learning experience.

 

I'll say this regarding a scene I witnessed recently... For many kids, their sport is a reprieve from an otherwise troubling world. Think about the games you have watched at EVERY level. Why is it demanded that these teenage kids act like adults at all times, without exception (else they get ejected), yet the adults (coachs and umpires) are allowed to act like children, without repercussion? Why do we pass judgment so harshly on teenagers and give the "grown-ups" a free pass for no other reason than they are "adults"?

 

I agree. Attitude is no being an adult. I guess we could say that they need to act with respect. Doing the right thing is being an adult. I to see it at every level. I was at a game a week or so. Now team A has no superstars if at best they would make a fair travel team. They faced a team with a stud pitcher. This kid has already sign with a Top D-1 school in the ACC. Long story short. They lost. The weaker team fought hard and came home with the win. As the game ended the pitcher walked off the mound, threw his glove at the dugout with his hat. He then proceed to go down the good game line slapping at the opposing team hands and bumped the arms and shoulders of the last three players as to say get out of my way am mad. I guess that D-1 scout was not there. That is a attuide. He then walks out to his car with his parents. Gets in a slams the door.WOW!!!!! I just got to see a spoiled brat that did not get the win act like a child and is going to a D-1 school. I'm sure that if he does that at the next level the coach will be more that happy to say see you.

 

I think grades need to be emphasized more by high school coaches. The reality is that this is not basketball or football where kids get full athletic scholorships. I have seen many many good baseball players who go to college and play and get far more academic/merit scholorship than actual baseball money. The more academic scholorship a player can recieve from a school, the less a coach has to dip in to the few dollars of athletic scholorships that he has available, and that makes the player far more valuable to the program rather than just his talent. If your a college coach and you've got two kids whose talents are pretty close but one costs you less athletic dollars to come to your school because of their work in the classroom, who do you take?

 

I agree 100% that academic achievement can never be stressed enough. There are many players that have gone on to success in college that would not have had an opportunity without their high grades and SAT score.

Having said that, I believe a HC should stay on top of his players about their grades, but I also believe it is the responsibility of the student and their parents to set that priority.