Softball HS coaches...

From reading the many posts, I get the idea that there are quite a few HS without a quality coach. Why is that? and what can be done to correct this?

No matter how great your summer team is, nor what great teams that you play against, there is nothing like playing your HS rival in a meaningful game. The intensity level goes through the roof.

But I have also seen some pretty sorry commitments from a few coaches at their program. In my opinion, the commitment has to start at the Principal by demanding the AD to hire a person that has a passion for the sport and knows how to teach it....and then develop a booster program to support it. The parental support in softball is on the same level as baseball, but the financial support is nowhere as strong. You must have the softball booster support to continue to upgrade the facilities...and you must have a coach that is committed to the sport and is willing to sacrifice their time to work on their field.

 

That's a travesty Cheeze...and I understand the stipends may be different in your area, but in Charlotte it is peanuts. I can't imagine why a teacher would want to do that for the money. For the amount of time it demands, they probably get paid $1.50 an hour. That why most HS baseball coaches will tell you it's never about the money.

Jeez...if the teachers need more money, they should go apply at WalMart. They would make more. But I understand what you are saying about teachers getting first choice. But you would think an AD could find a qualified softball coach that is a teacher...even if they have to go raid a college to do so

 

You are exactly right. We have the same problem at SC. Just don't know anything like rules, stats, scoring or fundamentals but she got the job because she is a teacher who wanted it. Some schools go so far as to just go get a teacher and tell them we need you to coach this or that. That would never happen in football. The schools need to learn that sports are an important part of the learning experience for kidds and start going outside the schools to get QUALITY coaches the same as they try to get good teachers. A teaching degree don't make you a good coach! There are plenty who are very good and would do a great job for nothing. We had one that fit this senerio and he wasn't even considered for the job because he wasn't a teacher and I promise you he would have been a great head coach and cared more about the kidds than any coach at SC and the girls absolutely loved him

 

There you go...that's what I am talking about. It takes a commitment from the Principal and the AD, but why can't they go out and recruit a good coach that also teaches? That's why schools post job openings...so they can get quality applications.

I'll share something with you. TBR has played a very strong role in placing 5 HC's in HS baseball positions, simply by marrying the applicant with the school.

 

From what I understand we had a very knowledgable coach who had a teaching degree apply for the job but wasn't even interviewed because he taught at Caldwell Community College and not at South Caldwell now were paying the price. I just don't understand. Maybe after the year we just went through the principle and AD will see their mistake and fix it. (NOT)!!!

 

Yea and he was not to happy about it either.
Our head coach doesn't have a degree but was given a job within the school system. One good thing I can say for Alexander Central they care about softball. When we had a coach who wasn't to good she only lasted 1 year. Now after this year let's see if the powers that be at SC do the same this year. They will let you know where they stand on softball if they don't make the nesassary change this year.

 

School ball

The first responsibility of any school principal is to hire for the instructional ability of their faculty. The most significant responsibility of any school is meeting the academic needs of their students. It is necessary to hire teachers first and if they're a coach, that's icing on the cake. Often athletic programs are handcuffed by positions who will not coach or are incapable of being an effective coach. Until there is a resignation or retirement, there's just no way to make a move. Our educational system doesn't work like business and industry where you simple move out the problem. Combine this with the low starting pay of begining teachers, and the course/liscensure requirements for teachers, plus the stress of accountability in every aspect of the job, and the applicants are not exactly standing in line to go to work. Thankfully there are those who simply love kids and will go to the ends of the earth to make a difference in the lives of their students and players.
ERMS