Hoops

Court Time

Thanks, Mike F - good suggestion.

#437520 Stop trolling mate, it's really sad

I am disturbed by the statement that players and parents are "customers". They are not "customers", Coaches are volunteers who coach for the love of the game and to give kids the opportunity to play at a higher level than domestic. The money parents pay is to cover the hire of courts and to pay referees. They aren't paying for "service" from the coaches, they are accepting the gift of the coaches's time and for this the should be really grateful, not disrepectful and undermining.

when I'm coaching, I want to watch the play and will put players on the floor to change the game, or to react to what's happening in the game.

I don't want to have to worry about whether little Johnny or Janie got their quota of minutes in any particular game, but I WILL try to make sure they get them over the season as a whole.

If I can have an assistant or manager keeping track of these things then it allows me to do what I do best, which is make the team the best they can be in the circumstances of the game.
I'm hired for my basketball nous, not my time-keeping ability.

The sporting field is one of the few safe and controled environments we have to allow our children to experience failure and dissapointment.
We humans need to learn how to loose as well as to win, and learn that some are just better than us or will get opportunities that we may be jealous of.
The feeling of entitlement bread by our 'Bubble Wraping' ill equips our kids to handle diversity and dissapointment and I wonder if this is not being reflected in the increasing depression and youth suicide rates that are being reported.
We all hate to see our kids get 'ripped off' or not get a fair go, but they also need to learn that life will go on tomorrow.

472, perhaps think of an assistant coach as a trainee. Coaches have a limited life and you would be hard pressed to find a club knocking back volunteers wanting to coach. Having an assistant coach with the head coach means that the transition into a head coach role is easier and they can learn off experienced coaches.

That way, when head coaches need a break, or retire, clubs are looking for assistant coaches each season to replace the assistants that are now head coaches. What's easier? Convincing someone to be an assistant coach, or a head coach?

good work Mike F

@Mike F, off topic slightly but the same goes for teacher student relationships as well. If parents are not aware of how their kid is going at school, then it is too late once the report day hits to fix any issues like a lack of effort say...

I have had that conversation with teachers recently, asking them to keep the parents in the loop, not hard in the email & text world of today!

Yes, the 'Bubble Wrap' comment is one I have heard too, and let's face it the perception is reality in some cases, but schools shouldn't be sausage factories either.

Just as coaches and teachers are different, so are students and kids playing sport. We need to treat them as the individuals they are IMO, while teaching them to be part of the team.

I know this is not easy, but!!

We, as adults, need to understand generational changes as we expected our parents to...

I'm with anon 437373.

There's such a sense of entitlement these days that it makes it hard to be a coach.

Too many parents these days think that just paying the money and having the kid turn up entitles their kid to equal time, even when they're obviously not good enough. And if they don't get anywhere with the coach, then they just go higher in the club until someone gets influenced enough to pressure the coach.

Do many parents or schools these days teach the kids that putting in the hard work will get better rewards than just sitting back looking for someone to blame? Or is that too old-fashioned in these days where you can become famous just for being a nobody on TV?

Spot on Bear. It's all about effective communication.

Don't think anon has quite comprehended the message in its intent Jack...

You are correct, of course, and we see those issues often don't we?

I have always tried to be clear at the start, letting my team know that court time is largely determined by the kids themselves.

Listen and do what you are coached to do and even when you make an error you will learn from it and play on too. Don't listen and just continue to do your own thing, ignoring team rules etc... and you will sit and watch your team mates.

Either way, they learn.

Parent's expectations can exceed their kid's potential and coaches can get selections wrong or fail to see underlying issues at times, it happens but both need to be on the same page from the start and communicate throughout the season.

No one benefits from ignoring the other for too long...

437, I wish you would be a man and actually read my post succinctly and not over-react like you do.

All I have said is that part of being a good coach is managing the stakeholders around you, just like you would in the workplace situation. It's about managing their expectations just like you would in a workplace. Part of that is being clear in your expectations and outlining those expectations in a manner that your stakeholders can understand.

No one group will ever be 100% satisfied with nothing to complain about, but if you have parents that stick by you when one parent "stirs the pot" then you know you have outlined you expectations well.

It would be if you took it

Having observed and experienced this 'Fair Court Time' theory on all sides of the fence I have come to some conclusions.

These are not definitive by any stretch and of course many variables need to be considered, just my own opinions based on what I have learnt in general, take from them what you will...

1. The attitude, personalities and egos of the player, coach and parents if not on the same page and in line with the direction of the club (player pathway and team orientation), then conflict through a lack of leadership and understanding can occur.

2. Expectations of the players, coach and parents need to be clearly established, as early as possible, otherwise unrealistic points of view will result in further conflicting episodes through disappointment.

3. Communication between the club, its coaches, players and parents must be 100% clear and explained at the start of the season (especially representative basketball) on what is expected, accepted, unecceptable, tolerated, not tolerated and how everyone fits into the overall structure.

4. The culture of the club! This one is massive and is imbedded over time, but can be changed depending on who is leading the club (Association). Leadership needs to be established and followed, but it must be workable and once again clearly stated, enforced and understood by all, at the beginning of the season.

I guess what I am expressing is the fact that no matter who we are or where we are from, without clear understanding between all stakeholders, confusion will occur and the rot will eventually set in IMO...

Absolutely Anon #437387. It's a very, very hard sell trying to convince a player and their parents it's in their best interest to play in a lower team for a season. This is especially true when it's a first team or second team decision. I've seen several kids go on to play youth league & SEABL that were playing in 3/4 teams in U16's so it's not the end of the world like some make it out to be. I've even seen kids leave a club because they didnt make the first team so they could make the first team at another association. Even though that club's first team is likely to play in a much lower grade than their orignial club's seconds.

I would say to coaches who whinge about parents that they should look inside themselves as well. As a coach you are a leader and a manager. You are your own sales and marketing team as well as your operations team, and your team and stakeholders looks to you for a vision and to be many things to many people.

If you have an inability to manage assertive stakeholders, then perhaps you should seek some training in how to "manage difficult customers". If you are a coach who hates parents and who parents hate, I would say to you that you have a failure to communicate effectively. A failure to clearly articulate the expectations required to be an effective member of your team and a failure to encompass that vision so that they feel a part of that vision.

If you are a coach who has completely lost the respect of players, parents, committee and other coaches, then seek a new start at another club where you can start with a clean slate.

It can be difficult to juggle 10 players but having only 7 or less players per team would significantly reduce the standard of play due to fatigue and it would also increase the rate of injury, again, due to fatigue. Having only 5 players in a game at rep level helps nobody. The players run themselves into the ground and it ends up being a sloppy mess of a game.

Players will improve more in an environment where they're playing in games where their mistakes will be punished by the opposition. If both teams are too tired they will be able to get away with errors that they wouldn't normally get away with. Are we willing lower the standard of play just so everybody gets a warm fuzzy feeling?

Also, where will the extra, suitably qualified coaches come from to coach these extra teams? Would parents be willing to except a lower standard of coaching just so little Johnny or Mary gets their "fair share"? No way and they shouldn't. More refs would also be required thinning the standard of refereeing.

I think there is an expectation that at the start of the season court time is basically a baseline of time that kids should expect and then they need to earn extra time. They are customers and so should expect something for their money.

If that is communicated to the playing group early and they understand that court time will not be equal and that they need to put in the effort then there shouldn't be an issue. However, coaches also need to be careful not to lay a trail of BS promising kids this, that and the other, only to play favourites based on other factors. Good coaches understand how to motivate kids, poor coaches don't understand motivation and then blame "bad parents" for their inability to manage their customer properly.

Paying fees does not buy a set amount of minutes for your child, it buys your child an opportunity. The opportunity to listen, learn, work hard and follow instructions. The ability to do that will determine their playing time. Do we, as coaches always get it right? Of course not but the majority of us make our playing time allocations based on these factors.

Part of any player's development is learning consequences for their actions. How can a player that is not doing what they're asked or repeating the same mistake multiple times be given the same amount of court time as a player that is able to follow instruction and make adjustments to avoid repeating the same mistake? Why should the player that's doing the right thing have their court time reduced and see their minutes go to the players that isn't doing what they're asked?

I 100% agree that all junior basketball should be about development but that doesn't entitle players to equal court time at rep level. The reason why junior representative basketball exists is to provide a pathway and development opportunities to get to the elite level. Yes, 99% of junior rep payers won't make it but they can still come away with an understanding of hard work, commitment, leadership and teamwork. Which I think we can all agree are valuable life tools.

Sadly, some parents and players arrive with a sense of entitlement and blame the coaches for their lack of court time. I have had games where I've had to repeat a basic instruction to a player three times, sometimes more so I've reduced the minutes of that player for that game. Then had the parent or player complain about being treated unfairly after the game.

As a coach, have I had favorite players? Absolutely. The ones that listen, work hard and are able to accept construction criticism without wanting to argue the point every time.

437270, There's no need to bring a specific club into this debate. Was there been a previous post bagging Sturt? No. There seems to be a little insecurity with you somewhere. You seem a bit edgy, have you taken your meds, or has your tin foil hat fallen off?

Court time at rep level needs to be earned. I don't believe a kid should not be played at all but 50% game time is simply not realistic. Development should be the driving force for coaches but players need to understand that they must earn their court time through hard work, ability to follow instruction, training attendance, etc.

In my experience, problems with court time usually stem from the parents who have an unrealistic view of their child's ability or an overreaction to reduced playing time in one or two games rather than looking at the season as a whole. Then the parent gets in their child's ear on the way home which starts to make the player believe they're being treated unfairly. The player then starts to blame the coach rather than being willing to listen and work on their game. The whole thing ends up snowballing.

I think a junior rep player should expect to play about 25% of game time as a minimum on average over the course of a season. Rep ball is the elite level for juniors and should be treated as such, if 50% game time for all rep players is the expectation then stick to domestic basketball.

Do you think that there would be any chance for an NBL draft to be intoduced??

With also some more measures to stop so much player movement each season. I am of the opinion that if you maintain your roster (or a majority of it) there will be a lot better support by citys. Obviously imports would be in a different catigory but would like to know peoples opinions.