A letter to Coach

[OB1]

HS Coaches and most Club Coaches are required to take the NFHS First Aid for Coaches in which there are modules on: Drugs, Emotional Disorders, and Concussion.

Coaches as any adult charged with providing guidance/training should have a mechanism to report observations to administrators, club officials and parents.

Unfortunately parents who are seeing the child every day don't necessarily notice gradual changes in behavior. Coaches who see the child far less frequently might notice changes/signs.

We have a problem in society that too many parents don't want to hear about potential problems and generally lash out at the person attempting to inform them of a potential problem.

Coaches who are concerned enough to ask a parent about changes in a child's behavior should be listened to and taken seriously.

[Unregistered]

Across our two high schools we have roughly 2,000 girls enrolled. My third child is currently attending, while my other two have moved on to college. In the 10+ years we've been involved with the school no girl has committed suicide and I can't remember even a rumor about an attempt.

2000 x .106 X 10 = 2120 attempted suicides since my kids began attending the high school? Don't believe everything you read.

I'm completely anti-bullying and 100% for suicide prevention and awareness but this statistic obviously captures something other than actual suicide attempts in an effort to shock people into supporting their position. I'm guessing accidental overdoses are included. Who knows what else they lumped into the statistics to drive their point home. Wildly inflated statistics like this do more to undermine their efforts than to bolster them.

How would you know that percentage of suicide attempts in your town? Word of mouth? Or do you get notified each time there is an attempt? I can't fathom a HS that doesn't have suicide attempts. Heck, my kid started HS 2 years ago and I can name a handful of suicides and suicide attempts in 2 years alone. And that's just from what she tells me, which is probably very small percentage. So either you are extremely naive or you live in a place that is sheltered from every other town in the country.

[Unregistered]

HS Coaches and most Club Coaches are required to take the NFHS First Aid for Coaches in which there are modules on: Drugs, Emotional Disorders, and Concussion.

Coaches as any adult charged with providing guidance/training should have a mechanism to report observations to administrators, club officials and parents.

Unfortunately parents who are seeing the child every day don't necessarily notice gradual changes in behavior. Coaches who see the child far less frequently might notice changes/signs.

We have a problem in society that too many parents don't want to hear about potential problems and generally lash out at the person attempting to inform them of a potential problem.

Coaches who are concerned enough to ask a parent about changes in a child's behavior should be listened to and taken seriously.

OB, I have coached for 25+ years with an advanced nat'l degree and uefa b license. Those nodules are great for rudimentary exposure at best, most of which is common sense. The discussion now is about the level of awareness or subsequent blame should a tragedy unfold. I have mentioned to parents that their kid might seem off, but I leave it there. If team behavior leads to poor results and trouble on the pitch, then I address the issues. But I am NOT going to allow parents to blame my "perceived" lack of recognition, which may or may not manifest itself, for a tragedy. There are professionals to do that. My job is provide a quality education on the soccer pitch revolving around soccer.
I will not be held responsible for that level of illness or disruption. It is a dangerous road we are heading down to further this discourse. And it is indicative of the blame game being foisted upon everybody by today's parents and generation.

[Unregistered]

OB, I have coached for 25+ years with an advanced nat'l degree and uefa b license. Those nodules are great for rudimentary exposure at best, most of which is common sense. The discussion now is about the level of awareness or subsequent blame should a tragedy unfold. I have mentioned to parents that their kid might seem off, but I leave it there. If team behavior leads to poor results and trouble on the pitch, then I address the issues. But I am NOT going to allow parents to blame my "perceived" lack of recognition, which may or may not manifest itself, for a tragedy. There are professionals to do that. My job is provide a quality education on the soccer pitch revolving around soccer.
I will not be held responsible for that level of illness or disruption. It is a dangerous road we are heading down to further this discourse. And it is indicative of the blame game being foisted upon everybody by today's parents and generation.

No one is going to hold you responsible for this. But implement what you have learned in all the training you've received. Its like all the new rules related to concussions in football. You will never eliminate them all. But as coaches, leaders, teachers, etc., we can certainly be proactive and try to reduce the numbers.

[Unregistered]

The topic has gotten way off. Key things that are in a coach's control to identify and address are:
1. Clique bullying
2. Selfishness/ egos
3. selective passing (passing to buddies only)
4. Communication on the field

If a coach becomes aware of other player issues, then he or she should take the appropriate steps to communicate with the player and parents. A good coach gets to know the players and may become aware of behavior that is out of the ordinary.

[Unregistered]

The topic has gotten way off. Key things that are in a coach's control to identify and address are:
1. Clique bullying
2. Selfishness/ egos
3. selective passing (passing to buddies only)
4. Communication on the field

If a coach becomes aware of other player issues, then he or she should take the appropriate steps to communicate with the player and parents. A good coach gets to know the players and may become aware of behavior that is out of the ordinary.

Does this apply to coaches with 6 teams or only those with 7-see Stars

[Unregistered]

It is my opinion that an experienced club coach should be able to identify the aforementioned soccer related issues. Every club coach should set the rules/ behavioral guidelines straight at the start of a season and encourage open communication to discourage these types of issues.
Bottom line, this sort of stuff negatively affects a team's success.

Does this apply to coaches with 6 teams or only those with 7-see Stars

[Unregistered]

It is my opinion that an experienced club coach should be able to identify the aforementioned soccer related issues. Every club coach should set the rules/ behavioral guidelines straight at the start of a season and encourage open communication to discourage these types of issues.
Bottom line, this sort of stuff negatively affects a team's success.

If a coach has 6 or 7 teams. They hardly know anyone's name, let alone personality issues.
Again, see the Stars coach assignment list.

[Unregistered]

Don't think that's a good situation. The coach should be involved enough to know every player's name, and it's important to learn as much as possible about each player over the course of the season. How can you be a great coach if you don't know your players? It's not just teaching how to dribble, pass and shoot. It's about building a team and getting the players to play together as a unit. A skilled coach should be able to pinpoint any obstacles that keep that from happening.

If a coach has 6 or 7 teams. They hardly know anyone's name, let alone personality issues.
Again, see the Stars coach assignment list.

[Unregistered]

Dear coach Darren,

The idiot former know it all ODP manager dad who got you fired is at it again. He doesn't like the new coach.