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Pet Peeves
(in no particular order)
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©2006 oldschoolsportsparenting.com
PET PEEVE #1:
Coaches who’ve never been parents of competitive athletes, yet who
criticize parental emotions and outbursts at games. (To quote a
favorite saying of coaches, "If you think it’s so easy, why don’t you do
it?")
PET PEEVE #2:
Professional coaches who use the "If you think it’s so easy …"
defense for their shortcomings. (Funny how they feel justified in
criticizing referees, who could easily use the same defense. Look, you’re paid to
teach and motivate kids effectively enough to help them win. If you can’t win
with at least some consistency, then you’re taking money but aren’t doing
your job, and you deserve to be criticized – if not fired. That’s what
happens in other professions.)
PET PEEVE #3:
Football "fans" who loudly utter suggestions about plays to call and
defensive adjustments to make, knowing full well that they couldn’t even
organize a team picnic, let alone teach 11 high school kids how to run a
weakside trap against a 4-4 overshifted to the field.
PET PEEVE #4:
Football coaches who think all fans are as clueless as those people.
PET PEEVE #5:
High school coaches who automatically assume they’re more talented
teachers and motivators than volunteer Youth League coaches, simply because
they get paid and they coach older kids. (If you think it’s tough to
teach high school kids how to run a weakside trap against a 4-4 overshifted
to the field, try doing it with 11-year-olds.)
PET PEEVE #6:
Referees and umpires who think they have to stop play for every
infraction, no matter how inconsequential. (Memo to refs: No one came
to the game to watch you.)
PET PEEVES #7-13:
All of the following
parental habits …
-
Habitually arriving 20 minutes late to
pick up their kid from Youth League practice, as if the coaches (who are
volunteers and have probably been at the practice facility for two or
three hours, already) are running a babysitting service.
-
Volunteering to coach a youth league
sport that they know absolutely nothing about, simply because their kid
signed up. (Special bonus pet peeve: ... and then blowing
off most practices but showing up regularly to "coach" in games.)
-
Buying their kid fancy shoes,
headbands, wristbands and all sorts of other decorative paraphernalia
designed to make him look cool.
-
Enrolling their kid in skill camps
named for pro athletes who virtually never attend a single session (let
alone actually coaching the kids) – then compounding the annoyance by
bragging about it as if their kid has been personally endorsed by the
pro.
-
Cornering a coach after practice to see
how their kid "is doing."
-
Cornering a coach after a game for any
reason.
PET PEEVE #14:
"Injured" athletes who lie on the field or court writhing in pain for
what must seem like hours to their nervous parents, only to rise
miraculously and jog off after they’ve been properly ministered to by the
school trainer. (Special bonus pet peeve: Athletes who do all of the
above, and then re-enter the game two minutes later.)
PET PEEVE #15:
Former players who think they can coach just because they excelled as
athletes. (Coaching and playing are two entirely different
skills. Playing experience can be a plus if you have coaching talent,
but it can be -- and usually is -- a hindrance if you don't.)
PET PEEVE #16:
Coaches who abuse their power by applying personal or political
motives when they appoint starters, Captains and All Stars.
PET PEEVE #17:
All Star teams elected by any
people or processes other than coaches nominating opposing players.
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