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It has came to my attention lately that there are a lot of kids moving schools because of "politics". Seems like every time i have a discussion with someone about a school district and its athletics all i ever hear is " to much politics out there etc. I personally am tired of hearing this. Here is my take on the situation....When a parents child does not play enough to suit them, or their child gets needed disciplined, the easy way around the situation is to say the coach is only doing it because of politics instead of admitting that their child needed the discipline or that maybe they arent good enough to start. Please give me some feedback on your thoughts.

I always love hearing that someone plays because their parents have money. People play more because they have more talent, a better attitude, a better work ethic, or other intangibles that will give the team the best chance to win.

I know a lot of coaches and I'm pretty sure that they all want to win and wouldn't risk playing someone who doesn't deserve it just because of a name.

A name might peak some interest in a player before you even see them, but they still have to prove that they can play.

Maybe this is a naive point of view, but in my expierence, politics have a smaller place than many people would lead you to believe.

i agree 100%

Every situation is different ... some cases the point of the parent is valid - sometimes it is not ... and a lot depends on the talent level of the kid ... If he's an all-star caliber player - his last name could be Dahmer - and he still starts and plays.

I agree it is getting way out of hand. i hate to see kids go to a different school just because they are not the star of the team and blame it on coaching...yes coaches are going to make mistakes but that doesnt always make it political. If a kid thinks he deserves more playing time just work harder and show that you need to be the one in the game...it will make your team play harder if you compete for your position!

Its a known fact that some coaches hate winning! They go above and beyond keeping certain people happy in the community by playing their children even if it means losing! I cant believe it took this long for someone to finally figure that out! lol Just like coaches and hating winning, refs hate certain programs and players as well! I know for a fact certain refs have it in for some kids! How else could you explain some of the calls?

Come on people, I am not saying sometimes a coach holds something against a kid, but I would bet my paycheck that the grudge comes more from the kids attitude, work ethic, or flat out ability WAY more times than any politcal gain!

I'll go against the grain here and say there are times when coachs and administrators make such terrible decisions that a move is in the best interest of all involved. Kids move all the time , I'm sure all of them are not poor decisions .

I've seen it happen in places where a kid deserves to play over another kid but another is put in their stead. It happens (legit) much more than we probably realize.

But you have to take it situation by situation. In today's world of sports, everybody gets a trophy, everybody deserves to play because they show up.* When a kid doesn't play, it's because he doesn't have a big name. His parents don't have a lot of money. She's catholic in a Protestant neighborhood. There's a lot of excuses for when we can't handle reality. Probably why the government "hides" so much.

*SOAPBOX ALERT! I say that asterisked comment with scorn. It seems that a lot of parents think that kids get confidence from getting trophies, and I guess I understand the logic. But the real world, it is absolutely not like that. I'm 22, a lot of entitlement is in my age group. I was always taught that you have to work to get results, but it seems that I'm in a dwindling minority these days.

nice post LE09

LoganElm_grad09 wrote:I was always taught that you have to work to get results, but it seems that I'm in a dwindling minority these days.

You might want to leave the 47% that Romney mentioned and join the other 53% of us...

I have seen both happen. I have seen kids that were way more deserving get screwed out of awards. I have seen coaches that are run by the administration and school board members. I have also seen parents that had children that weren't as good as the players playing a head of them go on and take their child to another school. So I have witnessed both things happen. I think things are worst today because parents are more involved in things. Years ago scrimmages were closed to the public and practices. Now parents see everything and every move a coach makes. Watching all the off season stuff and the long season parents are going to get ticked at the coach even if their child is the star.

I have seen this happen first-hand. I don't think it happens quite as frequently at the high school level as it does as younger ages, but still occurs. One of the more outrageous cases I have seen happened a few years ago on an area middle school basketball team. The coach in question refused to play many of the bench players, despite the starters losing nearly every game. The starters happened to have parents that were big in the school's sport's community, and were of course friends with the coach. Several of the kids stuck on the bench were pushed away from the sport and refused to play after that. I could understand if the starters were actually winning games, but they weren't.

This is only one example. I have seen it happen many times at this school, and I believe that it is directly responsible for many of this school's losing sports programs. The kids are influenced at a young age by the coaches they have, which are usually the parents of other kids, and lose interest in the sport.

I have seen both. Ive seen kids that went to other school districts and did very well. I will add that their move wasnt a political one, but a move all the same. I also saw a young man leave because he felt it was political, only to find he went from the frying pan to the fire. Its kind of sad at times. Its a life lesson some learn, and its also a lesson some will never learn.

Kentucky Trojan wrote:

LoganElm_grad09 wrote:I was always taught that you have to work to get results, but it seems that I'm in a dwindling minority these days.

You might want to leave the 47% that Romney mentioned and join the other 53% of us...

Heh; I see what you did there. It seems that these days, a lot of people are wanting the glory with out the work. It's getting harder to be a tough coach because rather than being criticized and learning from it, folks take it personally. (Sidenote: there is a huge difference between coaching at little league and Jr. High/High School when it comes to how stern a coach is.)

(I voted for the incumbent BTW)

LoganElm_grad09 wrote:Heh; I see what you did there. It seems that these days, a lot of people are wanting the glory with out the work. It's getting harder to be a tough coach because rather than being criticized and learning from it, folks take it personally. (Sidenote: there is a huge difference between coaching at little league and Jr. High/High School when it comes to how stern a coach is.)

(I voted for the incumbent BTW)

It didn't matter who I voted for because Kentucky was the first state to go with Romney at 6PM on Election Day.

(The same thing happened to me in 2004 when W won Georgia when I lived there.)

a coach would have to be very stupid to not play the kids he thinks gives him the best chance of winning. too many people do not look at the intangilbles that certain players bring to the team. there is only one ball and everyone cannot shoot it. role players are very important. i have seen some players who's main contribution was setting screens and get a few rebounds with very limited ability but they were major contributors. most parents cannot accept this fact.

ps
too many parents are too wrapped up on who starts. it is a status thing. they would rather see their kid start and play 10 minutes than come off the bench and play 20 minutes. it is rare for a parent to accept that there really are five players better than their son or daughter.

The problem with some of the coaching of today is that there are alot of coaches that do not have the balls to stand up to players and parents. If you make your intentions known up front then you will gain the respect of all. The problem that I have seen in several instances is that some of these "coaches" really never did anything in their high school career and are trying to live thru their own children who plays on a team, so yes the friends of the coaches child does get some advantage over others. I applaud the coaches who can coach with no bias and truly has the best interest of his or her team and the program they are trying to build as the number one priority! I was an All State player in basketball and had several coaches who influenced my life, but I have seen coaches who because of their actions have turned good athletes away from sports. Nothing was done by the administration to correct the actions, wonder why? But politics and *ss kissing in the athletic programs is going strong. I have a very athletic child that doesn't even play basketball and has lettered and was selected All State in another sport, so I have no hard feelings about a particular coach and I am only responding to what I personally know goes on and if you do not think if does, you are a fool! I also think some of the parents need to realize everyone's not a winner and doesn't deserve a trophy, this is where a lot of the problems started!

where did you play college ball?

Not sure if you were speaking to me or not but since it was after my post I will reply Ohio Northern University. How about you?

sparky wrote:a coach would have to be very stupid to not play the kids he thinks gives him the best chance of winning. too many people do not look at the intangilbles that certain players bring to the team. there is only one ball and everyone cannot shoot it. role players are very important. i have seen some players who's main contribution was setting screens and get a few rebounds with very limited ability but they were major contributors. most parents cannot accept this fact.

ps
too many parents are too wrapped up on who starts. it is a status thing. they would rather see their kid start and play 10 minutes than come off the bench and play 20 minutes. it is rare for a parent to accept that there really are five players better than their son or daughter.

Individualism is a great thing in some situations, but some don't like it when playing (ironically) a team sport. You don't get awards for being a cog in the machine.