Don't forget about the "Assistant Coach"

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With tryouts rapidly descending upon us, I find one thing commonly overlooked. Everyone is very concerned with the head coach but doesn't seem to be all that worried about the assistant coach. We have played for head coaches with a DD on the team. In my experience and opinion, not only were the coaches fair but even harder on their DD. We have played for a head coach without a DD on the team. In that experience and in my opinion, it was the worst and most wasted season of her short softball career thus far. My point: You can't let one thing like "Does the head coach have a DD on the team?" be a major decision factor. But what about the assistant coach...does anyone factor that into the equation??? How much imput do they get? What do they get imput on? Are they a self-proclaimed "pitching coach" or "batting coach"? Do they only help lug equipment to and from field and coach a base? Does the assistant coach have a DD on the team? My DD has been on a team 2 times where the assistant coach had ALOT of imput that left us scratching our heads wondering who the real head coach was (one time far worse than the other). Maybe I'm wrong in what I believe an assistant coach should be: a coach that ASSISTS the head coach but with the head coach making important and final decisions instead of a 50/50 relationship (in some cases more like 75/25!). My spouse has been an assistant coach for 2 years who truly ASSISTED and only gave imput when needed or asked, coached a base, warmed the girls up, etc.... So I'm just saying research all coaches not just the head coach.

 

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Westside ... good point about the assistant coach being a factor to consider, though I don't think it is automatically a bad thing either if the assistant coach plays a more active role. I have been a head coach with both more and less involved assistant coaches, and I have been an assistant coach where my role was both more and less active depending on the head coach. Sometimes the head coach needs and/or wants the assistant to take a more active role, and sometimes they don't. When I've been an assistant, I've probably erred to the side of being very active unless and until the head coach told me differently, because that's just the way I am and I'm likely to step in and do anything I can where the team needs it. But again, I agree with your point that it's good to understand the total dynamic of the coaching staff if you can. Unfortunately, you don't always have visibility to that at tryouts when the assistant coaches might not be in place yet depending on who makes the team.