The ideal coach?

[Coachemup]

A lot of good comments here. I would say that it is completely unrealistic for parents to expect a coach to be their kid's personal softball instructor. Coaches love to teach and develop kids, after all that's why they coach, but there are not enough hours in a day for the coach to spend a bunch of time with each player individually. Most teams practice a few times a week for only a few hours each. The coach can't spend 11 hours each day coaching the players for 1 hour each. I believe it is up to the players and their parents to put in the time outside of team practices to develop their skills and get better. When a team is struggling, the first thing parents say is the coach doesn't know what he/she is doing. I understand that the final responsibility lies with the coach, but generally when I see a team struggling, it is evidence that the players are not putting in the time outside of their team practices to get better. I think we all agree we want coaches who care for the kids and want to help them develop. But at the end of the day, the parents are with these kids way more than a travel coach is, and I believe the responsibility lies with them to help their kid get better.

 

[Lester]

Two that come to my mind are:

Misty Bridges, Kavin Morgan.

 

[Westler33]

Well said Coachmeup practice is where we learn home is where we improve.

 

[Thesoftballgodfather23]

I would like my daughter to play for a coach that doesn't have a daughter on the team. I guess with that being said it would have to be Lee Pyles of Lasers Green. We tried out for them last year and he is a class act!!!

 

[mike_dyer]

When we saw that our kid's future coach was the 9th ranked team in the AP top 25 preseason college football coach's poll my wife and I were sold. It's the only tryout we took her to.

 

[centerslapper3]

John Wooden

 

[travelinmom]

Coaches are like teachers, or favorite foods. What works for one kid may not work for another. What works for one kid at a young age doesn't work when she's older. Coaches are not private tutors, they are strictly there to coach the team to perform at their best. Therefore, I believe a great coach is one who knows how to draw out the best of what each kid has to offer at that moment in time, creating a situation that results in everyone performing their best and working together to achieve the team goal. Even a loss can be an amazing performance when the team is working well together.
Coaches are not there to be popular with the parents or the kids. Perhaps there is a little friction or fear of the coach but if the kid is improving and working harder just to win that coach's approval, then there isn't an issue.
So I give public praise and thanks to Gina and Dave! After a couple of shaky weeks following a school season of only 21 innings of play, our DD is hitting her stride and pitching/hitting better than she ever has. We are looking forward to an amazing rest of the summer