This is a true story I heard this week at a preseason parent meeting.
Coaches strongly consider using it with your parents.
We’ll call this family the Smith family.
John’s brother Stan was a Sophomore playing on his high school varsity team. Stan was a gritty, hardworking player. He wasn’t a great offensive player but he knew his role and really enjoyed helping the team.
Their dad liked sports but only got to attend about one third of the games. He was extremely busy, a hardworking carpenter that provided well for his family.
Stan played great in a Tuesday night game in the middle of the season. He had 7 rebounds, 3 steals and took a charge that sealed the victory for his team. John was proud of his big brother. There were eating breakfast the next morning and excitedly chattering about some of the key plays in the game.
Mr. Smith said, “So you won, huh? And you played really well, too?”
Stan was beaming “Yes sir, I really did.”
“How many points did you score?
Stan said, “I didn’t score any points, Dad but I -”
Mr. Smith exploded, “You didn’t even score one point? Not one free throw or one basket? And you think you played well?”
“Well, Dad, I – ”
“HOW MANY SHOTS DID YOU TAKE?”
“None. I didn’t take any shots, Dad. They were playing zone and my job was to – ”
“NONE? YOU DIDN’T EVEN TAKE A SHOT? YOU CAN’T SCORE IF YOU DON’T SHOOT! ARE YOU TOO DUMB TO FIGURE THAT OUT? EVEN YOUR MEATHEAD LITTLE BROTHER KNOWS THAT.”
Stan was frustrated but didn’t know what to say. He just loved being a great teammate. His coaches loved him. He was No maintenance.
Mr Smith had a plan. He said, “I’m gonna come to the next game on Friday. I’ll get off work and come watch you. You need to shoot at least four times in that game. If you don’t shoot at least four shots, I’m through coming to the games. Do you understand?
Stan said, “I understand.”
(Ask the crowd at this point:)
What should Stan do?
Should he:
A) Listen to his Dad?
B) Listen to his Coaches?
This is not a rhetorical question. Wait until someone answers. They will probably say Listen to the Coach (they think that’s what you’d want them to say.)
Your response:
LISTEN TO THE COACH? ARE YOU SERIOUS?
The Coach ain’t gonna be there for Thanksgiving dinner in 15 years. But their Dad is.
The Coach didn’t buy that kid’s clothes, shoes, food, shelter, medicine, etc.. AND YOU THINK HE SHOULD IGNORE HIS DAD & LISTEN TO HIS COACH? REALLY?
Finally. somebody will say he should listen to his Dad.
LISTEN TO HIS DAD?
His dad isn’t gonna put him in the game. The COACH IS!
His dad thinks he is open and wants him to shoot. But he’s not at practice. He doesn’t know we’re running “POWER” to get it inside to the big guy. He doesn’t know we have many better shooters than Stan. He’s not at practice every day.
If he listens to his Dad, he’ll get ripped out of the game quick.
So what can he do?
It’s a NO WIN situation.
Listen to Dad & fire it = get ripped out of the game
Listen to Coach = Dad barks at him all the way home.
Guess what he did?
HE QUIT!
And he missed out on something he really loved. He missed out on great times & learning great lessons that you get in a gym.
Please don’t put your son or daughter in that spot.
Support the team. Cheer for your child.
Don’t Coach.
Don’t put your kid in a LOSE – LOSE situation. Their Dad loved one player on that team, his son. He hurt the one he loved the most.
Coaches this is a great story to use in your preseason meetings.
– Coach T
John Steiner says
Coach, I just read this story and it hit home in lots of ways. It is great to see you’re still sharing your gifts here. I keep up with the CCS basketball situation 2 or 3 times a yr. I have noticed they named the gym after Eddie Salter and brought him back on. I often draw from my basketball experiences growing up – learning the core values of the game at your Saturday morning clinics at Vance and on up through the years as a player at CCS. This story is significant for me because my dad continuously questioned Salter’s coaching acumen, and it made me quit. Of course, he was right about his assessments, but it ended up working against me. When I played my final game, I was glad it was over. He was in despair over it. I was subject to Salter as a player, and I needed my dad to get behind that no matter what. By the time my senior year rolled around, about the only game I could get up for was the Temple game vs. you guys, but that was only out of pride and respect for your program and my indebtedness to it…