No Backseat Driving

The spelling - horrendous...the concept - perfect

We all enjoy being the Monday Morning Quarterback, flaunting our 20/20 hindsight vision around the water cooler or at the coffee shop.  It's natural and probably takes severe restraint to not let the idea even creep into your head.  I have no problem with that, and I'm sure most coaches wouldn't be opposed to talking through some of their decisions in those places.  Unfortunately, some parent's just don't understand that there is a time and place for everything.

I don't have a problem discussing the game with parents from time to time.  Having sat on the bench as a head coach, assistant coach, and in the stands as a spectator, I admit that you see different things at different times, and that additional perspective can usually help.  That discussion doesn't happen until after the game and the players have been dismissed from the post-game meeting.  It is not a welcome discussion in the middle of a game while I'm trying to put my strategy in play.  Thew players already have enough to worry about without conflicting voices coming across the court yelling two different ideas.

For instance, yesterday our Freshman team is playing a taller team in the second game of a back to back game morning.  While the boys were capable of playing them in a man to man defense, the coach decided to go with a 2-3 zone to try to give us an early advantage in the rebounding department and hopefully keep the little height we do have out of foul trouble.  Two minutes into the game, after a couple of bad zone rotations and uncontested three pointers, a couple of the parents are yelling to their kids to play man to man.  Fortunately, these are high school kids capable of tuning out their unruly parents, but it's still frustrating for a coach.  And in my case, when you've got a 5th grader who may not be so bold as to intentionally tune mom or dad out, its really frustrating because it changes how they play.  Needless to say, we fixed the rotation issues and there were less wide open looks at the basket and we ended up winning the game.

I'm all for parent's cheering on their kids and using positive feedback to help them play better.  If you disagree with the coach's strategy, that's okay too.  But save it for another time and place.  In the game your job is to support your child, his team, and his coach.  I will let you do your job, if you let me do mine.  If not, I can always have you removed from the facility...