Well, middle school volleyball ended for my 7th grader yesterday. Being a coach myself, it is hard to watch. It is quite ugly as far as volleyball goes. With the new inclusionary systems in place, every kid makes the team and every player plays pretty close to the same amount. I do not know how the coaches decide who gets "A" team and "B" Team designation because I watched both sets of teams and there are plenty of kids on the B team who could beat out a handful on the A team.
That is frustrating as a parent, even more frustrating as a coach who sees the OBVIOUS discrepancies.
My kid played on the A team and was one of the few who seemed to know anything about the game. These kids are not taught proper fundamentals, they are not taught the rules and they just don't understand what is happening more often than they do.
Throughout the season, I just wanted to take over the teams and actually teach them what they needed to do. It is not always easy separating parent from coach on so many levels. Watching her play where I actually was not her coach was frustrating because of how ugly it was and how many areas I saw such easy fixes in.
Being a parent on teams where I am the coach, it is always hard to find that line between being mommy and being coach. As a coach, I see where improvements need to be made, where they are prone to mistakes more than just at the gym and I cannot always help myself. I know I should not bring it home with me. Once the team separates and I've left the gym, I am now mom and not coach. But, I see so many upsides to having someone there that can always give pointers and I always want them to be the best they can be.
My husband has talked me into scaling it back and is watching out for me over-talking about it. But, with me as a coach and two kids who are constantly playing, volleyball is our life, it is our family. Everyday it comes up in some way shape or form. Between the two of them - they have 7 league championships, 1 regional championship and multiple 2nd place finishes in both league and tournament play. They talk about what college they can go to that has decent volleyball teams and they are in 7th and 5th grade.
We have lots of time to figure it out. I have only been coaching competitively for a year now and they will be moving on from me soon, I am sure. That will be when it really gets hard.
That is frustrating as a parent, even more frustrating as a coach who sees the OBVIOUS discrepancies.
My kid played on the A team and was one of the few who seemed to know anything about the game. These kids are not taught proper fundamentals, they are not taught the rules and they just don't understand what is happening more often than they do.
Throughout the season, I just wanted to take over the teams and actually teach them what they needed to do. It is not always easy separating parent from coach on so many levels. Watching her play where I actually was not her coach was frustrating because of how ugly it was and how many areas I saw such easy fixes in.
Being a parent on teams where I am the coach, it is always hard to find that line between being mommy and being coach. As a coach, I see where improvements need to be made, where they are prone to mistakes more than just at the gym and I cannot always help myself. I know I should not bring it home with me. Once the team separates and I've left the gym, I am now mom and not coach. But, I see so many upsides to having someone there that can always give pointers and I always want them to be the best they can be.
My husband has talked me into scaling it back and is watching out for me over-talking about it. But, with me as a coach and two kids who are constantly playing, volleyball is our life, it is our family. Everyday it comes up in some way shape or form. Between the two of them - they have 7 league championships, 1 regional championship and multiple 2nd place finishes in both league and tournament play. They talk about what college they can go to that has decent volleyball teams and they are in 7th and 5th grade.
We have lots of time to figure it out. I have only been coaching competitively for a year now and they will be moving on from me soon, I am sure. That will be when it really gets hard.