YOUTH BASKETBALL
"DADDY BALL"
ALL-MET ELITE
"You have a lot of cases where a dad thinks he has a good ballplayer, so he goes and finds about six or seven other kids and makes an AAU team," Watson said. "These factions are more about seeing their son do well, but they're not realistically interested in seeing a program do well.
"Their kid might average 25 points per game, but who are they playing? What tournaments are they playing in? It hurts because kids in our area aren't getting objective feedback concerning their skills. We as coaches have to start thinking programmatically, instead of just about a team."
What do we mean by "daddy ball"? It refers to a situation in a youth sport such as baseball, football, soccer, hockey, basketball or any other competitive youth sport where a parent coaches or is an assistant coach to the team and plays his son above where he falls athletically. In short, daddy ball refers to the coach's child playing either preferred positions or increased playing time, in exclusion to other more athletically gifted competitors.
Regardless of the sport, the concept is the same - when a child gets playtime or position that he does not earn through his own hard work and athletic ability or if others who can get the job done are not given the opportunity-so the coaches son can play more- it is daddy ball.
I regard coaches who play their son above where he falls athletically as cheating his son, the other boys, the team and himself. What do I mean by that bold statement?
A coach who does not make his son earn his position has in effect trained the boy to expect something for nothing. Continued over time the boy expects things to be handed to him and has little incentive to put in the hard work necessary to beat out other young athletes and truly earn what he gets.
Young boys hold few; in as high regard as their coach, if they put in the work, have a good attitude and can beat out another kid- they deserve to play the spot.
A coach, who will not play the best boy for the job to work another agenda, improving his own child's ability, should not be coaching the team.
Daddy ball also serves to cheat the team, as a team, because when boys are not played where the fall athletically, the team will be less competitive and the boys will be less motivated. Resulting in a team that is not all it could have been.
A coach who plays his son above his athletic ability to the detriment of more qualified boys has failed in its primary mission as a father, that is to adequately prepare his son to leave the nest and stand on his own 2 feet. When children do not experience earning by their own efforts and truly competing, they suffer.
Some coaches feel that by coaching the team they have earned the right to play their son where ever and however they want and for the reasons set forth above, I say, find another team.
Speaking with the daddy ball coach has little chance of success because it involves his own son. If you do speak to the coach, be very careful to keep the conversation about facts and not opinions.
What do we mean by "daddy ball"? It refers to a situation in a youth sport such as baseball, football, soccer, hockey, basketball or any other competitive youth sport where a parent coaches or is an assistant coach to the team and plays his son above where he falls athletically. In short, daddy ball refers to the coach's child playing either preferred positions or increased playing time, in exclusion to other more athletically gifted competitors.
Regardless of the sport, the concept is the same - when a child gets playtime or position that he does not earn through his own hard work and athletic ability or if others who can get the job done are not given the opportunity-so the coaches son can play more- it is daddy ball.
I regard coaches who play their son above where he falls athletically as cheating his son, the other boys, the team and himself. What do I mean by that bold statement?
A coach who does not make his son earn his position has in effect trained the boy to expect something for nothing. Continued over time the boy expects things to be handed to him and has little incentive to put in the hard work necessary to beat out other young athletes and truly earn what he gets.
Young boys hold few; in as high regard as their coach, if they put in the work, have a good attitude and can beat out another kid- they deserve to play the spot.
A coach, who will not play the best boy for the job to work another agenda, improving his own child's ability, should not be coaching the team.
Daddy ball also serves to cheat the team, as a team, because when boys are not played where the fall athletically, the team will be less competitive and the boys will be less motivated. Resulting in a team that is not all it could have been.
A coach who plays his son above his athletic ability to the detriment of more qualified boys has failed in its primary mission as a father, that is to adequately prepare his son to leave the nest and stand on his own 2 feet. When children do not experience earning by their own efforts and truly competing, they suffer.
Some coaches feel that by coaching the team they have earned the right to play their son where ever and however they want and for the reasons set forth above, I say, find another team.
Speaking with the daddy ball coach has little chance of success because it involves his own son. If you do speak to the coach, be very careful to keep the conversation about facts and not opinions.
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