Waiting Your Turn Part II

Waiting Your Turn PartII

Now let’s address the “waiting your turn mantra.” In a recent radio interview I did in Los Angeles the host told me a story of a girl on a varsity High School Softball team. She was one of two starting pitchers and after about 15 starts she was taken out of the “rotation.” After the season was over in her exit interview, she stated to the coach she was surprised that she was not given a chance to continue starting.  It was not fair and she was upset. He asked me what I thought.

I said here is what happened. As this team named starters, substitutes, and role players, she was designated as a starter. It was her turn to start! She, and her family, had waited their turn while others played and pitched the year before and there was no reason why, when it came to be her “turn” this year, which she should not start the whole season. I explained to the host, if you have starting positions ONLY, and not starters, and kids who then fill those spots based on performance, you then have the inter team competition so crucial to a team’s success, development, and dynamics.

I could actually “see” the “LIGHT” go on for him.

Now, back to our story. The young girl in question was learning a lesson in life that will NOT carry her forward in a positive “light.” She is a player, and players want to play. But it is easy and convenient for a coach to do things this way. By saying to your players that they have definite “roles” on the team from the beginning it makes it so much easier to “coach” as you are failing to do one of the most important parts of coaching , and that is eliminating entitlement. Kids change every day, heck, even from the start of practice to the end.

. It reminds me of the baseball manager who says I have this guy for the 7^th inning, this guy for the 8^th inning and this guy to close in the 9^th. But that is major league baseball and not High School or youth sports. AND, even in those circumstances, as many can see this year and last year in MLB, closers are getting changed all the time based on performance.

 No one is entitled to a starting spot. When I mentioned this to the parent she said her daughter did get in and did get to play, some. But I could see the questions arising in her mind. The “dimmer” switch for the “light” was being used!

Too many times in too many games I see High School coaches ( and youth sport coaches ) leave their best players in with the philosophy that 75% of my best ;player is better than 100% of a lesser talented player. Although true in the very short term SOMETIMES, it has long term negative consequences for the team. It teaches players no matter what they do, they will get to play, and others no matter what they do, they will sit until the score is lopsided, OR they will get a few minutes or innings to play here and there because a coach, without a clue, has decided on a child’s athletic ability, and therefore their athletic future.

BUT OH MY, even when they do get this little scrap of meaningless playing time, if they should make a mistake, they will get pulled.

This creates a status or tiered hierarchy on the team, and I see it in almost every game I go to, and practices.

Remember the old adage “It takes a village to raise a child.” Well the same holds true for youth and high school sports. It takes the whole tam, not just a few players to make a team successful for the long term.

We use this rule of thumb in out talks, workshops, and seminars. If a freshman or sophomore is not going to play at LEAST 50% of the time in EVERY game, they should be playing at the Junior Varsity level.

This really means they should be so good that they are starting and playing most of the game every game. It should be that cut and dried.

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You can follow VJ on twitter @VJJStanley, go to his website frozenshorts.com to read other blogs and see video interviews of Doctors, Athletes, Coaches, and more. You can follow him on face book, or contact him at vj@frozenshorts.com.  His book: Stop the Tsunami in Youth Sports is available in E-Reader and paperback through his website frozenshorts.com