GAY GEISER-SANDOVAL -- Educationally Speaking

As I stand on the precipice of coaching an amateur youth team for a third

year, I decided that I should evaluate what the role of a coach is when

dealing with a youth team.

1. Is it my team as the coach, or is it their team with me as the helper?

2. As coach, should I be the dictator or the facilitator?

3. What should I articulate as the team’s goal? Should the team’s first

priority be to have a winning season?

4. Should I spread the word that I’m the best coach with the best players

so that other really talented players, who would otherwise get on a

competing team, end up on my team?

5. If I can end up with a better team -- even if it means breaking the

rules but no one will find out but the team -- should I do it?

6. Should I make the team practice all of the time, so they can be the

best, even if it means they have to give up other activities and time

with their family and friends? Is it important for them to understand the

commitment to the team to the exclusion of all else?

7. What are the consequences to the team members who have to miss a

practice? Do I kick them off the team, no matter what the reason, or do I

make judgments as to whether it was reasonable to miss practice for that?

What if the team member misses practice to study for a test? Do I place

team practice above school work? What if practice is missed because of

the parent instead of the team member? Does that make a difference?

8. Because I’m the professional with all of the experience and they’re a

bunch of kids, should I make all of the decisions and have the kids

execute my decisions? What if I let them make decisions, and they make

the wrong ones? Should I step in then so they don’t make a mistake? How

will the team members learn strategy best -- if I tell them the right

way, or if they try it and it doesn’t work out?

9. What happens if a team member doesn’t take my advice, and the team is

hurt by it, but the team member tried something she thought of? Do I make

that team member an example and humiliate her in front of the whole team?

Do I do my best to stifle creativity and original thinking if it puts my

team in jeopardy of losing?

10. Should I degrade and humiliate those team members who messed up

during the competition, so everyone understands the importance of winning

and not messing up? Is humiliation the key to making a better team

member? What if I don’t use a name, but everyone knows who I mean? Is

that all right?

11. How do I pick the team? What if one person has a handicap or

disadvantage that I know will keep him from ever being as good as the

other members, no matter how hard he tries? Do I keep him off the team?

Do I let him on the team, and let him work and practice, but never let

him compete? Do I spend time with the less talented, even though the team

has a better chance of winning if I focus on the most talented team

members?

12. What do I tell the parents who think I should have their child

participate more so that the team can win? What do I tell the parents who

think I should have their child participate even if it means that might

hurt the team’s chances of winning?

13. To instill a winning spirit, do I denigrate the other team, and tell

my team how much better they are than the other team? Because this is an

amateur youth team, do I ask God to help only us? Is it so important that

we win that we need to get God involved?

14. Do I show the team some moves that won’t be caught by the judges but

that are against the rules? Is my message that it is all right to cheat

if you don’t get caught?

15. Is my main goal to have a winning team, so that all participation of

team members and strategies for the team are based on that goal? What if

it means that I do the work that the team members could do, but if they

do it, it won’t be as good and the team might not win? Then, is it my

obligation to take over?

16. Is my main goal to showcase the talented team member who might be a

professional or get a college scholarship based on their performance on

the team? Do I give that member more roles, even if it means a less

talented member doesn’t get to participate in the competition at all?

17. Is my main goal to give every team member a start on learning the

skills necessary for the game and hope that they become lifelong learners

of the game? Should I hope that they have some fun, meet new people, make

new friends, learn to think and have better skills? Should I hope that

they become ethical players in the game of life, even if they lose the

competition?

18. Is my main goal to keep my job as coach or to be able to brag about

how good of a coach I am? By my actions and my answers as the coach, what

ethical lessons do I impart to my team members?

Please e-mail me with your answers to these questions. While I don’t need

your name, I would like to know if you are a coach, a parent or a youth

team participant. In two weeks, I’ll talk about your answers. It will

help all of the coaches to know what our community wants.

GAY GEISER-SANDOVAL is a Costa Mesa resident. Her column runs Mondays.

She can be reached by e-mail at [email protected].