d1 end of season analysis team by team

Ha, ha, haaaaa!!!!

Guess I can remove that from my list of "Things to do before qualifying"

  

The original poster provided a 100% accurate description of our team.

My intent is to use our experience to help any parents considering a new team next season.  We were recruited to play for our team, and I unknowingly believed the coach's recruiting sales job and long CV.  That is my fault for not discovering more about the coach prior to signing with the team.  Here is what we had to endure from the coach's behavior once we signed the contract.

- Persistent use of profanity not only around the players but also made directly at the players
- Sarcastic and demeaning comments made to the players when they made a mistake
- When a player was unsure of what to do, they would be called a name instead of being taught the correct thing to do
- Refusal to change or even considering change to adapt to the needs of the kids at this age
- Coach speaking negatively about our son to other players' parents when our son and family was not there to defend him. The coach would also make negative comments to us about other players when they were not present.

It was a horrible situation, and I was shocked by such behavior by someone who should be setting an example for youth players.

Our son would formerly go out and play soccer with his friends and loved practicing skills.  Now, we have difficulty getting him to watch a TV game with his father.  He can barely stand the thought of playing soccer after being treated in such a manner.

My hope is that parents will take our example so that their son is not put in a similar situation.  ****While our situation is about a particular coach, the advice is much more important in general terms.****  Some people may like this coach and find this behavior acceptable.  That is their decision, but in our situation it was not what we signed up to do.

Please take your time. Conduct your research. Don't just listen to the coach and manager sell their team. Talk to team parents current and former.  Make a decision that serves your child's best interest.

About the team, I was disappointed overall.  We were a highly talented and physically fast group that I believe could have challenged for the league if the coach corrected simple problems.  The recruiting was great, but there was minor development.  We had better stamina, but we were no smarter or skilled at end of the season than the beginning.  Fortunately we will not have to deal with this any longer and will find a better coach.

I think that the coaches should be evaluated and their personalities and or behaviors exposed to the prospective clients. This way parents like yourself and many others do not have to endure such negative experiences. After all the coaches are paid by US and we should at least have a say after a year about their ability to develop players, behavior, influence on the players etc. I say lets start a forum where parents can evaluate the coaches at the end of the season for other parents to read and analyze. Word of mouth and one month in June to find out is clearly not working!

I think somebody Needs to call the whambulance or get over the reality of professional coaching in club football

COACHES ARE NOT YOUR FRIENDS, MENTORS, OR PEOPLE TO COMFORT YOU OR YOUR BB.

Too much Parental involvement in coaching and decision making is what is wrong with club football.

If you want to vote with your dollars then go ahead and choose the environment that you see fit and the coaching and club atmosphere that appeals to your requirements (we all do this and that is typical fare for football parents)

Sometimes that will get you where you need to go and you can pay to feel good about when, where, and how your BB will be trained.

By that same token you will need to find other like minded folks who have the time, resources, and connections to help you assemble a team and coaching staff that will stick together through the good and bad times (wins, losses, relegation or promotion) and not splinter when differing opinions of team and player issues arise from each of the paying parents who are stakeholders in your team.

Real Barcelona wrote:I think that the coaches should be evaluated and their personalities and or behaviors exposed to the prospective clients. This way parents like yourself and many others do not have to endure such negative experiences. After all the coaches are paid by US and we should at least have a say after a year about their ability to develop players, behavior, influence on the players etc. I say lets start a forum where parents can evaluate the coaches at the end of the season for other parents to read and analyze. Word of mouth and one month in June to find out is clearly not working!

someone started a forum for you years

ago...http://www.ratemysoccercoach.com/coach_search.php?coach_id=877&searchType=coachInfo&s_id=0

PremierLeagueFan wrote:I think somebody Needs to call the whambulance or get over the reality of professional coaching in club football

COACHES ARE NOT YOUR FRIENDS, MENTORS, OR PEOPLE TO COMFORT YOU OR YOUR BB.

Too much Parental involvement in coaching and decision making is what is wrong with club football.

If you want to vote with your dollars then go ahead and choose the environment that you see fit and the coaching and club atmosphere that appeals to your requirements (we all do this and that is typical fare for football parents)

Sometimes that will get you where you need to go and you can pay to feel good about when, where, and how your BB will be trained.

By that same token you will need to find other like minded folks who have the time, resources, and connections to help you assemble a team and coaching staff that will stick together through the good and bad times (wins, losses, relegation or promotion) and not splinter when differing opinions of team and player issues arise from each of the paying parents who are stakeholders in your team.

i have seen parents "splinter" from the best coaching you can imagine and "jump into the fire" by chasing greener grass. if i had gone home from practice and told my parents the coach had yelled or cussed at me; my dad would have have laughed and said get better

"the reality of professional coaching in club football" Most are not. That is the problem.

Real Barcelona,

Please tell us which coaches at FC Dallas, Dallas Texans, Solar, Liverpool, and Odyssey that are not professionally trained?

I did some fact checking and frankly the biographies on most of these club coaches are like a who's who so I have to challenge your assessment that they are not professional coaches.

One Example of a Coach Bio:

Patrick "Paddy" Gallagher

Professional playing career with Bohemians FC and Longford Town FC in the (Ireland) National League.

Patrick was the Head Coach with the following teams:

The Football Association of Ireland Women's National team.

Football Association of Ireland Junior (semipro) National team.

Shamrock Rover FC in the (Ireland) National league.

Bray Wanderers FC (Ireland) National League.

Kilkenny City FC (Ireland) National league.

Head Coach and Founder of CDVEC Colaiste Ide Association Football Career

Management Course and was successful in getting approximately

85 student soccer scholarships into the USA Collegiate Education system.



Qualifications include:

FA Full License.

FAI Senior License.

IFA Senior License.

USSF National 'B' License.

NSCAA Advanced National Diploma.

Irish National Coaching Center Level 2 Tutor.

4 years as personal Assistant FAI National Director of coaching

during his stay in Ireland.

North Texas Staff instructor.

Presently DOC Odyssey boys SC.

Paddy has a great CV! You may not know this but he truly cares about the game and the players even though at times it might not seem that way....I was referring to other coaches that I had the opportunity to interact with. Having said all that just because you have a diploma in X does not mean you can teach or perform. How many professionals have we interacted with that have a diploma but are truly incompetent? How many times we have come across teachers that cannot teach or ex soccer players that had a great career but fizzled as coaches? So yes you start with a diploma but the actual practice of your trait is a different story. And keep Paddy out of this one. Some players will get emotional scars but they will learn the game under his guidance. Coaches have different coaching styles and you as a parent need to find out about the coach, his/her style and most importantly need to know which style will suit your son. As players mature, his /her needs might change and so will the coaching styles. I think that the system should be more flexible and allow more time for evaluation of coaches by parents and kids to change at a sooner time point than 1 year if the player is not progressing.

Real Barcelona wrote:Paddy has a great CV! You may not know this but he truly cares about the game and the players even though at times it might not seem that way....I was referring to other coaches that I had the opportunity to interact with. Having said all that just because you have a diploma in X does not mean you can teach or perform. How many professionals have we interacted with that have a diploma but are truly incompetent? How many times we have come across teachers that cannot teach or ex soccer players that had a great career but fizzled as coaches? So yes you start with a diploma but the actual practice of your trait is a different story. And keep Paddy out of this one. Some players will get emotional scars but they will learn the game under his guidance. Coaches have different coaching styles and you as a parent need to find out about the coach, his/her style and most importantly need to know which style will suit your son. As players mature, his /her needs might change and so will the coaching styles. I think that the system should be more flexible and allow more time for evaluation of coaches by parents and kids to change at a sooner time point than 1 year if the player is not progressing.

I certainly agree with BC. Just because some guy played professionally, or just because they went through a few classes does not give them the credentials to be a great or even a good coach. I expect a good coach to understand the game, understand how to teach the game in a way a young mind can understand, they should be firm, should keep players accountable, should be encouraging. They should understand limitations but attempt to push players past those limitations. They should be mentors.

Most of all they are charged with helping develop our future adults. I do not expect my sons coach to make my son into the next Ronaldo. But I do expect him to help develop the characteristics needed to be a good citizen. I expect him to push my son to his limits.

Each coach will have different ways to do this and it is up to the parent to understand what kind of coach their BB needs. I have great respect for Paddy, Castro, Bates, and most of the rest of the names that get abused on this site. They each have their own way to coach. I know my son's personality and which ones would be best for him. We are very happy with our current coach and feel he is the best current fit for our son's development. And yes we are fairly competitive.

Superstjerne wrote:The original poster provided a 100% accurate description of our team.

My intent is to use our experience to help any parents considering a new team next season.  We were recruited to play for our team, and I unknowingly believed the coach's recruiting sales job and long CV.  That is my fault for not discovering more about the coach prior to signing with the team.  Here is what we had to endure from the coach's behavior once we signed the contract.

- Persistent use of profanity not only around the players but also made directly at the players
- Sarcastic and demeaning comments made to the players when they made a mistake
- When a player was unsure of what to do, they would be called a name instead of being taught the correct thing to do
- Refusal to change or even considering change to adapt to the needs of the kids at this age
- Coach speaking negatively about our son to other players' parents when our son and family was not there to defend him.  The coach would also make negative comments to us about other players when they were not present.

It was a horrible situation, and I was shocked by such behavior by someone who should be setting an example for youth players.

Our son would formerly go out and play soccer with his friends and loved practicing skills.  Now, we have difficulty getting him to watch a TV game with his father.  He can barely stand the thought of playing soccer after being treated in such a manner.

My hope is that parents will take our example so that their son is not put in a similar situation.  ****While our situation is about a particular coach, the advice is much more important in general terms.****  Some people may like this coach and find this behavior acceptable.  That is their decision, but in our situation it was not what we signed up to do.

Please take your time. Conduct your research. Don't just listen to the coach and manager sell their team. Talk to team parents current and former.  Make a decision that serves your child's best interest.

About the team, I was disappointed overall.  We were a highly talented and physically fast group that I believe could have challenged for the league if the coach corrected simple problems.  The recruiting was great, but there was minor development.  We had better stamina, but we were no smarter or skilled at end of the season than the beginning.  Fortunately we will not have to deal with this any longer and will find a better coach.

Oh do tell us that who you speak of...

Really do not care much for any coaches playing history or past resume because many of them are dinosaurs and lack the ability to teach the game because the way you learned is not always the way others learned and that is why many times great players do not make great coaches and vice versa. Many lack the basic ability of being able to communicate effectively to kids and parents, teach, coach, and develop. Remember that telling or yelling is not teaching, and just because you tell someone to do something your way does not always translate to the end or desired result. The core problem many coaches have is that they teach how they were taught and how they learned. A great coach in any business is one who understands not only the opportunities of the style of the game being played at that point in time, but finds ways and empowers the kids to improve decision making, learn from their mistakes when something does not work, but also provides an environment of structure, consistency, discipline and routine followed by honesty and fairness. Our coaches in youth soccer have to try and stop creating robots and telling the damn kids everything they need to do! Every game on most teams is shoot, pass, go forward, get wide, tackle him you idiot, clear it, switch it, what the hell are you doing?, arguing with refs, etc. that us not coaching, that is called puppeteering or directing. So figure out what is best for your kid - a director or dictator, or a true coach that says developing is important but then does it and that is hard to find. If it were that easy to find so many great coaches, no one would be on this board everyday spending 40% of topic time on coaches. A starting point for most coaches is to do what you said you were going to do. Late to game - no start, no show for practice - no start, respect for the game and a 11 year old kid yelling at ref and getting in his face - sit them down, be honest and do what you said will and with that credibility beings, but the win at all costs approach is where all this gets backwards and sideways, but hey this is NTX and we pay for all that drama.....   

Don't you think it is funny to see the power of those coaches ?

I mean, even here, on an internet board, even us, big adult parents with jobs and a real life, also hidden behind the anonymity of nicknames (with the ability to create a phony nickname), nobody ever dare to name and comment on a coach.

I have been on that board for years and with all the gripping and complaining we can come up with, "God like figure Coach" is never named, questioned or openly criticized !
We can criticize the president of the united states but criticizing your son's coach is way out of question ! Amazing power !

The list of bad coaches is far longer and more distiguished than the list of good coaches in NTX.

I have been given great advice on more than one occasion. You have to be careful what you do and say. Soccer is a small world and coaches talk. This sums up the sentiment of NTX parents. I have always thought that any coach that cares about me isn't that good anyway. He will be too busy playing the parental politics game to do any real development. If you have ever thought to yourself, "I wonder if the coach likes me" then you are too far gone anyway.

go99 wrote:The list of bad coaches is far longer and more distiguished than the list of good coaches in NTX.

I have been given great advice on more than one occasion.  You have to be careful what you do and say.  Soccer is a small world and coaches talk. This sums up the sentiment of NTX parents.  I have always thought that any coach that cares about me isn't that good anyway.  He will be too busy playing the parental politics game to do any real development.  If you have ever thought to yourself, "I wonder if the coach likes me" then you are too far gone anyway.  

Oh Well, I am crying into warm stale beer. Say it aint so Klinsman, say it ain't so

Oh don't remind me.  As soon as it looked like hope then cruely snatch it away

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Generally speaking this generation of parents is much more protective of their gene products and strongly believe that a more gentle non verbally abusive form of teaching will reach the same results.

Generally speaking this generation of parents is much more protective of their gene products and strongly believe that a more gentle non verbally abusive form of teaching will reach the same results.

Agree. Too many are too passive as well to make a change and leave a team/coach/club; they prefer to just throw up their hands and complain about it.

Is it tough to find a good fit? Hell yeah it is; but that doesn't mean you shouldn't even try.

the diabolical masterminds put a great system in place to keep movement from happening upon dissatisfaction. One year contracts at 10yrs and up. You want to make a move but it's terribly expensive to do so.

[quote="KarateChop"]the diabolical masterminds put a great system in place to keep movement from happening upon dissatisfaction.  One year contracts at 10yrs and up.  You want to make a move but it's terribly expensive to do so.

[/quote

you should almost NEVER leave during a year anyway. having said that, us soccer recommends changing coaches every few years

soccerdadrandy wrote:

KarateChop wrote:the diabolical masterminds put a great system in place to keep movement from happening upon dissatisfaction.  One year contracts at 10yrs and up.  You want to make a move but it's terribly expensive to do so.

you should almost NEVER leave during a year anyway. having said that, us soccer recommends changing coaches every few years

We did move during the year, and we had players join or leave our team during the year. It is not so bad.

Great day for games at Richland. Seems like a lot of goals for teams that are all supposed be pretty competitive.