midtnhsfan

Great post FootballDad. I too have dealt with this same issues for many years. The first thing I would like to address is the statement, "I payed money for my child to play rec football and I expect equal playing time." What you pay for is football instruction, not playing time. I had the exact situation that FootballDad had one time, losing a game because I substituted at the end of a game. I had the same response from the players that I put in after the game, goofing around. The players that gave 110% were devastated. Now, a good coach will make sure that the less talented players stay busy and focused on fundamentals during every practice and will always give as much playing time as possible, because it is in our best interest that EVERY player on our team gets better. It is also a fact that every kid is not meant to play football. Many parents force there kids to play football against their will. Many kids have been turned against football for the rest of their lives because of ignorant parents, and that is an outright shame. Youth football is supposed to be fun. However, there is nothing wrong with teaching kids to compete to win. You can't name a sport that teaches lifes lessons any better. You have to compete all your life at everything that you do. Football gives those lessons to many kids who never get the chance to witness those examples in their home lives. Last issue that gets brought up all the time. "The coaches kids always gets to play the best positions." Well many times that is true and the reason being is that dads who coach tend to work with their kids more during the off season. They also, most likely, know more drills to work their kids on. I'll let you in on a little secret, any good coach will be more than happy to share those things with you if you will just ask. Try it out one year instead of spending your energy on being angry and you will see an improvement. BTW, I haven't had a kid of my own on my teams for several years. I donate my time to coach because I love football and if that makes a difference on how just one of my players turns out in the future it is all worth the time and effort.

Nationally ranked? I guess you have already ordered the state championship trophy engraving too.

Well, don't be surprised if they don't get a win this season. It is only their second season and it takes time to build a program. I think the goal, right now, should be to show improvement every week. I have a friend from work that lives there and went to one of their middle school games last season and they looked awesome. So there should be some great talent in the 9th grade this year. As a fan, I have suffered through a startup program too, and I can say it will get better. Hold your heads high eagles! BTW, how are those kids doing that moved up from the middle school last year? They had a pretty wide open offense and were impressive.