Are the days of tough practices and earning playing time in high school sports gone? With trophies being handed out to everyone in the league, everyone going out for ice cream after wins or losses, and instead of earning your playing time with hard work and improvement in practice, simply signing up for the team get you on the field.
There has been a big push in coaching kids that everybody is a winner, everyone did a great job, and everyone is the best. This is a great way to coach younger children, and get them interested in sports. However, over the last few years that philosophy has been creeping into the coaching styles of high school teams.
Coaches at high school levels are becoming afraid to coach. They are worried about parents complaining practices are too hard for their kids, or that their kid isn’t getting any playing time. Coaches are starting to give equal playing time to make parents happy, even to those kids that slack off in practice, and have missed more practices then they have made. Those tough life lessons about earning what you get seem to be getting lost.
Growing up sports was a big part of my childhood. I would spent my weekends and time after school playing and practicing to get myself ready for tryouts in order to make the team. Being pushed by my coaches, and doing whatever I can to help my team get a win. I remember the way you felt after a hard fought win. However, the biggest memory was those hated practices after a loss, or after a bad performance. Running those sprints till u puke, doing drills over and over and over again till you forget how many you have done. Those practice’s that felt like they lasted for days instead of hrs. The reason these tough practices are the biggest memory is because it was those practices that helped captain’s earn the C on their chest, and allows you to earn the respect of your fellow teammates.
Now, many school teams don’t have tryouts any more. Every kid makes the team, and gets some sort of playing time. Instead of kids getting benched, or running extra laps for missing a practice they are considered excused. Are the days of earning your keep gone in sports?
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