Athletic Support: “When’s a Good Time to Talk, Coach?”

Eli Cranor

2 years ago

Dear Athletic Support: Recently, we had a parent approach a coach after a basketball game to discuss some issues he had. This happened right down on the court. It did not get out of hand, but it seemed inappropriate. What advice would you have for parents who have issues with a coach, and the proper time to discuss it? — Take A Chill Pill

Dear Pill: The twenty-four-hour rule works well here.

A parent should give it at least that long before contacting a coach. The idea is that cooler heads will prevail after that amount of time. Back when I was coaching football, I always urged parents to wait until Monday before contacting me after a Friday night game.

Notice that I said “contact.” I didn’t say barge into my office and demand answers, or even cold call me out of the blue Monday morning.

Treat your coach like the professional he is. You wouldn’t walk into a doctor’s office and demand an appointment as soon as you showed up. The same holds true for coaches.

A text or email should be sent prior to any verbal communication. This gives your coach a chance to schedule a meeting. Coaches are crazy busy. If they had to stop what they were doing every time a parent wanted to talk playing time — they’d never get anything done.

One last thing: I always urge parents to let their kids have a chance to talk to the coach before they do. If the issue involves a player, I’d wait until he/she has had a chance to resolve it before stepping in.

Dear Athletic Support: You hear more and more about college baseball players having to get Tommy John surgery, which is basically caused from overusing of the arm. With kids starting to play year-round now at earlier ages, this isn’t really any surprise. I hate to be a cynic, but it seems like some coaches just figure if one arm goes down, they’ll find another one. Somewhere along the line, don’t kids need to have some rest built in? It’s hard when coaches want kids playing all the time. — Give Them A Break

Dear Break: It’s usually a combination of coaches and parents that want the kids playing all the time.

From what little I know of travel-league baseball, it scares the heck out of me. There are tournaments every weekend for almost the whole year.

It doesn’t have to be like that. And it’s not just the coaches who are pushing for so many games.

For whatever reason, travel-league parents are extremely diehard. I don’t know if they think that’s what it takes for their kids to get scholarships and eventually make it to the MLB, or if they just don’t enjoy slow weekends.

Regardless, a little rest never hurt anyone, and it dang sure never kept a kid from getting a scholarship.

Eli Cranor is a former professional quarterback and coach turned award-winning author. His debut novel, Don’t Know Tough, is available for preorder wherever books are sold. Send questions for “Athletic Support” in using the “Contact” page on elicranor.com.

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