Middle School Coaching

Having read the recent posts regarding the middle school coach, I sympathize with the parents regarding their concerns. As a middle school and aau coach, I have seen the good, the bad, and the ugly, and have truly come to understand that their are always two sides to any story, which is why we keep written evaluations of the players and ask more than one coach to participate in on the evaluations. It is not a perfect system, but trust me, coaches have disagreed regarding the talent of players. During this current season we were required to cut three players only (grades cut 10), and the father of one of the players cut disagreed with our decision. When he called I explained to him that during the ball handling drills his son was unable to handle the ball without constant double dribbling; that he was unable to hit a free throw. . . There were other areas that he appeared weak in, but in the final analysis, he was clearly one of the weaker players. The parents response was that he looked good in the driveway, but in further discussion, it was clear no one had ever worked with the player. We encouraged all of the players who were cut to participate in the community league, which gives them the opportunity to play and work on their skills, but it's amazing how many parents rely solely on their child working out in the driveway or at a friend's house. Additionally, it has been my experience that a lot parents (and children) have an overinflated belief in their child's ability, and far too often people, out of kindness, won't inform them of the truth. In any event, a good player today, may not be a good player in a few years, and vica versa, so the kid must keep working.