Dear Readers:
Welcome to the 2003-04 season of Dear Hoop Mom. I’m looking forward to another year of great girls’ basketball, and I encourage you to submit questions about a variety of topics that may be of interest to other parents, coaches and players. Please note that I recently acquired a new email address – teresawippel@earthlink.net - so if you sent me questions over the summer, I may not have received them.
To kick off this year’s Dear Hoop Mom column, I wanted to pass along some thoughts I received from a local coach, and add some comments of my own:
 I’ve been coaching basketball for several years. My assistant coach and I, like many of our colleagues, put in countless hours planning practices and our season, conducting practices and coaching games, arranging scrimmages and travel, traveling, scouting, watching videos and evaluating and improving our skills through clinics, books and videos. We don’t charge a penny, and in fact through our fundraisers we have been able to cover league and tournament expenses – as well as some travel costs – for our players. It befuddles me that it would not occur to a parent to thank us. I am constantly thanking my kids’ teachers, and they get paid for what they do!
It’s not just the thank you's, either. It’s also the consideration. For example, I sometimes spend an hour or two planning practices, taking into account what the team needs and what individuals need. Then I get girls telling me hours before that they are not coming, and I have specific drills for them or I’ve planned a scrimmage and designated teams in advance. Or, when kids/families bow out of tournaments at the last minute, rendering the team short-handed, which I always view as a potential safety hazard (overtaxing kids) and so we either withdraw or we have to scramble and call around, looking for replacements who haven’t even practiced with the team.
Thankless in Seattle
Dear Thankless:
You certainly hit the nail on the head of a common problem facing volunteers everywhere: feeling unappreciated. When it comes to sports, it’s particularly frustrating because – let’s face it – coaching a team is a time-consuming and often thankless task. I honestly don’t believe that most parents have a clue how much volunteer time is put into the behind-the-scenes operations of a select basketball team. From holding tryouts to planning practices to deciding what league and tournaments to compete in to reserving gym time to ordering uniforms to reserving hotel rooms to paying tournament fees to collecting money to organizing fundraisers, it is a huge job. Not to mention dealing with parents who think their daughters are playing too little or too much, personality conflicts between players, parents or assistant coaches, unexpected injuries or illnesses – the list goes on and on.
Most coaches do it for free because a) they honestly gain satisfaction from teaching young people how to improve their basketball skills and b) they usually have a child on the team and enjoy participating with their daughter. But just because they’ve signed up for the task, doesn’t mean coaches should be taken for granted. A good coach is worth his or her weight in gold these days. We’ve all heard the stories about horrible coaches who treat their players poorly, exhibit poor sportsmanship, spread false rumors in an effort to discredit other teams or players, mismanage team finances or – even worse – make inappropriate comments or physical advances to young girls.
Count yourself among the very lucky if you have coaches who focus on both individual and team development, are well-respected by coaches of other teams, stress the value of good sportsmanship and fair play, and provide a good accounting of how money is spent. Think of the important role your coach is playing – at no charge – in developing your daughter’s character and determination, and improving her chances to play basketball in middle school, high school and college.
So parents, have you thanked your coach lately? It will only take a minute, but it will mean a lot to a very special person in your daughter’s life.
Hoop Mom
Teresa Wippel is team manager of the Warriors Basketball Club, a 6th Grade
girls' team from the Seattle area, and mom to Warriors post player Amanda
Waldron. In her other life, she is a freelance writer and editor. To ask Teresa a question, email her at teresawippel@earthlink.net
More Dear Hoop Mom:
Hoop Mom on Fundraising
Hoop Mom on Playing Up
Hoop Mom on Starting a New Team
Hoop Mom on Surviving a National Tournament
Hoop Mom on Bench Behavior
Hoop Mom on Surviving the Road
Hoop Mom on Coaches
Hoop Mom on Jealousy
Hoop Mom on Nutrition on the Run
Hoop Mom on Looking for a Select Team
Hoop Mom on Commitment to Team
Hoop Mom on Talking to Coach Dad
Hoop Mom on Starting Select Ball
Hoop Mom on Subbing for Coach's Daughter
Hoop Mom on Subbing for Injuries
Hoop Mom on Sleepovers
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