Drop the politics in youth sports
To Whom It May Concern:
I have held my tongue for several years about certain aspects of football here in our little town and I have finally had enough. My boy plays on the 8th- and 9thgrade team and the only thing that can be said about the team that should be breezing through the opponents this year is what happened to the coaching because it is the ONLY thing that has changed in the last three years for these boys.
Their less than stellar performance the last couple of years but most importantly the last couple of weeks leaves a person wishing for the good old days when Davis and Sheperd were coaching the boys and they actually won.The days where football was not a one-man sport and only the best was expected out of each one of the boys. The coaching, or lack of coaching, that has gone on with these boys is ridiculous. I can remember when coaches cared about winning and did whatever they could do to get these boys to the point theycould and did win.
Instead, we have coaches standing on the sideline looking on almost bored every Thursday night after a week of mediocre coaching and no discipline at all on their team. You have players that are only concerned about their numbers and their glory instead of the TEAM. Last time I looked there was no I in TEAM but there is an I in ... well, we will just leave that alone because that is never going to change either.
Coaches that tear certain players apart but others, even after bad grades that others were yelled at for, fumbles, interceptions, missed blocks and ball hogging, don’t get one word said to them at all.
People wonder why players have a princess complex and act better than everybody else. Well, let me clue you in, it’s because the coaches need a box of chapstick the way they kiss some player’s butts and pamper them along and act like they are the end all, be all of Pea Ridge football.
I will never understand a program that makes a player run suicides because he loses his helmet but another player breaks a windshield and he is kept out for one game and that’s the end of the story. Seriously, can the punishment fit the crime or is it the name that really matters if you play and for how long. Let’s face it, football is an 11-man sport not a one-man sport and as soon as the coaches quit putting all their eggs in one basket, they might be able to put up some more wins.
If they didn’t have mom and dad of wonder kid in their ear blaming everyone else for their child’s missed opportunities and issues, can you say interceptions, fumbles and finally told said parents to teach their kid how to put two hands on the ball and protect it at all costs, learn to read the field and pass the ball to open players instead of tucking it and running for no yards or lost yards, thenthings might get a little better. I have watched the high school players get on to each other for missed blocks, keep each other and the crowd pumped up even when there were losing and our boys aren’t allowed to say anything to each other and why wouldthey get excited when they have a coach that looks like he would rather be at home watching “Desperate Housewives” than be at the game.
These boys are something to get excited about and they have a lot of talent and it’s going to waste.
My suggestion is either get Davis and Sheperd back, or at least get these coaches to COACH and not just stand there looking bored or it’s going to be a long season for these boys. People wonder why our players leave and go to other schools. It’s because little town politics and lack of caring in a coaching staff is pushing people to schools that actually care about winning, building programs and having football players, NOT about keeping Mommy and Daddy happy little Johnny is playing. It’s all about accountability and it startswith the coaching staff.
Lead by example!
Here’s to hoping sometime before these boys graduate they will actually get a COACHING staff that coaches.
JOHN DAVID NELSON Pea Ridge, Ark.
Opinion, Pages 4 on 10/05/2011