OT: An Open Letter to the Athlete We Must Stop Recruiting

[Wally East]

I've now read the whole thing. I'm still not impressed.

Scolding someone for not carrying cupcakes?

I have kept careful documentation of my experiences and have discovered that today's traditional references by high school coaches, guidance counselors, club coaches and teachers are less about honest feedback concerning the emotional capability and attitude of a student-athlete and are more geared toward the end result of simply aiding an athlete in being recruited.

So, the people who care for a student are going to say positive things about the student? Well. That's new.

Anything useful is hidden behind a thick layer of generational warfare.

 

[meyers7]

It was important enough for her to mention in the second sentence:

I assumed if you were trying to make an impression that you would have paid more attention to punctuation

Once someone takes the time to point out someone else's mistakes like this coach did, that person had better get everything right. If you know you can't get it all right? Don't comment on someone else getting it wrong. I literally don't care about anyone's grammar, usage, or punctuation unless that person corrects someone else. In this case, I only care that the coach isn't 100% because she commented on the high school student's. The coach is doing what is often called in comedy "punching down." You don't make fun of or mock those with less power. It's not cool.

Who said students are reveling in their diminishing literacy? It would seem as though you're okaying the coach's mistakes but not the student's. Why is that?

And who said she was in the admission's process? (If you think I said that, then you've misunderstood what I wrote.)

Wow, you really have missed the boat on this one. Do you even realize the coach is not writing to/about one particular student? If all you've got out of of this is that the coach shouldn't be telling the student about spelling, you're perspective or possibly perception is really off. I mean, like not even in the stadium, let alone out in left field.

Talk about

 

[2Husky]

Sounds like a bratty, spoiled, entitled, narcissistic coach. She could easily convey the types of things she feels are important without needlessly trashing young people. Lots of her examples are just her assuming the worst, she really doesn't know if her interpretation of events is accurate.

 

[Wally East]

Yes, I fully understand what an open letter is. Thanks.

The coach makes a few points:

1. Kids today!
2. And their parents!
3. I don't want to coach anyone that hasn't already had a good coach.

#3 is a perfectly legitimate choice, of course. It's not praiseworthy though.

Points 1 and 2 are never worth talking about. She might as well have written that Saturday Night Live used to be a lot better than it is now. People have been saying the exact same thing for literally thousands of years (well, not about SNL). That the coach said what she said about kids shows more about her than it does about kids.

 

[bags27]

When I read the entire letter, I thought it preachy and sanctimonious. On the other hand, it's a didactic piece, intended to convey to high school students (in language they can understand) what most coaches are looking for: an entirely coachable, team-oriented athlete. Didactic pieces are often preachy and sanctimonious.

When coaches are recruiting at the 8th grade level (or even below) and the cost of attending college without an athletic scholarship so astronomically high, kids and their parents will become very weird about the individual stardom of that kid. So, while coaches look for the team player, by sending a message that they're looking at 13 year olds as future stars, coaches are getting precisely what they're helping to create: prima donnas.

 

[reno tony]

Yes, I fully understand what an open letter is. Thanks.

The coach makes a few points:

1. Kids today!
2. And their parents!
3. I don't want to coach anyone that hasn't already had a good coach.

#3 is a perfectly legitimate choice, of course. It's not praiseworthy though.

Points 1 and 2 are never worth talking about. She might as well have written that Saturday Night Live used to be a lot better than it is now. People have been saying the exact same thing for literally thousands of years (well, not about SNL). That the coach said what she said about kids shows more about her than it does about kids.

I always like reading posts that have different points of view... especially those that differ with mine. I do believe that in this instance you seemed to have missed the point of the letter. Or, maybe I did. I think the letter is simply stating that a recruit is more than stats. That this coach is more interested in the recruit's attitude that may be expressed by the written word, spoken word and even body language. I think the coach was giving the potential recruit some excellent advise for future dealings during his/her recruiting process. A little dose of reality at this age can be very important and give a recruit a different perspective they might not have realized was there. Just by two cents worth.

 

[Wally East]

I understand what the coach was attempting. To me, she missed or at least made the good information hard to get to. This was not a little dose of reality. This was a fire hose of generational criticism.

In fact, it seemed to result not in giving counsel to high school students but rather making fellow coaches feel better. "Ugh, bratty recruits?! Right?" and then she received a lot of "Yes, you're right! They stink!"

 

[meyers7]

[QUOTE="reno tony, post: 1698493, member: 3071" I do believe that in this instance you seemed to have missed the point of the letter. Or, maybe I did. I think the letter is simply stating that a recruit is more than stats. That this coach is more interested in the recruit's attitude that may be expressed by the written word, spoken word and even body language. I think the coach was giving the potential recruit some excellent advise for future dealings during his/her recruiting process. A little dose of reality at this age can be very important and give a recruit a different perspective they might not have realized was there. Just by two cents worth.[/QUOTE]
Yea, he missed it pretty badly. Even worse if he actually read the article. You seemed to have gotten plenty for your two cents.

 

[meyers7]

Sounds like a bratty, spoiled, entitled, narcissistic coach. She could easily convey the types of things she feels are important without needlessly trashing young people. Lots of her examples are just her assuming the worst, she really doesn't know if her interpretation of events is accurate.

Another one. Oh boy. They are coming out of the woodwork now.

 

[CocoHusky]

I understand what the coach was attempting. To me, she missed or at least made the good information hard to get to. This was not a little dose of reality. This was a fire hose of generational criticism. In fact, it seemed to result not in giving counsel to high school students but rather making fellow coaches feel better. "Ugh, bratty recruits?! Right?" and then she received a lot of "Yes, you're right! They stink!"

I didn't see the "generational criticism" at all. The coach pointed out what behaviors she was NOT going to be recruiting in one player & also pointed out the behaviors she WOULD be recruiting in a teammate. Aren't both players (good teammate & bad teammate ) of the same generation?

"As a result, although the athlete playing right next to you has half the stats and three quarters of your speed, they are supportive, determined and selfless. This kind of athlete, will be our next signee."

 

[Wally East]

I didn't see the "generational criticism" at all.

Okay, great.

 

[bags27]

"As a result, although the athlete playing right next to you has half the stats and three quarters of your speed, they are supportive, determined and selfless. This kind of athlete, will be our next signee

And is that team going to win championships and is that coach going to get a nice bump at contract renewal time? Maybe; but a lot of coaches would also want to sign a couple of rain makers regardless of their team play. Individual stars may not get recruited by this coach, but they have a surprisingly easy way of being recruited by the best programs.

I submit that, while this letter is nice, the whole sports culture in this country is geared toward individual achievement, individual recognition, and individual reward. How many times does "team effort" get featured on ESPN, which actually spends all its time showing individual highlight reels? That is why UConn WCBB shines so brightly, why so many of us silly old people feel like we've discovered the fountain of youth, why we could look at the Huskies and see a whole lot of effort, and sacrifice, and, yes, team-first, that we don't quite see in most other sports teams at all levels. Stewie scored 23 points her very first WNBA game against team-wide talent a whole lot better than any she played against in college. And yet how many times did Stewie score 23 at UConn? Toto, she exclaimed, I've a feeling we're not at UConn anymore....

 

[JRRRJ]

I got from the article something a lot different from what many of the folk posting here saw. Becky seemed to be voicing something decidedly non-generational: that one-trick ponies (or one-dimensional humans) are not the kind of athletes she wants on her team. Attractiveness, intelligence, strength, aggressiveness, athleticism, and wealth (among others) are attributes that will allow you -- if you so choose -- to coast through life without significantly developing any of your other attributes. Making that choice leaves you unprepared for the consequences if circumstance deprives you of your advantage: injury, financial ruin, disease, age. Nor are you ready to deal with the people who have even more of what you have much.

This has nothing to do with millennials per se. I think the growth in this phenomenon is more an effect of the zero-sum mindset currently pervading our culture. Finding the right nursery school so your kid will get into Harvard is a joke, but it represents an attitude most of us have encountered in helicopter parents. Shielding kids from consequences of their actions has become culturally ingrained in those wishing to profit in one way or another from those kids.

I think Becky is just pointing out that those who reach young adulthood with a vast imbalance of individualism over social responsibility are not doing as well as they think they are -- they're just getting by in their current environment because of their gift. A message we don't hear very often.

Thanks for posting JavaMan!