The worst coach you have personal experience playing for.

[HCCForever]

So

So was your coach a very young James Calhoun? Didn’t he get his start coaching in Old Lyme

That was my thought as well

 

[HCCForever]

Dom Perno at South Catholic high and it’s not even close.

I went to South but before you. I had the two brothers who had much success in CT high school basketball and baseball. Younger brother was a bit of a nut but he was young and had recently ended tour in Vietnam. Obviously two of the best coaches I was ever associated with.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Back in the early 80's playing LL baseball.

I was probably a bit above average overall. Lefty, average stick, real good glove. No brainer to play me at first. I'd slide out to right field if needed since I was used to the right side of the diamond, I wouldn't let anything past me and had a good enough arm to reach cutoff with some decent pop.
Coach would bat me 5th or 6th. Didn't swing for the fences, just wanted line drives up the middle or to the left if they played a shift. Wasn't a threat to steal bases but a passed ball or wild pitch would move me over 60' .

Coach let me pitch one or twice. It wasn't much but whatever.

I had a coach.

I had three siblings in grade school and HS so it was rare to have both parents at the game. Sometimes neither one was there.

I'd have some pocket money for concessions.

Team was sponsored by the PACC. Polish American Citizen Club. All the kids called us Pigs and Cow Crap.

That wasn't much different than playing on TKBS which was Tea Kettle Baby Sitters.

That's it. Thanks for reading.

 

[husky99]

Sister A, Erie middle school catholic league. Told me to push to the ground anyone that could make a layup under the basket. I had the most Ts for the whole season in the league and fouled out of every game. We won 2 games all season.

 

[LBird33]

Any basketball team that had a dad coach and son on the team. It was brutal. The dad coached his kid and basically ignored the rest of us

 

[upstater]

I appreciated every coach I had for what they did with one exception. Had a guy who never said much and just scowled at everyone. To this day, I can't think of what he was doing.

The worst coach I've personally seen was my 10 year old child's club soccer coach from Spain. He was licensed by UEFA and in the US, he was still only in his mid to late 20s, but he used extreme psychology tactics on 10 year olds, like, "You have no athletic ability." "Stop eating chocolate." "No one likes you; you have no friends." He said this to various kids on the team. Once during a game, he told one of our kids to punch a kid in the face, because the ref refused to call fouls. I have 2 children, the younger one is a troublemaker. The older one never gets into trouble, she is exceedingly polite and caring. One day I watched her practice and I saw my 10 year old stick a reverse middle finger in her chest so he couldn't see it. "What was that all about?" I asked. He had said something incredibly vile. We switched clubs right away, it was still November , the season was 2 or 3 months old. I denounced the guy on the way out the door to all who would listen. He went on a tour of premier clubs in the region, let go by each and every club after a few years. And now he coaches for the local travel club where my kids started playing. He moved from Spain to the US to coach soccer and now finds himself in some deserved circumstances.

 

[QDOG5]

HS freshman basketball was the the best coach I ever had. I should have hung'em up then. JV bball was a terrible human being. Luckily I didn't play enough to incur his wrath. You know the crowd at JV games parents, grandparents and a few friends. This coach would f-bomb all his players and a few of us bench warmers would get kick out of the horrified faces of the parents. This guy would not be allowed to coach today. Practices for me were either getting verbally destroyed or totally ignored. The guy died of a heart attack at 43 a year later. They planted a tree in front of the school for him. I'm not proud of it in hindsight but me and few friends would help water that tree late on a weekend night.

 

[husky429]

HS freshman basketball was the the best coach I ever had. I should have hung'em up then. JV bball was a terrible human being. Luckily I didn't play enough to incur his wrath. You know the crowd at JV games parents, grandparents and a few friends. This coach would f-bomb all his players and a few of us bench warmers would get kick out of the horrified faces of the parents. This guy would not be allowed to coach today. Practices for me were either getting verbally destroyed or totally ignored. The guy died of a heart attack at 43 a year later. They planted a tree in front of the school for him. I'm not proud of it in hindsight but me and few friends would help water that tree late on a weekend night.

Late night watering seems well-deserved to me.

Coaching to this day is a place where has-beens (or never-beens) with anger issues find a home for whatever reason.

I can't recall a single time a coach insulted me or a teammate and we responded well.

 

[Umami Zen]

Parental politics at the youth level seem to be prevalent.. I reluctantly agreed to help coach a LL team that included my son who was an above average player--Not a superstar. I made sure he had the toughest position on the field--catcher--Didn't want any parents to feel I was giving him any breaks.

Live in a town where kids play multiple sports and go to camps to improve in their preferred (better) sports during the off-season. So. My clean up batter is in the on-deck circle.. We have a rally going on with the bases loaded and we're down two runs with one out. Batter gets on base and my clean-up batter approaches the batter's box when his father beckons him to the fence and firmly tells him its time to leave to go to hockey practice. I was stunned-no mention of this to me by the kid or the parents prior to his departure. We did win the game but it was then that I decided-in my one and only year as a coach-Things had changed and it wasn't for me under those conditions.

 

[Jmsdawg]

My second head coach in high school. That guys was a total nut. No water except for a wet towel we sucked on, full contact practices, playing our QB when he has concession, could not remember what to do on plays had to be told by second string QB what to do on every play. Worst guy I ever meet!

 

[Hey Adrien!]

Luckily, I've had good coaches throughout my childhood, but then again, I never played in anything that was higher than rec leagues.

There are two coaches I've coached against in basketball that take the cake for me, for different reasons.

One day, I had to sub in to coach 5th/6th grade girls' basketball since the coach was sick. We were losing 32-0 at the end of the third quarter. Why? They had a 5'9 athlete who would spearhead a half-court trap and then just score on transition layups. The girl played every minute of the first three quarters. This was early in my coaching, so I was green and more timid, but by that point, I asked the coach what is she still doing in the game? and his response was she's a sixth grader, she's eligible or something like that. The worst thing was that he has a seven player bench. Anyways, I let my AD know, the school's AD sent me a personal apology and I learned that coach was not asked back after that season.

Another is a guy who hounds the refs all. the. time. For everything. Older guy, so I guess he's old school? I've developed a good relationship with the guy who refs most of our games and after one tirade, the ref walks to me and says what's this guy's deal? no offense, but you guys are freakin' coaching middle school! Got a good laugh from that one.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

I check this thread once an hour and pray

They've all got you on Ignore.

The JV coach, on the other hand, was the best coach I ever had. English guy. Showed up for first practice in a suit. Got changed in his Porsche.

Wait, what?

Morris Buttermaker

It would have been wrong not to include that name.

Could not disagree more. Coaching my kids basketball teams has been one of the great unexpected joys of fatherhood. I played baseball mostly growing up & only caught basketball bug senior yr of HS and at UConn - so never expected to be more than an assistant coach.

It is more time with your children. It is mostly about the life lessons not the actual games/coaching. You and your child get to see each other interact in different environments to varying new situations, you also get to know their friends better. Sure there are some pitfalls but mostly the other co-coaching parents try to do the hard coaching children (ie. I coach their kids, they coach mine) to avoid any weird parent/coach crossover dynamics. And one can even combine passions, I see UConn out-of-bounds plays that I like and teach them to players!

I've done it with both with my children at lower talent end and at higher, the latter is harder but also naturally more fun. I've got two years left coaching my youngest son in travel basketball and there isn't much I enjoy more. I was emotional returning the equipment when my first 3-year stint coaching my oldest son ended, cannot imagine how hard it will be when coaching my youngest comes to an end.

Anybody else reserving judgment until we hear from the kids?

 

[mauconnfan]

Could not disagree more. Coaching my kids basketball teams has been one of the great unexpected joys of fatherhood. I played baseball mostly growing up & only caught basketball bug senior yr of HS and at UConn - so never expected to be more than an assistant coach.

It is more time with your children. It is mostly about the life lessons not the actual games/coaching. You and your child get to see each other interact in different environments to varying new situations, you also get to know their friends better. Sure there are some pitfalls but mostly the other co-coaching parents try to do the hard coaching children (ie. I coach their kids, they coach mine) to avoid any weird parent/coach crossover dynamics. And one can even combine passions, I see UConn out-of-bounds plays that I like and teach them to players!

I've done it with both with my children at lower talent end and at higher, the latter is harder but also naturally more fun. I've got two years left coaching my youngest son in travel basketball and there isn't much I enjoy more. I was emotional returning the equipment when my first 3-year stint coaching my oldest son ended, cannot imagine how hard it will be when coaching my youngest comes to an end.

I see both sides of this discussion but have to agree with @husky429 thoughts of coaching your own kid. I appreciate the way you looked at it and wished I could’ve done the same. My son and his buddies wanted to be special so myself and their dads put together a travel team from end of LL to their soph years in HS.. All 3 of us were similar so we ended up assigning our sons to the other dads coaching. Problem is when they think they’re good, doing everything right, the last person they will listen to is their own dad when he’s in “teaching” mode. We played the best teams in western mass and they all wanted to be good players and impact their HS programs so while we expect the game of baseball to be fun, you need to learn the fundamentals and be consistent with them. Same with hoops for my son and his friends. You want to be the leading scorer but you’re watching from a distance rather than crashing the boards you will hear about it. Again this was older than 12 in the young leagues, it’s time to get better and learn.

Oh well it all worked out no matter. Lol

 

[Mr. French]

As a former player and coach with tons of scars from coaching, I’m interested to see how it plays out with my 4 and 3 year olds. I will always “coach” them from home but I wonder what I’ll do over the next 10 years if things get serious.

PS my high school coach can buzz off. Didn’t like him at all.

 

[Mr. French]

Sister A, Erie middle school catholic league. Told me to push to the ground anyone that could make a layup under the basket. I had the most Ts for the whole season in the league and fouled out of every game. We won 2 games all season.

Dem nuns are no nonsense in hoops!

 

[mauconnfan]

As a former player and coach with tons of scars from coaching, I’m interested to see how it plays out with my 4 and 3 year olds. I will always “coach” them from home but I wonder what I’ll do over the next 10 years if things get serious.

PS my high school coach can buzz off. Didn’t like him at all.

My HS coach was a well respected man in the CIAC for many many years. I played golf with him and my baseball coach years after being out of HS, good man. Highly overrated coach both practice and in game. My Jr Pro coach (ages 12,13) taught me more and I had a grasp on the fundamentals and nuances well before I walked into HS.. Too much to explain why so I will leave it there.

 

[husky429]

My second head coach in high school. That guys was a total nut. No water except for a wet towel we sucked on, full contact practices, playing our QB when he has concession, could not remember what to do on plays had to be told by second string QB what to do on every play. Worst guy I ever meet!

Never understood the no water thing--I had coaches do that too. It only makes sense to train limited hydration in sports when you don't have access to water.

 

[dennismenace]

Sister A, Erie middle school catholic league. Told me to push to the ground anyone that could make a layup under the basket. I had the most Ts for the whole season in the league and fouled out of every game. We won 2 games all season.

"Winning isn't everything; it's only thing" She was teaching you to channel your inner Rick Mahorn.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Never played for him but I do remember visiting a bar in Boston decades ago. I ran into a coach who wouldn't stop bragging about when he played he could get hit by any pitch. Said he must have gotten hit by a hundred fastballs.

 

[storrsroars]

Never played for him but I do remember visiting a bar in Boston decades ago. I ran into a coach who wouldn't stop bragging about when he played he could get hit by any pitch. Said he must have gotten hit by a hundred fastballs.

Why is flipping Diane the bird?

 

[BlueMAB]

You say this now, as I did, but that will change once you see the jackals that end up coaching your kids.

This

 

[August_West]

but that will change once you see the jackals that end up coaching your kids

lol

 

[hagbard]

Babe Ruth baseball - coach was the middle-aged son of a very prominent family in a very small town. Overweight, alcoholic, but had a cup of coffee in single A baseball in his glory years. This was early '90s ('92-'93 i think).

Over two seasons he:

• threw a bat at our left fielder from around third base
• would occasionally hit dingers over our short right field fence (he was a lefty) to show us how crappy we were because we couldn't consistently do it
• Told us he hated mental errors, but could accept physical errors - great message but he didn't actually accept physical errors
• I took a week off to go to summer sleep over camp. He tried to talk me out of going so I wouldn't miss a game - when I refused, he came to the camp, picked me up, brought me to the game, and brought me back to camp (depending on your viewpoint, this bullet might actually be a good thing, but it struck me as psychotic even back then)
• At the end of one of our seasons, he sat us down to have a Very Important Talk where he proceeded to single out 5-6 players and tell them they were going to make very good HS players and basically that the rest of us had no future in baseball

I played one year of JV baseball before quitting to play on the golf team for the free golf.

 

[M.S.G.]

In my 40's I've probably kicked myself a substantial amount of times for not playing golf in high school for this exact reason.

 

[husky99]

"Winning isn't everything; it's only thing" She was teaching you to channel your inner Rick Mahorn.

Seriously.. she had the eye of the tiger... she would steal drags of the bus drivers smokes