Who's In Charge?

One of the most common questions I was asked when a new athlete joined our program was, "who's in charge?" A very valid question when someone is trusting you with their child(ren). An athletic program is no different than any other business. There is usually a hierarchy and as long as everyone has the same respect for everyone in the hierarchy, no matter what level, there should not be any problems.

We recently went to a middle school basketball game where I found the coaching dynamic throughout the game to be fascinating. One of the coaches was the head coach of the team currently playing the game (JV team). The other coach was the head coach for the same grade, but the Varsity team. During the season, the Varsity coach never stepped in and coached the JV squad EXCEPT for this one particular game. The game was close and the score was going back and forth. Here is where it became interesting. The time was running out and both benches were becoming more and more excitable. Both JV coaches were yelling directions to their athletes. When it got down to less than 2 minutes left in the game, the Varsity coaches from BOTH teams were suddenly the ones giving instruction to the athletes on the court. The JV coaches were now taking a backseat.

I do not know the specifics of the situation, but from an outside perspective, it looked like the Varsity coaches simply took over. The JV coaches could have asked the Varsity coaches to help them give the team direction. They may have said, "I don't know what else to do. Can you step in?" We see that all the time in the movies, but does it happen often in real game situations? I have no idea and honestly, it is not the job of the coaches to communicate to the parents in the middle of the game. All that really matters is the athletes are communicated with. All I could think (as a former coach) was, "if I was coaching and someone else just stepped in and took over without asking... I would be upset."

Back to the hierarchy. We had one in our club, but we believed in the coaches in our program and allowed them to coach with their own personality and ideas. We would have meetings to discuss how we would like to develop the athletes, areas we needed to focus on, and to come up with a 2-3 year plan for their training. All could voice their opinions and ideas. Some ideas were implemented and some were not. We had a general outline of our program, but our coaches put together their own practice agenda. Some wrote them down, some had notebooks filled with ideas, and some were less "by the book" and took a more day to day approach. I personally wrote down what I wanted the girls to focus on and what I wanted to accomplish in a practice that day, but sometimes those goals change in the middle of everything and I to deviate from the original plan. What I hope I never did was change what one coach was doing in the middle of practice or come in and completely take over. There were times I would question a drill or what directions the coach was giving, but those questions were saved for later and not in front of the kids. Why? That is an easy one. You do not discount or question a coach's abilities in front of athletes who are supposed to trust and listen to them.

Kids are kids. They get confused. They typically want to please their coaches. When coaches are telling them different things, who do they try and please? Add in parents yelling directions from the crowd or coaching them at home and they are all sorts of confused. Who do they listen to? Who do they want to make proud? Their minds get jumbled and they cannot focus on anything. This is when mistakes happen and then they get in trouble. Ugh... it is a vicious cycle to get caught in.

If you are a program director or the "top coach" in a program and you find yourself taking over for the other coaches regardless of what they are doing, I would take a look at yourself and figure out why you do this. Are you supposed to? Does your staff expect it? Do they resent it? Do you have a need to be in control? Do you trust your other coaches? Do you feel your coaching is far superior to everyone else? What message does this send the athletes? Are they going to trust the coaches for their team if another coach comes in and constantly changes things? The answer is no and they will likely perform poorly or make more mistakes.

Good coaches can have egos that get in the way (to the detriment of the team). Undermining a coach on your staff will hurt the success of your team and ultimately harm your program. Great coaches share the success with their fellow coaches and their athletes. And dare I say, if you are going to take all the credit for their successes, you must be willing to take the credit for their failures as well (this is a whole different article)?

Think of college and professional sports organizations. They have a "head coach" and, in addition, many assistant coaches in their programs. The head coach cannot do it all. They figure out what needs to be done and what pieces need to be in place to make the whole a success.

Two very different ways of thinking. Both very common. Which type of program do you want to be a part of as a parent? athlete? coach?