Problems with the Future

[quizbowllee]

Have any of you had MAJOR attitude/priority changes in your teams from one year to the next? I kept hoping that my current sophomores and freshmen (I have no Juniors) who will be stepping up to become "Brindlee Mountain A" next year would finally come alive and buckle down and keep our tradition alive. However, today they started informing me of how:

"When I turn 16, I won't be coming to practice anymore. I'm getting a job after school."
"I'll have basketball everyday."
"Oh yeah, well <insert snotty comment here>."

Anyway, I don't have a problem with kids having jobs, etc. But, all of my seniors with jobs have been capable of scheduling work AFTER practice... But, my young ones don't seem to give a rat's rear end that we will be going from the best team in the state to struggling to win county....

I always knew it would be rough when my current crew graduated, but I didn't think it would be this drastic. It's certainly taking the wind out of my sails. It's hard to be excited about coaching a group that doesn't want to be coached...

[AKKOLADE]

Recruit new players and informed the current players that if their lack of commitment is this severe, they will be lower on the list for the travel team next year.

[Matthew D]

I would be doing the same thing Lee... Lee, if it is 2 of the ones I am thinking of, I will talk to them if you want me to...

[quizbowllee]

I would be doing the same thing Lee... Lee, if it is 2 of the ones I am thinking of, I will talk to them if you want me to...

More of a general consensus... It's like "We want to be good, but only if it involves doing no work. Don't worry. We're Brindlee Mountain. Brindlee Mountain is always good."

They don't have a clue.

[TheCzarMan]

It's not that hard to schedule stuff around QB. It's not like they'll be working every day. If you want to, break out the ol' time management lecture and how it helps in College etc etc.

[Tegan]

There is another potential option .... one that I never used, and I'm not sure I necessarily would.

You could try and directly appeal to the parents. Send home a letter that discusses the importance of practice, and that you support outside activities and jobs, etc, but that once (twice? three times? more) a week, the players need to make a commitment to the team in order to improve and continue achieving the high level etc, etc, etc. In some cases, parents are just ignorant of such things ..... if their kid were playing basketball, they would clearly understand that one cannot have a job right after school.

Appealing to the parents can be viewed as taking away the chance to learn how to manage time from the players ..... its is an important skill to learn. Part of me would say "do it" ... part of me says "no".

I'm always amazed that this is such a problem for kids ..... I worked from sixth grade on, and never once had a problem securing time off to play in the band and make practices, sectionals, etc.

[Stained Diviner]

High school coaching is frustrating. As soon as you convince yourself that you're a great coach, a group of students graduates, and you find out that you've got a lot to learn. That lesson is tougher at small schools, which have fewer kids to draw upon each year.

Don't be afraid to repeat what you are telling those students over and over again. It also may help to have your seniors tell them what they are capable of achieving if they want to (as long as they don't talk down to the younger students too much). Keep your head up and keep in mind that it doesn't take a lot of students to make a good quizbowl team. I'm at a school of 4000 students, and I'll be coaching something approximating a one-man team next year. To paraphrase New Trier Alum Donald Rumsfeld, sometimes you go to tournaments with the team you have rather than the team you want.

[First Chairman]

College coaching isn't much better. Try coaching your peers, losing all iron-fist authority, in an environment where the institution really doesn't see quiz bowl as a great PR opportunity.. with the added caveats where most everyone can't rent a car or have other social items on their agendas.

[Captain Sinico]

College teams have coaches now?

MaS

[evilmonkey]

College teams have coaches now?

I think he meant those people who bring it upon themselves to organize practices. I could be wrong, though.

[First Chairman]

College teams have coaches now?

I think he meant those people who bring it upon themselves to organize practices. I could be wrong, though.

Yes... meaning the team leaders and organizers. Unless you are at UTC or Carleton. :)

[Golden Tiger 86]

I would be doing the same thing Lee... Lee, if it is 2 of the ones I am thinking of, I will talk to them if you want me to...

More of a general consensus... It's like "We want to be good, but only if it involves doing no work. Don't worry. We're Brindlee Mountain. Brindlee Mountain is always good."

They're morons.

Sounds a lot like Russellville circa 2004...

Every weekend we had a tourney, our freshmen (who did have potential) would say...

"Oh, I got a church camp this week" (nothing against them, but I don't think any church ever has a camp every single Saturday from January to April)

"I'm having friends over that weekend." (WTF?)

"I had already made plans to see my grandmother."

"I have to get a haircut"

Of course, when we played Friday (or in the case of the Huntsville City Tourney, Monday( tournaments, they were first in line. For whatever reason, they seemed to forget I was graduating that year, and were like "Well, Slade will bail us out if we get in trouble." The team was nuked the next year because they all basically refused to come back when they realized that even getting to regional the next year was gonna require at least a few weekends away from their friends/haircut/grandma/church camp counselors (fun fact...had we not blown a 45-point lead with 5 questions left against Grissom, we were taking me and 2, maybe 3 other players who had gone to tourneys and were gonna go across the state to get 3 more to go to Panasonic). What made the situation worse was that we had one junior move away in the middle of my senior year that would have probably been our best player the next year, and the one freshman who did give a crap and who did come to tourneys and who did seem to be ready to contribute to our program left to go to ASMS. I'm so glad that the bunch she has now at least gives some semblance of a crap at getting Russellville, if not where we used to be (and after seeing Nick print off ACF questions last weekend, I'm thinking they may want more), at least competitive on the state-level.

[quizbowllee]

The team and I had a heart-to-heart yesterday and it went well. It seems most of this was coming from just one or two players, who I believe have made the decision to move on to other endeavors. It seems that the heart of the team is excited now about seeing what direction Brindlee Mountain will go without our powerhouse seniors.

Riley has gotten good enough to be playing on the A team at Nationals, even though he is a sophomore. He has a LONG way to go, but at least he will have some nationals-level experience under his belt. He seems like he's excited about next year, but his teammates were complaining and moaning the other day.

Maybe it will all work out. But, we're going to have to reassess our goals. We won't be nationally-competitive next year at all. Maybe we will be the year after, though...

[AKKOLADE]

Most programs do rebuild to some level; looks like you'll get your first shot at that fun stuff.

[quizbowllee]

Most programs do rebuild to some level; looks like you'll get your first shot at that fun stuff.

I'd rather be one of those teams that "reloads" instead of "rebuilds." I will be working hard with my middle schoolers next year to make that happen.

[catsasslippers]

In the end you really need to have players that care. Stuy is graduating all but one of our competitive players, and everyone who is anything but a hobby quizbowl player. Next year we'll probably still have a team, but unless the Sophomores magically begin to care I doubt there will be much of a team. The only reason Stuy has been competitive the last few years is that Doug really cared about good quizbowl, and then brought me into the fold. Sometimes a team really hinges on the one player that cares. If there's a coach I suppose this would be different, but without one it's impossible to keep a good team going unless someone really loves this game.

[rchschem]

Sometimes a team really hinges on the one player that cares. If there's a coach I suppose this would be different, but without one it's impossible to keep a good team going unless someone really loves this game.

Team chemistry is so important. I have seen examples of weaker players who were so into it that they turned into great teams. I have also seen strong players who have brought up the rest of the team by helping them work together. I can't say I've seen many teams in which one good player was able to successfully drag along a bunch of people who don't care and aren't into working for the game.

I have also seen several decent players who didn't get along fizzle as a team.

[quizbowllee]

I have also seen several decent players who didn't get along fizzle as a team.

Don't get me started...

[Down and out in Quintana Roo]

I really do take pride in the fact that everybody that shows up on the A and B teams for CR are actually good friends, and since i have no graduating seniors this year they're just going to become closer and better teammates as next year comes. I'm really excited. :)

I worry a little about the year after that with our senior (of next year) graduating, who is clearly the best player and one of the best math computational players i've ever seen. That will be one or two questions that we're just honestly going to miss the year after, unless we find another math ringer.

[catsasslippers]

It isn't possible for one good player to really carry around a team that doesn't care. I care and he cares which is why we're almost always at tournaments with some third player that doesn't have anything (church camp/haircut/visit from grandma not excluded) else to do. I didn't say it worked well enough to keep a team together, but it is enough to get a few people together for a team.

Team chemistry is important, but in terms of playing styles more than friendship. If you're really good friends it doesn't always mean you'll play better together.

[STPickrell]

There's 'caring enough to attend tournaments when you say you'll attend them' and 'caring enough to improve as a player.'

If a good player has a group of 6-10 people who he can count on to show up on any given Saturday, it's possible. Bonus points if they can help with some of the buzzer races and/or can contribute 5-15 points per game in areas the good player doesn't care about.

But if said player or players can't even rely on teammates to show up at tournaments or staff tournaments, problems will arise.

[David Riley]

I make my expectations--and consequences--known at the beginning of the year and reiterate them frequently. My students are busy with additional activities, but they are dedicated to Scholastic Bowl and appreciate the flexibility I give them when needed. I also give them a final calendar of tournaments (pending any changes by the hosts) in September, because in Illinois we begin planning our tournament calendar in late March!

Over my 15 years of coaching, I have had to set some ground rules: 1) no basketball or crew, because the season is simply too long, and 2) no speech and debate because of too many Saturday conflicts (we play tournaments excusively and they are always on Saturdays). I can work around anything else. I've had few problems with this over the years; I tried to work out speech/debate conflicts but they got so out of hand that the debate coach and I agreed that it was best to do one or the other.

Next school year I will be blessed with eight seniors, the most I've ever had. Unfortunately, I (or rather, my fr/so coach) only had four freshmen; hopefully that situation will improve.

[quizbowllee]

I make my expectations--and consequences--known at the beginning of the year and reiterate them frequently. My students are busy with additional activities, but they are dedicated to Scholastic Bowl and appreciate the flexibility I give them when needed. I also give them a final calendar of tournaments (pending any changes by the hosts) in September, because in Illinois we begin planning our tournament calendar in late March!

Over my 15 years of coaching, I have had to set some ground rules: 1) no basketball or crew, because the season is simply too long, and 2) no speech and debate because of too many Saturday conflicts (we play tournaments excusively and they are always on Saturdays). I can work around anything else. I've had few problems with this over the years; I tried to work out speech/debate conflicts but they got so out of hand that the debate coach and I agreed that it was best to do one or the other.

Next school year I will be blessed with eight seniors, the most I've ever had. Unfortunately, I (or rather, my fr/so coach) only had four freshmen; hopefully that situation will improve.

I wish I could institute a "no basketball" rule, but I would lose one of my best players for next year. Also, I wish I had a freshman/sophomore coach... or a middle school coach. It's hard to do it all alone. Matt Dennis, come back!!!

[Matthew D]

Dude find me a job over there in the High School and I will be back over there with bells on (seriously)

[catsasslippers]

It's possible to do Speech and Debate. The only real issue is one Speech National Tournement is the same weekend as NAQT every year. Tournements sometiems conflict but I've found there are enough of both that more often than not it isn't difficult to juggle.

[David Riley]

Well, part of the problem here is that one of our Speech/Debate leagues is notorious for changing the schedule two or three times during the year at a moment's notice. And in quiz bowl we play a tournament every weekend except Thanksgiving and Christmas (and well within the 18-date rule if any IHSA watchdogs are reading this, because we aren't in a league and do tournaments only).