SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums Boys Varsity Soccer Late for practice / game

How would you react to this hypothetical situation?

A coach's expectation is that all players are at the field, ready to play, 60 minutes before the start of any game. The starting goalkeeper shows up for the game 50 minutes before the start time, or 10 minutes late from the coach's perspective. As a result, the coach does not start the keeper, and puts in a defenseman who has never played keeper before. In the first 10 minutes of the game, this substitute keeper gives up 3 goals, 2 of which would have easily been stopped by the normal keeper. After 10 minutes, the coach puts the starter back in goal, who plays superbly for the rest of the game. The team loses 3 - 2.

It should be noted that the normal keeper is too young to drive himself, and is dependent on a parent to get him to games. Mom got home 10 minutes late from work that day.

So, do we praise the coach for sticking to his stated expectations and not starting the keeper? Or, do we blame the loss on the coach, the normal keeper, his mom, or the poor defenseman who now feels terrible that he let in so many early goals? What would you do as coach the next time this happens?

the coach has to give some leeway about being on time, you have to let go 5-10 minutes about time. it is not the kids fault, there was nothing he could do. the blame can not go on the defensemen either, it is not his fault he sucks at goalie. the fault does not lye with the mother either, she can not control how late she gets off work or how bad traffic is. the fault it upon the coach, he needs to let a little bit go, especialy for a reasonable excuse.

I would support the coach. One minute late or 10 minutes late have the same thing in common, being late. I'm not late for work and my employees aren't late for work. If the team rule says that player sits for being late, so be it. Doesn't matter who is at fault. Part of life's lessons of "growing up". C'est la vie!

I am a stickler for the rules. I believe that if the rules are set then one should abide by them. However, that being said, stuff happens. You cannot always make things white and black. there are exceptions and they must be evaluated. If the kid was habitually late then I would have to side with the coach for sticking to his guns. It does no good to make a rule and then let people break it all the time. If this was a first time offense or a special case situation then the coach needs to ease up. If he cannot adjust to a special situation then he's probably not a very good coach.

i bet that kid won't be late again...lol

The problem with rules is that once made, they have to be enforced or their is chaos. I do not see a problem with the rule, but you have to question the punishment.

The truth of the matter is that if we instituted the death penalty for speeders, I probably would never exceed 45 mph. However, much like the hypothetical, the punishment really has no real relationship to the crime.

I agree with cornerflag, any coach that cannot judge the infraction in context just is not much of a coach.

If the lurker posts, is he/she less the lurker?

our old coach, Jonathon Wilson, once told us a story about having to sit out a half for chapin once because he was late. They were losing 2-0 at half, and he had a second half hat trick for a 3-2 win, but i don't know against who. Just thought I'd tell you a good little story. For details im me. lol

I don't know man, I think you gotta stick to the rules. That's what I'd do if I was a coach. Cuz if you let one kid get away with it then all the other kids have a justifiable excuse for being late. Myself and two other of our key starters took a college day the other day to Clemson and were an hour late to practice as a result of attending a later class. We couldn't practice that day, had to sit out the first half of the next game while we watched our team be tied at halftime with a terrible team, and lost my captain responsibilities for a few games. And we have a like 24 year old coach, but he sticks to the rules and I respect that.

I got benched for the remainder of the season one year for going on a chuch mission trip over spring break. I missed 4 practices, and that was the end of my season. I was a little agitated!