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Cid, I don't know the answers to all of your questions concerning Clover. I will say, however, that I don't think it's the job of the high school coach to "develop" her players. She only has her players for three months out of the year. It's up to them to put the work in during the other nine months so that they can be in a position to make a solid contribution to the varsity team.



Let me start this out with a deep bow of respect to two of our most venerable posters, Hurst and W&E. Don't take this badly, guys, but this is the first time I've ever had occasion to strongly disagree with both of you at the same time.

It's probably a product of WHERE I've coached throughout my career--I've never really worked in a "soccer area" at a "soccer school," so I've never had the luxury of having someone else train and develop all of my players for me and hand them to me ready to go at the beginning of varsity season. Of course, we're working on getting as many as possible involved in club and other opportunities during the non-varsity seasons, but in some areas like mine, club (and even rec) soccer is seen as a luxury most don't have, not an expected way of life. If I had to depend only on players who were club-trained to put on the field this year, I would have...um, let's see...let me do the math...two. And I coached their club team this past season as well. Bottom line is, for the vast majority of my players, if I don't develop them, it doesn't happen--and I suspect I'm not the only high school varsity coach in the state with that situation. The minute I put my nose in the air and say, "Well, it's not MY job to develop them," we go right back to the days of a few years ago when the team was getting blown out 15-0 on a regular basis. No, thank you. I'll take my three months with them and work with them as hard as we can...if they're not "ready" at the beginning of the season, then the goal is to develop as we play and finish the season strong in region play when it counts most. Granted, I'm not in a position to be gunning for a state or even a region championship at this point--Wando and James Island might have something to say about that--but even if I were, and even if all of my players had outside training in the off season, I don't see how that would excuse me from the responsibility of using MY three months to bring my players along as much as possible instead of saying, "Well, that's who showed up; that's what I'm stuck with."

I think it's the responsibility of a head coach to be able to use ALL of the resources at his/her disposal to the greatest effect to benefit the team. By refusing to take the time and effort to develop players who may be on the edge of becoming assets, the coach is showing himself to be either unwilling or incapable of taking advantage of those resources. If you can only see the player who shows up under your nose in January instead of being able to spot the player who CAN BE with the right training and encouragement, you're missing out on some good players.

Another thing I've found is that players tend to be more invested when they're with the people who helped to build and develop them. On what grounds can I ask one of my players to go out and play her heart out for me if I've had little or nothing to do with making her into the player I expect to see on the field? Investment goes both ways. Of course you're right--if players want their teams to be successful, it IS their responsibility to work during the other nine months in order to be ready to contribute in the spring. But I think the coach needs to be equally invested during those three months to make the most possible impact--not just expect the players to do the work in the off season, point them to their assigned positions on the field, and win him credit for a championship. Even those players who show up "ready" to win a championship could possibly become even better with some development from their high school coach--provided, of course, that the high school coach has the ability to actually develop them further.

Webster's Online defines a "Coach" as:

Noun
1. (sports) someone in charge of training an athlete or a team.

Verb
1. Teach and supervise (someone); act as a trainer or coach (to), as in sports; "He is training our Olympic team"; "She is coaching the crew".

The Occupational Dictionary defines the job:

Analyzes performance and instructs PROFESSIONAL ATHLETES (amuse. & rec.) in game strategies and techniques to prepare them for athletic competition: Observes players while they perform to determine need for individual or team improvement. Coaches players individually or in groups, demonstrating techniques of sport coached. Oversees daily practice of players to instruct them in areas of deficiency. Determines strategy during game, independently or in conference with other COACH, PROFESSIONAL ATHLETES (amuse. & rec.) or HEAD COACH (amuse. & rec.) based on factors as weakness in opposing team. May be designated according to phase of game coached as Defensive-Line Coach (amuse. & rec.); Pitching Coach (amuse. & rec.). May be designated according to game coached as Basketball Coach (amuse. & rec.); Football Coach (amuse. & rec.); Swimming Coach (amuse. & rec.); Tennis Coach (amuse. & rec.).

or:

One who instructs or trains. . . players in the fundamentals of a competitive sport and directs team strategy. Source: European Union.

Hm...instructs...trains...teaches...fundamentals...analyzes performance...determines the need for individual and team improvement...all sounds suspiciously like developing players to me. Which brings me to the final question--why bother giving someone the title of high school "coach" if it's not their responsibility to...well...

...coach?

Sorry 'bout the soapbox, guys...maybe you could tell, but player development is something I feel pretty strongly about. I agree completely that a high school coach can't do it all in three months--to be successful, the players have to take responsibility for the off-season development--but I think it IS the coach's responsibility DURING those three months to do all he or she can instead of shuffling players off just because they didn't show up already meeting standards.

Feel free to return fire.

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