Ask Coach Taylor – What About the Politics?
January 20th, 2010 - byCoach Taylor - My son is not receiving much playing time from his coach due to politics and favortism. How can I help him maintain his focus and earn more playing time in the hopes of pursuing collegiate opportunities?
We get a lot of questions concerning “politics” and playing time. The truth is that 99% of the time there is an underlying reason why a coach isn’t playing an athlete. The answers can range from off-court behavior, practice habits, respect for the coaching staff, roster makeup, and the toughest of all – lack of talent. Remember in team sports its a coaches responsibility to field the best unit, not group of individuals. Sometimes players are asked to sacrifice for the team. Many times players are unwilling or unable to do this.
My best advice for any athlete who feels they are being slighted on playing time is to talk to the coach. Never, bring the parents into the equation. This always escalates the situation. The player should find the right time to polietly and professionally ask his coach if he would mind sitting down to discuss an issue. If a player is honest with his coach and treats the conversation professionally they should receive an answer. The player may not like the answer, but its up to him to take the advice and run with it.
The other important thing to remember is that a player now has more options to market themselves to coaches. A player might be a back-up, but can still prove to a college coach they have collegiate ability. Getting together any film you have and getting it to a college coach is sometimes enough to gain initial interest. From there its up to the recruit to take the ball and run with it.
Send your recruiting questions to askcoachtaylor@ncsasports.org
If you would like to speak with a NCSA Recruiting Coordinator about your personal recruiting situation, call 866-579-6272.
