Student-Athletes

Being a high school baseball coach, I see all kind of things that still blow my mind in regards to student-athletes, parents, and administration.  As I will not go into the administration things because I like my job too much, I will talk about the parents and athletes.

Student-athletes.  Let's talk about that for a minute.  Do I REALLY need to break this down for you?  STUDENT-athletes.  Not ATHLETE-students!  Student - "A learner or someone who attends an educational institution" (Thank you Wikipedia for the true definition).  They are called student-athletes for a reason.  They are STUDENTS FIRST!  Meaning, if they do not make the grade...BYE!  If they receive ISS....extra running.  If you get suspended from school....well, don't even get me started!

I remember back in my day *in my best grandfather voice possible*, that if a member of a sports team was in trouble, caused trouble, or was an embarrassment to the team in anyway, on or off the court/field, they were dismissed from the team.  When did this not become the norm?  When did students and parents decide if their child was or not on the team?

Now, in this instance, I understand the involvement of parents.  Parents should know the result of their child's actions in school.  However, what if the athlete decides they want to quit a team?  They should talk with the coach first.  If they still feel the same, then perhaps talking with the parents will clear some things up.  If a athlete tells a coach that they quit, do not come knocking when you decide "I shouldn't have done that."  You did, so you are off the team.  If you quit a job, you think the boss is going to just let you back.  Negative Ghostrider (Had to get in my Top Gun reference!).

Parents, I hope you never are put in this situation where your child does not discuss this with you first as you are the one more invested in the sport than they probably are.  However, if your child does decide to quit and you are upset about it, you are to talk with you child about what they learned from this.  Do not call the coach, do not call the administration.  YOUR child quit.  Not our issue anymore.

Moral of the story:
We have to start teaching our children consequences again.  There is NOT ALWAYS a winner.  There is always a winner AND a loser.  We all lose and we all fail at some point.  How we deal with that loss or failure and learn from it is what determines our character and how we can prevail.  SUCCESS is determined on how many times we fail.  We cannot succeed if we fail.  We have to teach our children that it is OK to fail and how to deal with it.  They have to understand that just because they fail, they cannot give up.  They have to try harder and continue to try until they prevail!