Parents can repel college coaches, for sure. \u00a0Every community has them. \u00a0Nobody wants them.<\/p>\n
Hovering over\u00a0practices, games, matches, meets and scrimmages, they cast a dark cloud wherever they go. \u00a0They bug the heck out of coaches, organizations, officials, other parents, and even the kids. It is a shame, really, because sports should be fun for everyone. \u00a0Not for them, though. \u00a0These trouble makers are determined to make life difficult for everyone.<\/p>\n
And make no mistake, these parents can repel college coaches.<\/p>\n
That said, it’s important to distinguish between a loud parent and a problem parent. \u00a0Parents can be loud, but supportive and positive as well. \u00a0Every team has at least one of these, too. \u00a0The difference? \u00a0Their kid is important, but not the focal point of every little thing that goes on. \u00a0Drama is absent and avoided. \u00a0These are parents whose main goal is to make the experience something every kid will remember with joy. \u00a0No team or organization can have enough of these kinds of giving, positive parents.<\/p>\n
So, back to square one. \u00a0Here are some major warning signs of problem parents:<\/p>\n
Observe any problem parent and the first thing that stands out is his or her mouth. \u00a0It is always open. \u00a0And what comes out? \u00a0Mostly complaints. \u00a0Things are never quite good enough. \u00a0Whether uniforms, schedule, cost, coaching, officiating or the weather, an over-the-top parent is always griping about something. \u00a0The moment they walk into a situation, they simply are not satisfied, and they are going to let somebody know about it. \u00a0Yep, these are parents with the mouths that will not stop. \u00a0They will argue over minor issues because they can and because they cannot stop themselves. \u00a0Apparently, neither can anyone else.<\/p>\n
How parents can repel college coaches? \u00a0College coaches run away as fast as they can when they see these antics. \u00a0 Coaches want no part of parents who will be thorns in their sides for four years. \u00a0They would rather keep the roster spot open than bring on a prospect whose parents are like getting a sharp stick in the eye…every day.<\/p>\n
Problem parents have no genuine appreciation for their kids’ team members who consistently or periodically outperform their own kids. \u00a0See, their kids are the best and, in their eyes, are never given just credit, whether it’s playing time, compliments, awards or stats. \u00a0And when their kids do get attention, it was a long time coming, verifying what they had been claiming all along. \u00a0The other athletes? \u00a0They got their rewards because of politics, favoritism or jealousy.<\/p>\n
Here’s the thing: college coaches see this as distasteful behavior and, to be blunt, don’t like it. \u00a0Moreover, they will not put up with it. They know that what is going on in youth, high school, club or travel is merely a microcosm of what will happen in college. \u00a0No thanks, they think. \u00a0We’ll pass.<\/p>\n
Problem parents continually move their kids from one school or team to another one. \u00a0Why? \u00a0Their kids are being treated unfairly, of course. \u00a0Perhaps they don’t like the new coach. \u00a0Maybe the schedule doesn’t suit them. \u00a0It could be because they haven’t been given special consideration on team or tournament fees. \u00a0It’s always something. \u00a0And to problem parents, moving their athlete to another team is the answer. \u00a0It’s not. \u00a0They have no clue that this constant changing actually harms their kids’ shot at being recognized by college coaches. \u00a0Blinded by unrealistic expectations and a heightened opinion of their kids’ skills, problem parents are far removed from the reality loop. \u00a0And it’s their kids who, in the end, suffer from their shortsightedness.<\/p>\n
College coaches view this need to move around as instability within the family. \u00a0At the very least, it raises a big red flag. \u00a0In a way, problem parents create their own, scary world that coaches prefer to avoid. \u00a0It is an alternative reality. \u00a0And when this happens? \u00a0It is not uncommon to overhear a college coach say, “Love the kid, hate the parents.”<\/p>\n
Problem parents primarily put the blame for their intolerable situations at the feet of their coaches. \u00a0Their ongoing rants about their coaches are, after a while, tantamount to crying wolf. \u00a0They do it so frequently that when their kids have legitimate issues, their grousing is overshadowed by a long, sordid history of finger pointing. \u00a0Sooner or later, because the parents are such pariahs, the kids lose out on everything from friends to scholarship opportunities. \u00a0Indeed, parents can repel college coaches.<\/p>\n
Coaches are perhaps, save politicians, criticized more than any other public servant. \u00a0Outside of those in the high school ranks, most are volunteers. \u00a0Yes, some coach initially to advance their own child’s chances, but a large majority of youth, club and travel coaches work with kids because they have a passion for teaching, coaching, and the sport. \u00a0Nevertheless, this tends to evade the notice of problem parents whose habit of railing on and on make it hard for coaches to stomach the scrutiny.<\/p>\n
College coaches see this as a clear precursor to dealing with these problem parents at their level, their school. \u00a0No way. \u00a0No prospect is worth the ensuing trouble.<\/p>\n
Note: \u00a0Alan Parham is a 14-year veteran of high school scouting and college recruiting with National Scouting Report<\/a>. \u00a0He currently serves as the company’s NCAA and NAIA compliance officer.<\/em><\/p>\n Parents can repel college coaches, for sure. \u00a0Every community has them. \u00a0Nobody wants them. Hovering over\u00a0practices, games, matches, meets and scrimmages, they cast a dark cloud wherever they go. \u00a0They bug the heck out of coaches, organizations, officials, other parents, and even the kids. It is a shame, really, because sports should be fun for … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":14452,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1299],"tags":[301,10,11,31,1162,1161,56,57,222,1160,94],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14251"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14251"}],"version-history":[{"count":26,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14251\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14883,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14251\/revisions\/14883"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}