I remember
when I was a youngster and was allowed to play with the first team, I was
excited, I was anxious, and almost peed my pants, but hoped coach would pick me
to play even when it was just for the last two minutes of the game. Never in my
life would I said no to such an opportunity, and nowadays younger players that
get the chance to come into the game with 6minutes left, just say ‘no, now I don’t
need to play anymore either’!!!! Or on road trips or when the jerseys were
handed out, of course did the elderly get to choose their uniforms or seats on
the bus first; you took what was left over. Nowadays, the younger players are
the first one to scream what number or seat they want without even thinking
about.
Next thing
is the work attitude. I am sorry, but younger players’ work attitudes suck!
They complain that you as a professional don’t have to work – Uhm, excuse me,
but actually I do, I lift weights, go shoot and have practice, while you are
sitting in school! – But they are the ones, who never run the lines and cheat
on every possibility they get. The same attitude you can observe in games, in
offense they sprint, in defense they jog! How come?
I say we can’t blame the youth, I know it is a shame, but it’s how we raise our kids! I was taught the saying, “Who makes a mistake in offense, is the first one in defense” and by this saying I play until today. I was raised and coached this way. Young players aren’t coached this way anymore, and don’t get punished for cheating in practice, therefore they will continue to do so. Same thing goes for the parents. I had a kid coming only once to practice a week because she had school and other sports on the other days. I told her that is fine with me, she still can come practice and play, but she will have to understand that other players, even the ones that are worse than her, get to play before her because they are up to 5 times in practice a week. Next day her mom comes to me and tells me that her daughter won’t play anymore for the team since she is a starting five player and doesn’t need to sit on the bench … whooooaaaaa!!! And we wonder, when our youth has a big head and isn’t willing to work for anything anymore?
I say we can’t blame the youth, I know it is a shame, but it’s how we raise our kids! I was taught the saying, “Who makes a mistake in offense, is the first one in defense” and by this saying I play until today. I was raised and coached this way. Young players aren’t coached this way anymore, and don’t get punished for cheating in practice, therefore they will continue to do so. Same thing goes for the parents. I had a kid coming only once to practice a week because she had school and other sports on the other days. I told her that is fine with me, she still can come practice and play, but she will have to understand that other players, even the ones that are worse than her, get to play before her because they are up to 5 times in practice a week. Next day her mom comes to me and tells me that her daughter won’t play anymore for the team since she is a starting five player and doesn’t need to sit on the bench … whooooaaaaa!!! And we wonder, when our youth has a big head and isn’t willing to work for anything anymore?