Parent Coaches Are Inferior To Non-Parent Coaches

[Youth Hockey Info]

Thanks to whoever posted this gem last night, (copied and pasted).

I personally have seen and worked with parent coaches who put more time and effort into their responsibility than some who call themselves non-parent career coaches. This comment below is pathetic.

Volunteering to coach is similar to reffing. It's an underappreciated and sometimes overwhelming job.

Coaching levels are a joke!  You pay USA hockey, go to a one day “clinic”, no test, no actual skill training, get your level 1. Repeat for next 3 years and you become a level 4 coach for life.  OnLine training modules are too long and too simple, mostly dealing with basic info.  Level 5 attend a weekend clinic.

If you are looking at coaches, you need to find resumes and real experience that the coaches have, to be able to judge if the coach is really good or just has the papers!

Original Post
well... here comes hell week!

[Guest]

Can I agree and disagree all at the same time?

I think there’s tremendous benefit to having non parent coaches. Most get into it for the right reason, to help kids become better and have a good experience. I have seen and experienced the power hungry non-parent coach, that belittles players, play or recruit only top talent players.

I’ve had parent coaches who have picked teams based on their friends and seen their kid being not up to speed for that level. I’ve seen parents hold clubs hostage when trying to bring in a better coach saying “if I don’t coach, your whole team is leaving and going here”. But I’ve had some parent coaches who gave me unbelievable support on and off the ice growing up. I’ve seen parent coaches care and put so much time and extra effort.

End of the day, there’s good and bad coaches everywhere. Both parent and non parents.

Want a good coach? Just do the homework. Talk to them before the season. Talk to other families. Hockey world is small. You’ll know what you’re getting into.

[Guest]

It definitely goes both ways.  We have a non-parent coach in our organization who is part of the social circle.  He went a way for a weekend during evals with families of some of the kids who were currently being evaluated.  Not surprisingly, they all made the team.  Most of them deserved to. 

The coach also has his favorite players who happen to be in that social circle who are rewarded playing time while making the same mistakes other kids are yelled at or benched for.

[Guest]

The reality is that if not for parents who volunteer to coach, the cost to play hockey would increase significantly - which already is beyond the reach of many. 

It really depends on the individual coach and whether or not they are interested in the development of all of the players on the team, or just their kid and their close friends.

Personally I like having a hybrid model, where you have parent volunteers that are supported by skills coaches and a strong organizational culture that ensures that the kids are getting quality coaching.  It’s up to the organization to monitor both the quality of the coaching and the experience of the players.  Granted some organizations are incestuous and enable some of the bad behaviors that are seen with bad daddy coaching.

If you organization allows the coaches to pick their own teams you get a lot of selecting teams based on who you know.  If organizations have good impartial evaluators and select teams based on the talent and effort of the players this may not be as much of an issue.  In those cases, you may not be able to select your coach, you get who you get and hope that they will help your kid to improve and enjoy playing the game.

Some of the best (and worst) coaching I have seen has been daddy coaching. 

[Guest]

It's the same in all kids sports no matter what it is. They all need volunteers to run the teams. If you want non parent coaches pay for tier 1 or send your kid to prep school. Problem solved. Tier ll hockey exists because of parent coaches, everybody knows there are the dads who only care about their kid or the politics but that's part of the deal when you sign up for any organized youth sports program. He isn't being paid to provide his time but it's his responsibility to instruct otherwise. It's not the NHL and your kid isn't going to be an NHL player at A or B level anyway. So what's the big deal?

[Guest]

Don’t see we’re the initial post is talking about comparing parent coaches and non parent coaches? It looks to me, the post is about coach certifications.

The funny thing is my son plays Jr A in the EHL and his coaches have no USA Hockey certification, but have coached many years in the USHL and College levels with winning records.

Over the years, I have watched and heard parents and programs talking about coaches. “He’s a good coach cause he is certified level 4” While that coach has bounced from one rink to another being fired cause of his methods of coaching.

I agree with the original post - certification numbers are meaningless! You need to look at the coaches history and style of coaching! Be it parent or non-parent coach!

BTW, all non parent coaches were parent coaches at some time in their life!

[G D T]

Don’t see we’re the initial post is talking about comparing parent coaches and non parent coaches? It looks to me, the post is about coach certifications.

The funny thing is my son plays Jr A in the EHL and his coaches have no USA Hockey certification, but have coached many years in the USHL and College levels with winning records.

Over the years, I have watched and heard parents and programs talking about coaches. “He’s a good coach cause he is certified level 4” While that coach has bounced from one rink to another being fired cause of his methods of coaching.

I agree with the original post - certification numbers are meaningless! You need to look at the coaches history and style of coaching! Be it parent or non-parent coach!

BTW, all non parent coaches were parent coaches at some time in their life!

I call BS on the bolded statement. Our club has a few (paid) coaches who have never had children (because they practically ARE children) so your statement is not true.  Quite a few clubs have been recruiting recent college grad players to coach their youth teams.   I'm all for it, the kids relate to them because of their hockey skill and general youthfulness, but they also respect them because these guys are better hockey players   

The one thing I can't stand is the non skating coaches (parent or not). I don't care if you are a level 4, if you can't demonstrate the drill to the level you want it executed at, that just grates my nerves.  I know there are famous coaches who have never played hockey/football, etc in the NHL, NFL, etc, and a fantastic coaches, but in youth sports where you are TEACHING the kids how to play, I think it's a necessary qualification (and not just the stupid intro they do at Coaching clinics, that's a joke.... obviously).

[Guest]

Some of the best coaches I have watched were Parents, and some of the worst coaches I have seen were paid non -parent coaches. Some people are great teachers and students of game others are dinosaurs who think they know it all.

[Guest]

I am a parent coach.  Before I had kids I was a non-parent coach. I played 4 years of college hockey so probably not a typical “dad coach” - that being said, it’s an incredibly difficult thing to coach your own kids. I like to think I’m harder on my son than I am on any other player. If he gets away with anything it gives the rest of the team tacit permission to follow suit - so he is consistently held to a higher standard. Many of the people complaining are afforded the opportunity to sit back and watch their children play this great sport because of guys like me.  Parents who coach must manage the game. Can’t tell you how many of my son’s nice  plays I’ve missed while trying to coach other people’s children. Bottom line is there will always be coaches that do it right and coaches that do it wrong regardless of parent or non-parent. Be grateful someone is stepping up to help your kid. If you don’t feel that person is qualified then go get your USA hockey cert and hop on the bench and show us all how it’s done.  Otherwise you are just a complainer adding to an already difficult and thankless job.

[Guest]

amen brother.  And, if a parent constantly complains about the program, the coach, the officials, more often than not, the children hear all of it.  And their children will be exactly the same.  Seen it too many times.  Not the best example to set for a child as he/she will have a difficult existence as a perpetual complainer.