Bob CollinsParents today, eh?
In central Minnesota, Brainerd High School head boys basketball coach Scott Stanfield knows the stresses of life. He was a cop. There aren’t many jobs more stressful than being a cop and occasionally dealing with the worst society can throw at a person.
Except for being a boys basktball coach and having to deal with parents.
“I go from being a cop to this, and it’s one stressful job to another and it’s time for a break,” Stanfield tells the Brainerd Dispatch. “Coaching was worse. Coaching has been way worse. If you win, it doesn’t matter. If you lose, it doesn’t matter. If their kid doesn’t get enough playing time — look out.”
He’s had it. He’s quitting.
The school’s athletic director made the announcement in a letter sent to parents, the paper says.
The majority of parents have been great, the coach says.
“It’s just kind of a group over the last couple of years that have weighed on my mind.
“As far as playing time for a kid, it’s a battle and it’s unfortunate that in basketball you can’t play more kids.”
“I don’t know what it will take, but unfortunately, I think it starts at a very young age,” Stanfield said.
Parents feel invested once they pay their way through the AAU experience and the travel experience. They have a lot of time and money invested in that. When the kids reach high school, and they become varsity players no matter what grade — you’re basically bringing ninth- through 12th-grade players together — all four classes together and when they see their investment in time and money not paying off, I think they get a little upset.
They see it as wasted time, when in fact, if they could take a step back and look at school-based athletics and the great things a kid can get out of it.
It’s just not worth it, he says.
(h/t: Mike Worcester)
