littlepatriot
Member
- Joined
- Jul 7, 2015
- Messages
- 37
Hey guys-
This has been something that's been bugging me for a long time. Ever since I was a little kid, I always loved basketball. You could always catch me shooting in my spare time. There was honestly no sport I loved more. That is, until I hit high school.
I've had a very rough start in high school basketball. Freshman year, I made the JV team (school is too small for a freshman team.) I didn't play much, maybe a total of ~15 minutes for a 20 game season. My sophomore year, everything went downhill. Bottom line is I lost any respect I had for my coach. She played favorites and degrade the ones she didn't like. For some background: I get the ball in a 3 on 2 drill. Not seeing any teammates open, I took the ball all the way and scored over our large post player. All of my teammates congratulated me on a good move. My coach storms up and goes 'littlepatriot, what the h*ll do you think you're doing? Are you better than everyone else here?' I stayed silent, I've never been one to speak rudely to an adult. She continues, 'If you're going to be a ballhog, then you might as well make yourself comfortable. I don't have the time for players like you. Get to the back of the line.' Humiliated, I apologized to her and jogged to the back of the line.
Next play, a teammate makes the exact same play. Coach jumps up and congratulates her on an aggressive play, saying that's exactly what we need on this team.
Halfway through the season I had still hardly played, so I decided to speak with her. I asked her if I could speak with her privately after practice and she agreed. During our meeting, I explained that I felt like I was working harder than anyone on the team, both inside and outside of practice. I wasn't accusatory and tried my best to remain respectful despite the anger I was feeling. Unfortunately, she told me that I wasn't a good enough player and would be third-string for the rest of the season. I thanked her and walked out. I played less than 10 minutes the rest of the season.
Honestly, I'm not a very good player, and I do know that. I'm a decent shooter who is always willing to make the hustle plays, i.e. diving after every loose ball, and I'm a decent defender because of my speed, but that's about where my talent ends. If I do try out, I'll probably end up on JV as a junior and cut by my senior year.
I am also not the only one with this feeling. Around 80% of our varsity team plans on filing a petition if she is named the varsity head coach this year. (Our previous coach left for a private school a few months ago.) Our assistant coach has gone so far as to say that she would be unwilling to help out next year if she's named head coach, because she doesn't want to have to balance coaching us and babysitting her.
So I guess I'm just looking for advice here. What would you do? Would you play again? Would it even be worth it?
Thank you everyone for reading my rant. I'd also like to apologize if I have come off as a bitter, whining teenager with a thin skin. That was not my intention in the slightest.
Any advice would be much appreciated!
This has been something that's been bugging me for a long time. Ever since I was a little kid, I always loved basketball. You could always catch me shooting in my spare time. There was honestly no sport I loved more. That is, until I hit high school.
I've had a very rough start in high school basketball. Freshman year, I made the JV team (school is too small for a freshman team.) I didn't play much, maybe a total of ~15 minutes for a 20 game season. My sophomore year, everything went downhill. Bottom line is I lost any respect I had for my coach. She played favorites and degrade the ones she didn't like. For some background: I get the ball in a 3 on 2 drill. Not seeing any teammates open, I took the ball all the way and scored over our large post player. All of my teammates congratulated me on a good move. My coach storms up and goes 'littlepatriot, what the h*ll do you think you're doing? Are you better than everyone else here?' I stayed silent, I've never been one to speak rudely to an adult. She continues, 'If you're going to be a ballhog, then you might as well make yourself comfortable. I don't have the time for players like you. Get to the back of the line.' Humiliated, I apologized to her and jogged to the back of the line.
Next play, a teammate makes the exact same play. Coach jumps up and congratulates her on an aggressive play, saying that's exactly what we need on this team.
Halfway through the season I had still hardly played, so I decided to speak with her. I asked her if I could speak with her privately after practice and she agreed. During our meeting, I explained that I felt like I was working harder than anyone on the team, both inside and outside of practice. I wasn't accusatory and tried my best to remain respectful despite the anger I was feeling. Unfortunately, she told me that I wasn't a good enough player and would be third-string for the rest of the season. I thanked her and walked out. I played less than 10 minutes the rest of the season.
Honestly, I'm not a very good player, and I do know that. I'm a decent shooter who is always willing to make the hustle plays, i.e. diving after every loose ball, and I'm a decent defender because of my speed, but that's about where my talent ends. If I do try out, I'll probably end up on JV as a junior and cut by my senior year.
I am also not the only one with this feeling. Around 80% of our varsity team plans on filing a petition if she is named the varsity head coach this year. (Our previous coach left for a private school a few months ago.) Our assistant coach has gone so far as to say that she would be unwilling to help out next year if she's named head coach, because she doesn't want to have to balance coaching us and babysitting her.
So I guess I'm just looking for advice here. What would you do? Would you play again? Would it even be worth it?
Thank you everyone for reading my rant. I'd also like to apologize if I have come off as a bitter, whining teenager with a thin skin. That was not my intention in the slightest.
Any advice would be much appreciated!