I've always found the above image fascinating. Can you imagine being lectured on business ethics by Enron? Yet here we have Penn State and SMU lecturing children on personal ethics and social media. I don't think I need to link to Penn State's most noteworthy "social media presence" of the past few years. When I think of Larry Nassar I think of a power dynamic that makes children be grateful for the opportunity they get, and they better be grateful to even be considered, or so they're told. I think of the fact that we are molding children into fitting into the exact boxes desired for a place on a college team, and wondering why we have robots that possess no shred of individual critical thinking or personality. We are grooming children to be the perfect college recruit, and in that process we make sure that they become accustomed to jumping through each coach's specific hoops. When we hear that other child athletes are being groomed by predators and feel helpless in saying no, can we question whether or not the power dynamic that is being created within college athletic recruitment has a part to play in all of this? When you see the above message from a coach, what do you think? What is this message when we expand it on a larger scale, with regards to a dynamic we create with adult professionals and child athletes? We have created a power dynamic in the college recruitment process in which only one party is expected to act respectful, prompt, and courteous, and it isn't the 45 year old with 20+ years of coaching experience. We are in a time now in which children are expected to act as mini-adults, and oftentimes held to much more stringent standards than the actual adults who are recruiting them. I would ask any coach that agrees with the above sentiment to let me know how many players they're actually brought onto their college program from that "crucial" College ID Camp that only costs $799 for the weekend. How many are prompt in replying to high school athletes, or do they need several emails from the player and a few from the school and club coach before they finally get around to it? If we want to truly work with and develop good people both on and off the field, then its time for us, as coaches, to live up to the same standards and expectations we hold for our current and potential players. Children follow the example they see, not the example they're told. If you want that team culture you keep selling on those recruiting trips, then you and your staff need to be THE examples of it. Players. It's time for you to hear what the social media gurus aren't telling you. You are all incredibly talented and unique individuals. You are still children, and you're going to make mistakes. Your mistakes don't define you, but how you react to those bumps in the road will. Understand that the relationship between you and the potential college coach is not one in which you're lucky to get the offer.
No. Understand that they are interested in you. They want you. And because of that, they are lucky if YOU choose to join their program. That's the secret that some programs already accept and preach, but not enough. It's time to move past the disastrous environment in which we have young athletes thinking that if they jump though all the hoops, they may be lucky and get graced with an offer. The power dynamic is not one in which the coach is the officer with the last life boat on the titanic. If you run into a coach who treats you like that, be grateful that your decision was just made easier. And remember that. It's YOUR decision. Always remember that the game doesn't happen without the players, and the players have the power to choose where they go. Research the programs you are interested in. Research the coaching staff you are looking to potentially spend the next four years of your life, in a crucial foundational period, with. Are these adults, or is this institution, fulfilling the values that you have as a person? Are they representing the person you hope to become? When you visit the school and the team for a day, or a weekend, is that culture you keep hearing about actually present, or does it seem like you're being told a lot of things that you'll experience "once you sign?" I'm tired of coaches instructing athletes on how to get recruited, but never instructing their colleagues on how to improve the process. It is time for us, as professionals, to accept that this power dynamic we continue to perpetuate is a factor in these stories we keep wishing we didn't hear on the news. It's time for us to WANT a parent that is scrutinizing, and a player that asks questions that cut right to the middle of things, rather than people who will sign a check for an ID camp they never had a shot at in the first place. It's time for us to change the conversation and bring some humility, and class, to our side of this relationship. Continue the Discussion! On Facebook: The Coaching Journey On Twitter: @TheCoachJourney
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