athletes and parents

akaclone · 05-22-2008, 11:40 PM

Just a couple of commets about the ISU staff and how well they take care of thier kids.My wife and i have been fortunate enough too have both of our girls play on an ISU athletic team.One of them still is playing at ISU...first of all the demands of playing div.1 sports is the biggest challenge a young person will ever have..Everyway you can imagine...As a parent , watching can also be the hardest thing you've ever done.Imagine sitting in front of the bench and seeing your son or daughter get a tongue lashing like you or your spouse has never given them...the words that are said sometimes are very very painful .But the truth is we as parents only hear the information that is gathered at an pretty emotional time...watch your child play as the best in highschool and only to find out he or she might not even make a contribution at the college level...This happens for every player on every team.Coaches communicate with thier players the best way they see fit and sometimes the rest of us don't understand...but it always works out.....Now throw in a couple of injuries and you got emotions that are on eggshells....medders got hurt more than 1 time..she played with a seperated shoulder as a freshman,surgery at the end of the season,had a screw installed in her foot, and got a concussion at neb.before warmups...just to name a feel.When our daughter got hurt the rest of the season was over for her.Our other daughter had a back injury that still hurts her today....OK now bring in the ISU trainers and drs....the job they all do is 2nd too none..the hours of therapy they go through with your child is simply amazing,the equipemnt,the fac ilities....etc. i had a chance yesterday to see first hand the pros do thier work...if you could see what i saw...no body would be saying anything about..a..coach....staff....and trainers that wasn't first class.All the coaches....listen to drs orders and releases,the athleates compete when THEY are healthy enough to play.If the way they are treated is too tough for them then i suggest go get a real job....and please support those that choose to stay and wear our colors with pride...Hopefully our daughter wiil be back on the court by mid-summer..with all the dr's and staffs permission.Thank you too all the ISU coaches for treating our girls like one of your own. GO Cyclones !!! Dennis and Judi Wieben

C.John · 05-22-2008, 11:51 PM

Thank you for posting.

Also I just want to say that as a fan, I can't wait until next winter to see Nicky back on the court with her fellow Twister Sisters.

LindenCy · 05-22-2008, 11:53 PM

Thanks for the post. It is always nice to get some different views, especially if they might have real insight.

cycopath25 · 05-23-2008, 12:12 AM

P.S. akaclone
Good post . . . I'm not discounting you at all.

BenEClone · 05-23-2008, 07:51 AM

akaclone , Thanks for the insight. Our daughter, soon to be 22 and just graduated from a small liberal arts college was not a college athlete. I can't imagine how she would cope emotionally in D-1 athletics - the physicality on the court and the challenge from the bench. Many fans are so demanding of these kids. I think the ISU Sisters are a special group to be tough enough to compete and yet so bright and decent off the court. I believe the common wisdom that Bill recruits good students with character and family values first.

Phaedrus · 05-23-2008, 08:26 AM

Thanks for the nice, well constructed post. We are parents of a high school athlete and understand fully, why coach needs to deal with her firmly at times. I'm glad to see other parents out there also have good perspective on their athlete/kids.

Edited to add: It helps that I've coached at the college level. I got along with "most" of the parents, but there's always those few that just make your job tough.

jtd9046 · 05-23-2008, 08:34 AM

Great job cleaning up this thread mods.

Great post.

travman23 · 05-23-2008, 09:10 AM

This is a GREAT post! Anyone who follows our women's team knows that coach can get very vocal in games but back in college I got to know some of the women's players and not 1 of them had a bad thing to say about coach and after personally meeting Bill before and also his father and mother in law who happen to go to the same church that my future in laws do I am VERY glad that Bill will likely finish his coaching career here. I've never heard a bad thing about him from anyone and I think he does a great job of doing his job on the court which sometimes means giving someone a verbal lashing but also as a class act both on and off the court as well. I think coach McDermott is in this same mold too from the things I've heard about him and it's no coincidence that he and Bill have become good friends. I remember Mac even used one of Bill's plays before and gave him credit for it on a radio show and talked about how he and Bill share plays and try to help each other out and Bill has used a few of Greg's plays as well. I hope that both are here for a LONG time and both have great success because they both represent ISU well.

cybsball20 · 05-23-2008, 09:15 AM

You have to respect the Wiebens and parents like that who can see things that may not look good on the surface, but step back and allow the coach to coach. I have always wanted to coach and have been offered a few high school spots, but I just don't think I could deal with the parents' need to be involved in every decision. I had a HS baseball coach back in FL that had a great policy. If a parent wanted to talk to him about play time, or anything they could schedule a meeting, in his office, with him AND the kid. Alot of kids will say one 'truth' to the parents and another in front of the coach... Maybe that's why Wes wouldn't let Mac meet with his 'rents?

ISUFan22 · 05-23-2008, 09:18 AM

Originally Posted by cybsball20

I had a HS baseball coach back in FL that had a great policy. If a parent wanted to talk to him about play time, or anything they could schedule a meeting, in his office, with him AND the kid. Alot of kids will say one 'truth' to the parents and another in front of the coach

I like this idea a lot and think I'll employ it this fall. Thanks!

cybsball20 · 05-23-2008, 09:20 AM

Originally Posted by ISUFan22

I like this idea a lot and think I'll employ it this fall. Thanks!

You won't get many meetings out of it.... He didn't... Certainly beats coming home to a ton of voice mails from parents after games like my coach up here did...

cloneu · 05-23-2008, 09:22 AM

Originally Posted by cybsball20

You won't get many meetings out of it.... He didn't... Certainly beats coming home to a ton of voice mails from parents after games like my coach up here did...

Yuck, I hate stupid parents of athletes. Granted sometimes parents may hear a different story from their child then what actually is happening.

ISUFan22 · 05-23-2008, 09:42 AM

Originally Posted by cybsball20

You won't get many meetings out of it.... He didn't... Certainly beats coming home to a ton of voice mails from parents after games like my coach up here did...

With youth (6th graders), I think we'll still have some. So far in my extensive coaching career (3 years

) - I've yet to have what I would consider a significant parent issue.

That day is coming I'm sure and this method would seem to go a long ways toward helping that.

wartknight · 05-23-2008, 09:50 AM

Parents don't realize that when they complain about something with their son/daughter, a coach then pays very close attention to the player and much more critical of everything they do.
As a sophomore coach, I once got an email from a parent of a kid that was a long way down the depth chart. The parent accused me of ruining his kid's dream of being a D1 athlete.

tim_redd · 05-23-2008, 10:06 AM

Thank you for posting. I'm excited to watch Iowa State (Women's) Basketball!