by JRR

Created on: October 10, 2008   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

Normally I try not to read articles on a topic before I write my own. This time, however, is different. I came across this topic while rating and since I have been on the team side, the parent side, and the coaching side, I felt I had something to add.

Now, should a coach face criticism when a team loses? As a general rule I would say no, but in certain situations my answer varies.

In professional sports, these athletes are paid to do a job they do well. They have years of experience in a sport in which they excel. Unless a coach were to call one bad play after another, then no they are not to blame.

The game is ultimately in the hands of the players. It is a result of their skills, abilities and choices on the field or court. There are also things beyond their control, a bad bounce, the way the opposing team reacts, sometimes even just plain old good or bad luck.

It can pretty much be said the same about college sports. We are again talking about players with talent and experience.

Now let's look at high school sports. Here it can become a little clouded. The game is still being played by the team but what a coach teaches and his/her attitude and actions can also play a role.

At the same time, these coaches are dealing with teenagers and the moods and changes going on in their lives as they mature both as people and as athletes. They also have parents to deal with. Parents who may think their child is better than others and deserve more play time.

Yet, there are times when a loss is very much a coaches fault. In my senior year of high school, our softball team made it to the state play offs for the first time in school history.

In the top of the sixth inning, score still 0-0, our coach touched our runner on third while the ball was still live, an automatic out. Our next batter hit a solid double which would have given us one run. The inning ended still 0-0.

After going into extra innings, stretching our 7 inning game to 10 innings, we lost 1-0. In this case the loss was because of the coaches actions.

Sometimes though I think the coaches that receive the most criticism are little league coaches. In most cases these are just everyday people who volunteer their time.

I have been on both sides of this fence. I helped coach my daughters softball team, and yes we lost several games. I frequently heard from parents that their child could play better than others and should be playing certain positions. My response was always the same, "At this age they are all learning, they

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