I think most kids whether it was 25-30 years ago or today want to be coached....they want the coach to be tough, fair and respectful....yelling or screaming isn't the issue....
Young people participating in sports today remain members of the Young Person Community in society in general. And there has been a marked change in how many young people look at ‘authority’ and authority-figures in general. Some teachers at lower grades could give you plenty of horror stories about discipline (or lack thereof) in the classroom and how their authority as teachers has been eroded and not respected. And classes not being interested in learning or listening to the teacher.
NOT ALL young people are this way. But many young people just are not that receptive any more to taking direction from authority figures. (Yes, there always has been an element of ‘rebellion’ in the generations. But something fundamental has changed in recent times to make it harder for teachers (coaches?) to teach.
Only individual teams and players know how much this dynamic has filtered down to the sports program they are specifically involved with. But this factor of whether many players are as coachable as they used to be is an ongoing reality that must be considered going forward in the coach-player relationship. And with players gaining more power and leverage... the coach has been somewhat weakened further in that relationship.
And this is a possible answer to why some coaches might give a little more rope that they should in certain situations. They are trying not to create a wedge between them and the player and they are still trying to motivate them in a good direction. They think that might work.
And maybe ‘Yelling’ by some coaches just might be evidence of someone’s frustration coming out about all this? Just a thought to consider.
