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Members of the Same Team
April 2, 2013
The Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan (BCAM) is a leader among our state’s high school coaches associations, as well as of its counterpart organizations for the sport of basketball across the US.
The MHSAA has partnered with BCAM in numerous ways, including the “Reaching Higher” program to help prepare high school student-athletes for the college experience and in the “Top Shooters” and clinic aspects of the “March Magic Hoopfest” which will return in 2014 after taking a year off due to facility conflicts at Michigan State University.
One of the longest MHSAA-BCAM partnerships has been the Basketball Officials and Coaches Communications Committee (BOCCC). One of the committee members, Mitch Hubbard of Reading High School, offered these candid and insightful comments in BCAM’s March 2013 Monthly Report:
Look Through Someone Else’s Window
I sat through the class nodding my head in agreement. I kept thinking of situations where if people would do this, many conflicts could be avoided. If only people would look at both sides of things, then the world would be a better place.
This season I took on the position of athletic director. Part of the job is to greet the officials and escort them back and forth to the locker room. For the first time in my career, I have had good, honest, open conversations with guys that I have known for years. I found out that these guys have families, careers, injuries, honors, and all kinds of day-to-day happenings. Some live close by and some travel long distances to referee. I was amazed as to just how much these guys were like me!
Officials and coaches want the same thing. They both love the sport and want to protect it. We need to work together to improve and enhance the game. Communication and relationships between officials and coaches is critical. We need to stop and take the time to “look through someone else’s window” and appreciate them.
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Misspent Money
January 12, 2018
Editor's Note: This blog originally was posted July 15, 2014, and the message is worth another read.
It is not news to us, but it makes more waves when others report it.
William Hageman of the Chicago Tribune reported last month on a study from Utah State University’s Families in Sport Lab that found “the more money parents spend on youth sports, the more likely their kids are to lose interest.”
A Utah State researcher explains the connection: “The more money folks are investing, the higher pressure kids are perceiving. More pressure means less enjoyment. As kids enjoy sports less, their motivation goes down.”
Hageman exposes the folly of parents’ justification for their financial outlay – increasing their child’s chances for a college scholarship. Hageman says “a look at the numbers shows they (parents) may be deluding themselves.”
He cites NCAA statistics that only two percent of high school athletes receive athletic scholarships; and we have to add that many of those are not “full-rides.” The average scholarship covers less than half the cost of an in-state college education for one academic year.