Central Illinois Xpress Emerge as Unlikely Force in Fifth-Grade League

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/19/sports/central-illinois-xpress-emerge-as-unlikely-force-in-fifth-grade-league.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=photo-spot-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

by orin_hanner • 12 years ago

18 10 12 years ago

nytimes.com

kendallpark3• 12 years ago

Too many youth coaches, Mr. Toran said, spend their time designing intricate plays.

I could not agree more. So many coaches at this level of play want to try out the fancy stuff before establishing the basics.

At the time, he said, he was an assistant coach with a semipro men’s team and was eager to escape what he described as the “whining and complaining” of players who were resistant to coaching.
In search of a more mature audience, he turned to a group of 9-year-old girls.
“You can actually teach them basketball,” he said.

I already posted this comment on HN (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8910371), but I think it relates to this article as well:

I play women's football and coach high school guys football. Football is one of the most teamwork-dependent sports out there. Everyone has to be doing his job every single play. There's no way for one player to carry the team.

Before I started coaching guys' football, I had heard consistently from other coaches in my women's league that women are way easier to coach than men in the game of football. Reasons given included less attitude, less individualism, less ego, more willing to work together, etc. When I started coaching high school ball, this was exactly the case. So much of my time was wasted beating the individualism out of these boys and getting them to play for each other, not themselves.

Maybe it's that football attracts a certain type of male. But I think women might be more naturally disposed to working on a team than men on average.

bsder3• 12 years ago

Maybe it's that football attracts a certain type of male.

Um, DUH. Most boys play sports to stand out. Mostly with girls. Sometimes against other boys. Sometimes in the hope of getting a scholarship.

Game it out. What's the point of being a team player on a mediocre team? Better to be the guy who makes the big play that people remember.

In addition, most high school coaches suck by simple Darwinian mechanics. The good ones get pulled up to much bigger schools REALLY quickly. The poor ones get left behind.

kendallpark3• 12 years ago

Most boys play sports to stand out. Mostly with girls. Sometimes against other boys. Sometimes in the hope of getting a scholarship.

I completely disagree. This is a very pessimistic depiction of young male athletes. I believe the primary reason for high schoolers playing sports is still interest in the game itself, not ancillary benefits. When I started coaching high school the team was 1-7 and a joke to the school. There were still thirty boys that came out to practice everyday because they loved the game.

In addition, most high school coaches suck by simple Darwinian mechanics. The good ones get pulled up to much bigger schools REALLY quickly. The poor ones get left behind.

I also disagree with this. Coaching promotion is highly dependent on whom you know and whom you're friends with. There many excellent high school coaches that never get pulled up simply because they do not have the connections. There are also many good college coaches that leave college ball because they would rather be head coach of a great high school program than the third defensive back specialist of a college team.

teamhappy• 12 years ago

We have a team of girls who are doing mighty fine (shocking, I know) and a newspaper that turns their story into such an unbearable headline (for profit). Pretty good summary of where we're at right now.

kendallpark3• 12 years ago

I agree. The headline is inflammatory. Very unfortunate because the article itself was an interesting read.

sctb• 12 years ago

We updated the HN title to the subtitle of the article.

bsder3• 12 years ago

A professional coach can out-compete the local yokel coaches with a team a year or two behind.

And, at that age, girls on average are bigger than boys.

Um, okay. This is news, why?

nickstefan12• 12 years ago

This article has some nice points about what the girls are learning (team work, discipline etc), but it's not nearly "breaking down barriers" as it seems. I coached swimming for 8 years:

Girls are 10x easier to coach than boys (on average). At that age they are also more coordinated, taller and sometimes stronger.

Also at that age: continual year round well coached practice is infinitely more important than gender. The boys teams in this article are seasonal recreational, while the girls team is a year round club team. I can tell you from swimming that a 5th grade year round swimmer would easily crush a recreational swimmer, regardless of gender, on average.

Central Illinois Xpress Emerge as Unlikely Force in Fifth-Grade League

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