Mason Gepp
Mason Gepp doesn’t think coaches are supposed to be good friends with the players. You won’t hear him whining about any harsh treatment he gets from his coach.
I play baseball, basketball, water polo, tennis, and football, so I think I’m qualified to speak about sports. Many of my coaches, especially in high school, curse and yell… and make me and my teammates run laps and do extra push ups if we are out of line. I once had to run extra sprints just for talking during practice. Some call this approach unnecessary. I think it makes a coach great.
High profile cases of coaches accused of abusing their players has the sports world talking. Texas Tech coach Mike Leach was recently fired after allegedly ordering a player to be locked up in the dark during practice. Now, everyone is debating what is too much when it comes to coaches’ techniques.
I think tough coaching should be allowed and actually encouraged. But society has gone soft. We expect coaches today to be our best friends instead of strong coaches. That’s a problem. If any one of my coaches has to take harsh measures to get respect and obedience from my team, I will support him.
In my experience, the most disciplined team wins. When my coaches make me stay an extra hour for practice or push me to exhaustion, I don’t whine about it. Unless you are in the little leagues, last I heard sports are supposed to be tough.
