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FCPS HS Sports
Posted by: Info Seeker ()
Date: September 19, 2017 08:38AM

So I am looking for input from those of you who have kids in FCPS HS's playing sports.

This weekend a friend mentioned his daughter was playing a sport at a local HS, but not getting any playing time. He said it was in part because the girl(s) playing in front of her had siblings that went to the school and they all played in the same youth program. I thought this was a bit absurd at first. After all, HS coaches don't care about that stuff, they are paid to win. But the other people in our group said it was actually more common than not. One guy pointed out all of the money the local clubs pay the highs schools for the use of their facilities. Most HS rent their baseball facilities out to the local travel team, and those kids get priority on the HS team. The youth football clubs are usually the single largest contributor to the turf fund at the stadiums. With basketball, the HS coaches suck up to the AAU coaches in hopes they will send the best talent their way.

All of this sounds crazy, but as I ask around work, a lot of people have had this experience, and it seems to be understood. In just a day of asking, I had over a dozen people tell me how their kids had to deal with this in Fairfax high schools. Several of them went on to play their sport in college and be successful, so they must have some talent.

WTF? Is this for real? Has anyone else had similar experiences, or am I just testing the wrong sample group?

My kids are still in MS, so I am wondering if I need to start sucking up to the local youth clubs, or just move.

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Re: FCPS HS Sports
Posted by: FCPS Parents ()
Date: September 19, 2017 08:57AM

This is 99% BS. Nearly every parent I've come in contact with has no idea how talented their child is. They don't possess the ability to judge their kids talent or skills versus another student athlete because they are obviously biased. This leads to parents believing there is a conspiriacy to keep their child on the sideline when in reality the other player is simply a little bit better. It's much easier to blame the coach instead of telling your child that maybe they just aren't good enough. I had to have this conversation with my wife a few times before she accepted that our daughter wasn't as good as another player. It's tough to accept that as a parent but with schools as big as the schools in fairfax a lot of solid players are on the bench.

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Re: FCPS HS Sports
Posted by: Former Coach ()
Date: September 19, 2017 09:16AM

FCPS Parents Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> This is 99% BS. Nearly every parent I've come in
> contact with has no idea how talented their child
> is. They don't possess the ability to judge their
> kids talent or skills versus another student
> athlete because they are obviously biased. This
> leads to parents believing there is a conspiriacy
> to keep their child on the sideline when in
> reality the other player is simply a little bit
> better. It's much easier to blame the coach
> instead of telling your child that maybe they just
> aren't good enough. I had to have this
> conversation with my wife a few times before she
> accepted that our daughter wasn't as good as
> another player. It's tough to accept that as a
> parent but with schools as big as the schools in
> fairfax a lot of solid players are on the bench.

+1

I worked with coaching staffs in FCPS for a number of seasons a few years ago. Coaches play the best players period. At the varsity level, playing time is not guaranteed - it has to be earned. That being said, I have known coaches to varying degrees adjust time based on player attitude and sportsmanship. More than the best players, coaches want the best kids on their teams. A mediocre player can get better as a season goes on, but a locker room cancer remains that way all season.

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Re: FCPS HS Sports
Posted by: Longtime Fan ()
Date: September 19, 2017 11:05AM

I think this may be a little more common than some want to admit, although it's probably not done intentionally. I also think it probably happens a lot more at schools like Lake Braddock, Robinson, Woodson, Fairfax, etc, where the parents are more likely to be long term community members. Heck, there are two lengthy threads on this site about all of the crap at LB and parental involvement, so something is going on there.

I know at Robinson there are a lot of complaints about baseball and basketball. The Robinson girls team has a player who's mom told the other parents her husband told the coach how many shots their daughter (who is an undersized sophomore) should get each game. The coach has benched other girls for taking and making shots, because they are supposed to feeding this specific player. This is an actual fact that is well know in AAU circles. I'm sure something like this probably happens in football as well, because there is no reason for a school like that suck that bad a football.

It's likely a lot of "preferential treatment" is subconscious, as coaches follow the youth programs for their sports and start thinking about playing certain players, and then are just too lazy to change their mindset.

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Re: FCPS HS Sports
Posted by: fcpsformerparent ()
Date: September 19, 2017 02:02PM

Had 2 kids in FCPS and 1 in private school. Having had several years to look at it objectively, I think ultimately the better kids make the team, and generally start. One of my kids started their sport 3 years the other one in FCPS started JV, never got a playing opportunity after that.

That should not be your concern though. I think it more important that the coach treat your kid with respect and your kid should do the same. I've seen both sides of it. Coaches have their favorites, which is OK. Unfortunately some have student athletes that they decide to pick on. That's not OK.

I'll add that unless your child is an exceptional athlete, coaches don't want projects. They should be fundamentally sound in all aspects of their chosen sport and be able to execute with teammates. That may help explain your concern about travel teams, etc. Good luck and enjoy their successes.

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Re: FCPS HS Sports
Posted by: H3DDU ()
Date: September 19, 2017 02:38PM

This is a big ol' crap sandwich. The overwhelming majority of FCPS coaches who get fired are fired because they don't win enough, so they play the players who they think give them the best chance to win.

Sometimes that results in some short-sighted decisions (playing all seniors, for example) that compromise the future health of the program.

In some cases, there are coaches who aren't real good evaluators of talent, but they're still making decisions based on who they think gives them the best chance to win, even when they're wrong.

In other cases, there are coaches who only know how to run a particular type of system on offense or defense, and that system might cater to a lesser player moreso than another.

In still other cases, the really talented kid who should be getting more playing time is a jerk or a bad teammate, and the coach risks losing the locker room by playing that kid. These are the some of the worst situations for coaches.

99% of the time, if there's legit favoritism going on, it's probably because the coach or assistant has a kid on the team.

Agree totally with earlier post indicating that area parents largely have no ability to objectively evaluate their own children. Nor should they, really - it just becomes a problem when they let that frustration become a cancer on the household or on the team.

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Re: FCPS HS Sports
Posted by: u9ehk ()
Date: September 19, 2017 05:29PM

If the question was whether kids from these programs sometimes received preferential treatment from HS coaches, the answer is yes. I saw this when my kids were in HS sports. The part that I don't buy though is the claim the preference arises because the programs are renting school facilities. It is more likely because the coach is familiar with the program and may already have heard of the kid from other players before the season starts. The coach is paying attention to the program kid's performance from the start. The nonprogram kid has to do something positive to attract the coach's attention.

If you want explanations though for why a good player is sitting on the bench while a not so good kid is playing, a more likely one is that most high school coaches are not that good.

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Re: FCPS HS Sports
Posted by: FAvIsm ()
Date: September 19, 2017 05:51PM

I've heard that coaches from the area who know other parents, not surprisingly, select friends' kids ( again no surprise). Some schools or sports are worse than others. Soccer - boys and girls - seems to breed the type of behavior described by OP.

One complaint I often see is that coaches are inconsiderate of students' homework or other activities/schedule by keeping them at practices too long for too many days. You also see cars parked for an hour or more with parents waiting for students/players. Several excellent players have dropped out of HS sports due to this. Yeah, yeah... 100% commitment. Reasonable and predicable practice schedules are needed to keep the good ones playing.

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Re: FCPS HS Sports
Posted by: Inquisitive One ()
Date: September 20, 2017 02:40AM

Coaches are human and for that reason they have their favorites, stars that receive preferential treatment and the kids that irritate them and end up mistreating or singled out for punishment. The good coaches are the ones that manage these traits well and the poor ones are the ones that have no judgement and allow these problems to become a cancer in the locker room. In high school sports the real star coaches are the ones that manage the personnel issues well while combining it with actual knowledge and strategies of the sport.

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Re: FCPS HS Sports
Posted by: FCPS Football Parent ()
Date: September 20, 2017 09:52AM

This is an interesting topic.

I have two sons currently playing HS football in the area. The youth team they played for was one of the larger clubs that serves multiple high schools. I was told by one of the youth coaches, I needed to move my kids to the school where we played our home games, because the club contributed to their field fun, and they could tell the coaches how great they were and make sure they got playing time. We stayed at the original school, and both kids are doing fine.

I do find it hard to believe there is a big emphasis on winning in this area, in anything other than LAX. Especially in football. I have had coaches from two different schools say to me "They want football to be important, because it makes money, but they don't want it to make decisions." The fact two guys who probably don't know each other phrased it the same way tells me that is a statement that comes from higher up in the district.

There are obvious exceptions to the coaching mentality prevalent in the district. Westfield and South County come immediately to mind. Those two guys want to win. My understanding is they work their kids harder and require a bigger commitment to winning. And guess what, they both win. The guy at LB liked to win, but I guess he became too important. I'm sure there are a couple of others who just haven't had the success, but most don't seem to be putting real effort into it.

I agree it probably varies by school and sport. But I also think a big problem adding to this OP's question is kids in this area tend talk, and think it's a good thing when their parents go talk to the coach and "put him in his place." I would guess kids act like it happens more than it does, so they, or their parents seem important.

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Re: FCPS HS Sports
Posted by: it varies ()
Date: September 20, 2017 10:07AM

Most coaches want to win. Period. Most principals want the coaches to win. Period.

However, impressions are formed for lots of reasons. Some kids are stars early and keep the reputation and that is just life.

My kid did not play varsity high school football because he concentrated on another sport. He had played youth. We went to the games, and sometimes I wondered why "x" was not playing wide receiver because I thought he was better than "y". But, I was not the coach and did not see the practices. Coaches make mistakes, too.

As for the siblings that OP mentioned. It is possible that the coach just had an impression--or it could be they were better at an element that the coach needed on the team. Maybe they were more aggressive, maybe they were better at teamwork. Could be lots of things.

Or, the coach may be just playing favorites.

It's not youth league where everyone gets playing time.

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Re: FCPS HS Sports
Posted by: Former Ram Parent ()
Date: September 22, 2017 03:50PM

Not hard to believe at all. At Robinson there is a feeder baseball team that gets the gym on Sundays during the winter, for training. I'm sure they pay a fee but no one else is getting use of the high school equipment for a non-high school event. The coaches are not supposed to run the program but they know whats going on and have a say in who can participate. During the season the bull dogs have exclusive rights to the fields for practice.
The bull dogs players always make the high school team. If you aren't on the bull dogs your chances are slim to none. Green days are closed to anyone who isn't a returning player.
I was told by a current parent that last year a sophmore kid blew his knee out during the fall playing basketball, was given a roster spot on the varsity basketball team even though he couldn't play and then was given a spot on the varisty baseball team and never played. All while still recovering from his knee injury. Guess who his dad is? The j.v. basketball coach.
My son graduated last year and I'm glad that bs is behind me.

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Re: FCPS HS Sports
Posted by: Current Robinson Parent ()
Date: September 22, 2017 05:28PM

Ya, god forbid the coaches allow an injured kid to sit on the bench on a team he would have made if he wasn't hurt. The baseball team did not cut anyone to keep him around. They simply allowed him to be with the team. There is no size limit to a roster. It's whatever the coaches determine works for them. I'm sure they kept all the kids they thought could contribute and cut the rest. Simple as that.
I'm not in the know, but I would venture to say that the best baseball players in the middle school grades tend to be the best players in HS. Your assumption that they keep players because they played for a certain youth program is flawed. They probably keep them because they are the better players. That's like arguing that major college sports are corrupt because they only recruit kids from private schools, when in reality the majority of the college level talent is found in the private schools.
My kid was cut from the Robinson basketball team a few years ago. I hoped he would sneak his way on the team, but it wasn't to be. I watched some of the games that year and wanted to be upset with the coach, but there was no kid on that team that I could definitive say my son was better than. Coaches have a tough job and us parents don't realize that our judgement is extremely biased. The coaches probably have a much clearer picture of how kids compare to one another. Give them a break!!

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Re: FCPS HS Sports
Posted by: Former Ram Parent ()
Date: September 22, 2017 06:32PM

Ya, the injured kid should not have been given a spot on the teams. Perhaps harsh but it's my opinion. Plus, being the son of the jv coach just looks bad and invites criticism.
That aside, with the advent of travel teams, high school sports are no longer important in the grand scheme of athletics, certainly not baseball.

Again, glad I'm out of it.

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Re: FCPS HS Sports
Posted by: kamambucha ()
Date: June 17, 2022 12:53PM

I thought about taking my son to a local sports club, and I still want to do that because he seems to be interested in it. We watch live sports matches together, and I think if he could place bets on https://takebet.ke/betting-sites/review/betika, he would. But I think it would be better to wait for a while and let him join something he actually likes.

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Re: FCPS HS Sports
Posted by: Drawn to ()
Date: June 17, 2022 08:41PM

I was drawn to track because as a poor kid with an ill single mother I needed objective standards. 4:08 mile in 11th grade, 4:05 in 12th grade. And yes, nearly 40 years ago this attracted a lot of attention and scholarships.48 second 440 so was useful to colleges with mediocre 4 x 4 teams. I was an OK basketball player, but the team was rife with daddy ball, with the best player being the coach's son. Lots of publicity for the kid but only a very average junior college player. 8n general the best players do play but the exceptions are bothersome. Track was nowhere near as much fun as basketball.

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