The trouble with seniors

Over the years, I have had numerous conversations with coaches at the high school and college levels.  We’ve talked about the good, the bad, and the ugly.  One common theme that you will tend to hear over time is the unique difficulties that pop up with regards to senior players and in some cases, their parents too.

On one hand, just about all good teams at the high school and college level have great senior leadership.  A coach cannot overstate how important it is to have a group of experienced veterans who can take younger players under their wing and show them how things need to be done.  It helps even more if the seniors are the best players on the team.  On the other hand, senior players can be an absolute nightmare.  Here are some of the things that can cause team dynamics to spiral downward rather quickly.

• Some senior players and their parents believe that because a player is a senior, he has a God-given right to play and/or start.  When he doesn’t get the starts he “deserves,” the coach is the one who is now unreasonable and disloyal towards the player.  Of course, when the offended player was an underclassman himself and started over another senior, the player and his parents strangely didn’t seem to mind.
• Some seniors see team rules as interfering with the “fun” that many of their non-athlete friends are having now that high school is coming to a close.  Staying away from parties, mandatory Saturday morning practices, etc. start to look more oppressive than necessary.  Some seniors will up and quit because of this.  Especially if they are not getting the playing time as stated above.
• Some seniors are beginning to realize that their dream of playing in college (and possibly beyond) is not going to play out as they had hoped.  Some ask themselves “what’s the point?” when it comes to work ethic and desire to improve.  Often they are the last to arrive to practice and the first to leave.

Put these negative things together and you begin to understand why some coaches have instituted some policy decisions when it comes to seniors.  Here are some I have heard of from coaches. 

No senior makes the team unless the coach feels his playing time will be significant.  This prevents the player from being a cancer in practice and especially on the bench during games.  If it is likely he is not going to play much during his senior year, some coaches will just not keep him at all.  It is a harsh rule but some coaches, right or wrong, feel the pros of this blanket policy outweigh the cons.

All seniors will meet one-on-one with the coach prior to the season.  This is another option for coaches who don’t want to just cut all non-playing seniors but want to make the expectations very clear early on.  If a player is not expected to play much, the coach tells him this right away.  The player has the chance to decide right there whether or not he can live with that.  The coach tells him that if he takes a uniform, he is saying that he will be there every day until the end of the season.  His work ethic does not change mid-season either.

Many coaches have a pre-season parent meeting where the coach outlines all this to the parents of all the players.

All coaches have an interest in analyzing the pros and cons of senior participation on their team.  Coming up with a plan and making it clear to everyone early can save a lot of headaches in the future.