Sometimes it just isn’t meant to be. The topic for this post is “why your athlete will not make the team”, but it could also be “not get enough playing time” or “not start.” Any of those will cover it.

I won’t sugarcoat this, but you must know the truth about your precious son or daughter. I’m going to give you 5 reasons. This doesn’t mean your athlete will have all 5 of those reasons. Maybe one will suffice. But, these would cover the big reasons why making the team just isn’t in the cards.

  1. You’re just not a good athlete – In the words of the immortal Ty Webb from Caddyshack talking to Al Czervik, “You’re not…you’re not good.  You stink.”  If this were any other kid, you could see how “not good” your athlete is. Not everybody can be a good athlete and sports wasn’t meant for everybody. But, feel free and give me a crack at whipping your kid into an athletic beast. I’ll see what I can do.
  2. Your athlete has an awful attitude – As much fun as we have with an athlete that brings tons of positive energy, coaches can’t stand being around kids who have awful attitudes. Whether they cause tension among the teammates or just challenge authority way too much, it is annoying. This type of athlete sucks the energy right out of the room and brings everybody down with them taking no prisoners.
  3. Your athlete does NOT work hard at all – C’mon, do I really have to explain this one. I work with athletes that bust their behinds to please us and yours doesn’t. If your athlete isn’t a natural stud, I hope there are worse kids trying out and even then that isn’t a guarantee he/she will make the squad. Feel free to watch as many of our training sessions as you need to see how lazy he/she is. I don’t need to be coaxing 100% effort each and every session out of this person. At some point, they must WANT to do this.
  4. You’re just not doing what I’m telling you to do – I don’t understand what the point is to hire a performance coach such as myself and you don’t do what I recommend. You obviously did your due diligence in researching me. You felt I was the person for the job when you signed the dotted line and gave me money.  Yet, anything I recommend you aren’t doing.  If things don’t go your way, don’t come complaining to me. Do what I say almost with blind instantaneous devotion.
  5. Your coach doesn’t like you – Even though I hear this reason a lot, more than you would think, trust me this usually isn’t the big reason. Most of the time, it is one of the previous four reasons (or maybe all of them). Even if all that is true, most coaches want to win. If your athlete truly has some talent, coaches will find a way to get you on the team and make it so you, the team, and the coach can all coexist and win games. If you honestly think this is the reason your son or daughter didn’t make the team, then chances are it was also a combination of the previous four reasons as well. Address those first and maybe this reason becomes non-existent.

There you have it. The top 5 reasons why Junior won’t make the team this year. Start doing your best to correcting them immediately.

Photo courtesy of USAG – Humphreys on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/usaghumphreys/