Activity

2
Heading into the last game of the regular season in a local park district basketball league, the Bulls have
only one loss and are already guaranteed the top seed in the playoffs. Some of the parents are upset
that the head coach’s two sons get to play the whole game while other players barely see any playing
time. The head coach says that he just wants the team to win because everyone enjoys winning. He
does make an effort to give the other children a little playing time. The Bulls are up by 20 points at
halftime, but the coach decides to keep his sons in the game just to make sure the team wins, even
though there is no real significance to the game because the Bulls’ top seeding is secured. How would
you handle this situation if you were the coach of this team? How would you handle if you were the
director park league? Apply the critical thinking guidelines from chapter 1 to this scenario.

As a coach in this given situation, I feel that it is necessary to give these kids who do not get to
see the court as much as the other players some playing time. Not only because are they up in the
game, but also simply because the game did not matter. Meaning, win or lose the Bulls would still be the
top seed heading into the playoffs. Even though he wants to see his team win while at the same time
watch his kids play, as a coach you have to understand that sports are greater than wins and losses. I
feel that If I were a coach, I would look directly towards those parents of the kids who do not play. I
would try and place myself in their situation to see If I were making the right decision. I hope that I
would ask myself questions like, “Is this the right thing to do?” or “Is winning this game all that
important?”. Because in the end, winning a game that does nothing but add a win to the win column
should not be more important than seeing your entire team get to play and have fun.

As a director in the park league, it’s hard to make judgments on these situations because they
cannot truly control the coach’s actions. With that being said, we must consider the hardships and tough
decisions coaches have to make within the quick amount of time they have. Sometimes it is hard for
coaches to make the right decision, because more likely than not, they are only given a few minutes or
even seconds to make a decision. Back to being director of the park league, if a problem is addressed, I
feel that is important to sit down with the coach and have a private one on one conversation. A park
director should not confront a coach without being fully aware of the situation or without having any
credible sources. So, he or she needs to spend some time gathering some information and thoughts
first. Next, as a park director I feel that it is important to talk about the situation clearly, and then after
be open to thoughts and opinions. Before accusing the coach or kicking him out of the league, I would
ask him what he was thinking when he made the decision. I would ask how he feels about his kids and
the team, and even ask how he feels about the parents. The best thing to do as a park director would be
to gather the information with sources, address the situation, and be open to thoughts and opinions.