# Pay to play!



## Q10 (Sep 7, 2017)

What's the school of thought regarding coaches offering private trainings sessions to their own team/players?

How about actively soliciting them to individual players?

I always thought it was a conflict of interest. Little Susie gets more minutes because she pays $50/hr for privates with Coach. Just seems like a bit of a gray area.


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## Fact (Sep 7, 2017)

Q10 said:


> What's the school of thought regarding coaches offering private trainings sessions to their own team/players?
> 
> How about actively soliciting them to individual players?
> 
> I always thought it was a conflict of interest. Little Susie gets more minutes because she pays $50/hr for privates with Coach. Just seems like a bit of a gray area.


If your coach is willing to give you privates, that is a good indicator that you should find a new coach.  A coach should always avoid the appearance of favoritism and a lot of clubs have rules against it.  However that does not stop coaches from recommending their friend to give you privates in return for their friend to recommend them for privates.

I also think it is wrong for a coach that knows he will be coaching a player the following year to give them privates.  We use to look for coaches outside our club for privates.  There are some many good coaches, why limit yourself to your club.


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## timbuck (Sep 7, 2017)

But he's a really good coach and promised us a scholarship <sarcasm>


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## chargerfan (Sep 7, 2017)

Fact said:


> If your coach is willing to give you privates, that is a good indicator that you should find a new coach.  A coach should always avoid the appearance of favoritism and a lot of clubs have rules against it.  However that does not stop coaches from recommending their friend to give you privates in return for their friend to recommend them for privates.
> 
> I also think it is wrong for a coach that knows he will be coaching a player the following year to give them privates.  We use to look for coaches outside our club for privates.  There are some many good coaches, why limit yourself to your club.


What about a coach that has his players go to a member of his immediately family for privates?   

I would not only look for a new coach in any of these situations, but a new club.


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## Fact (Sep 7, 2017)

chargerfan said:


> What about a coach that has his players go to a member of his immediately family for privates?
> 
> I would not only look for a new coach in any of these situations, but a new club.


That assumes the club knows about the privates.  A lot of times the privates will be off-site.


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## timbuck (Sep 7, 2017)

Is this a thread for tales of strange things that coaches regularly do?'
What about the coach that has his players run up to a girl after a game and ask for her contact information?


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## coachrefparent (Sep 7, 2017)

timbuck said:


> Is this a thread for tales of strange things that coaches regularly do?'
> What about the coach that has his players run up to a girl after a game and ask for her contact information?


That's creepy. He can't ask them out himself? Is he under 18?


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## Striker17 (Sep 8, 2017)

No there are coaches that send players up to their players to write down contact info. Very uncomfortable- for the kid being asked to do it who is trying to please a coach and for the kid being asked. 
Again unregulated coach antics


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## Socal United (Sep 8, 2017)

I am not a fan of training my own kids, I think they need the different voice.  The conflict aside, you already have that kid on your team so going elsewhere is a good thing.  I get asked all the time about doing privates from my parents, I give them a list of people I trust to train them and let them go from there.  I do try and ask who they end up going to, I like to contact that coach and let them know what I think the player needs the most.  

Funny listening to the stories on the coaches and sending kids.  Many years ago, when my son(now 16) was playing in the off season in the local rec league(he was 7) he was playing in a game.  One kid just dominated the game and my son made notice.  After the 5th or 6th goal he scored, my son politely said to him "you should be playing on our competitive team" while they stood together on the field.  He told him again he would be better on his team in the handshake line.  That following Monday, they contacted the coach and have been teammates and great friends ever since.  I think sometimes we assume the coaches do that, but I think many times these kids are just so smart, so competitive, so young they go out on their own.  Now, I have seen some things that make my skin crawl because there are a lot of crazies out there.


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## Sons of Pitches (Sep 8, 2017)

Pay to Play is a two way street!!  What about the parents that hire a club coach for privates because the club coach also happens to be their High School coach?


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## Lambchop (Sep 8, 2017)

chargerfan said:


> What about a coach that has his players go to a member of his immediately family for privates?
> 
> I would not only look for a new coach in any of these situations, but a new club.


Is the coach good, is he/she fair, are the rates reasonable?  All important questions before deciding on who to train with.  Blanket statements are just that, blanket generalizations. Always select a trainer who will do a good job of coaching what your player needs and who will communicate that to the player in a non-demeaning way.


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## Lambchop (Sep 8, 2017)

Fact said:


> If your coach is willing to give you privates, that is a good indicator that you should find a new coach.  A coach should always avoid the appearance of favoritism and a lot of clubs have rules against it.  However that does not stop coaches from recommending their friend to give you privates in return for their friend to recommend them for privates.
> 
> I also think it is wrong for a coach that knows he will be coaching a player the following year to give them privates.  We use to look for coaches outside our club for privates.  There are some many good coaches, why limit yourself to your club.


Location, location, location can play a part in not going out of your area.


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## MWN (Sep 8, 2017)

I don't have a problem per se, with coaches being paid for additional training (i.e. privates).  If the goal is to help kids develop their soccer skills and the additional time is warranted, then more power to all parties concerned.

To the extent any coach makes decisions that impact playing time solely of extra dollars through privates, then that coach is ultimately shooting themselves in the foot and will find themselves in a constant battle of retaining players because those players that are unfairly discriminated against will eventually find other clubs/teams/coaches that are fair.

My son is a GK, and over the years his coaches (and other coaches) have asked him to join a private session or two that they have been giving to a player in order to support the private lesson (strikers taking shots), which he has been happy to do because it means free development for him.  Those kids that take privates generally are the better players on the team and/or bubble players that are trying to make the jump up to starter.

In the one instance I have seen a coach (no longer in California) overtly favor his "private" lesson players, he struggled year in and year out to hold teams together because the parents of the good players tired of the Coach favoring certain weak players, thus, reducing the competitiveness of the team, and the parents of the bubble players left for greener grass, knowing this Coach wasn't interested in fielding a competitive team, rather the dollars.

So in sum, the problem exists, but Coaches quickly learn that who plays has to be based on merit, otherwise their teams fall apart (and their income drops).


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## OCsoccerdad7777 (Sep 8, 2017)

What if most or all of the team pays for privates. Is it then ok?
Or if the coach is an academy coach? Would you then look to leave the academy team especially if they are a good team? Maybe depends on situation? The coach sees the kid the most so he/she should know what they need work on and obviously it can't be done at a team practice.
Whether you pay or not coaches will always have their favorites and will have favoritism. I'm just saying that it isn't always negative. Pay to play of course is no good.


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## Q10 (Sep 8, 2017)

I think coaches should avoid any semblance of conflict of interest. If they can't relay to the player what they need to work on during practice they can suggest private lessons with someone else and communicate with them on what the coach feels the player needs to develop. I have not seen or heard of Academy coaches giving private to their own players, but that would  seem even more inappropriate. Whether the intention is there or not it could seem like players are paying for extra minutes on the field.


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## Eagle33 (Sep 8, 2017)

If a parent THINKS that paying a coach for privates will give a player advantage, it's NOT necessarily what coach THINKS.


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## Chalklines (Sep 8, 2017)

Q10 said:


> I think coaches should avoid any semblance of conflict of interest. If they can't relay to the player what they need to work on during practice they can suggest private lessons with someone else and communicate with them on what the coach feels the player needs to develop. I have not seen or heard of Academy coaches giving private to their own players, but that would  seem even more inappropriate. Whether the intention is there or not it could seem like players are paying for extra minutes on the field.


So obviously a kid is getting privates at your club from the coach and your assuming this is leading to extra playing time because of it?

What if the player on the team is already the stud? Does it still make it wrong?

A single coach at any sport does not have time to break down fundamentals with every kid on the team during a 2 hr practice window. The coach sees the holes in the players game on a daily basis and can only do so much at practice to fix the problems.  If the coach is offering private sessions, why not take advantage of it? The coach sees your kid play every day.

Now as a parent, If your kids garbage and you think paying for a private will get you more playing time your entire thought process is backwards. Some coaches just want to help for the right reasons but I guess if we try hard enough we could all find a negative to every situation.


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## Q10 (Sep 8, 2017)

I'm not assuming anything. I'm telling you what the perception is.


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## Chalklines (Sep 9, 2017)

Q10 said:


> I'm not assuming anything. I'm telling you what the perception is.


Then what's the perception if the kids taking privates are already starters and the best players on the team? 

Paying for playing time for both party's is obviously out of the equation. Could it actually mean a player likes the coach and wants to just improve their game in a familiar environment..........


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## Q10 (Sep 9, 2017)

That's a possibility but in this case these players are obviously not the best on the team. I get what you're saying though because these players obviously need more attention and more help improving their basic skills and they seem more comfortable with their coach. But in the long run taking privates from another professional and getting another set of eyes on you is always better


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