Would you expect a high school swim coach to know what a split is and why it is important?
Last night my daughter was watching my granddaughter's HS swim practice. The assistant coach asked my daughter to time a 500 for a couple of kids. My daughter asked the coach if she wanted splits or just the finish time. The coach said, "Split, I don't know what that is." My daughter explained. The coach then asked, "Why would I want to know that?"
Well, I have to give the coach credit for asking.
Should a HS coach know this, or do I have an unreasonable expectation?
Today, I would be pretty surprised if someone coaching an age group or high school soccer team hadn't played the sport as a kid, at least in/through high school. I think the situation would be similar for swimming.
It all just depends on the school and the situation in that particular moment. My husband is a teacher. Early in his career, he coached JV basketball, volleyball and wrestling. He had wrestled in high school but he'd never played either of the other two sports outside a PE class and goofing off with friends. Those aren't unusual sports by any means, but his district required that all teams be coached by faculty members, no one on the faculty with experience in those sports was interested in those coaching positions, and he was the low man on the totem pole. In other words, he was completely unqualified but also in no position to refuse when the principal told him he needed to do the job. In his case, after a year of the basketball coaching gig, a more qualified teacher had a change of heart and the year after that a newer teacher agreed to take on volleyball.
Thing is, coaching meant extra money. Not a lot, but some. And the principal knew nothing about volleyball, never went to the games...If my husband had really wanted to keep getting that extra pay, the principal wouldn't have thought twice about letting him keep that team, regardless of his lack of knowledge and experience. I'm sure that happens all the time with swim teams. Someone is assigned to coach almost out of desperation, the pay keeps them from wanting to shed the responsibility, inertia keeps them in the position.
Today, I would be pretty surprised if someone coaching an age group or high school soccer team hadn't played the sport as a kid, at least in/through high school. I think the situation would be similar for swimming.
It all just depends on the school and the situation in that particular moment. My husband is a teacher. Early in his career, he coached JV basketball, volleyball and wrestling. He had wrestled in high school but he'd never played either of the other two sports outside a PE class and goofing off with friends. Those aren't unusual sports by any means, but his district required that all teams be coached by faculty members, no one on the faculty with experience in those sports was interested in those coaching positions, and he was the low man on the totem pole. In other words, he was completely unqualified but also in no position to refuse when the principal told him he needed to do the job. In his case, after a year of the basketball coaching gig, a more qualified teacher had a change of heart and the year after that a newer teacher agreed to take on volleyball.
Thing is, coaching meant extra money. Not a lot, but some. And the principal knew nothing about volleyball, never went to the games...If my husband had really wanted to keep getting that extra pay, the principal wouldn't have thought twice about letting him keep that team, regardless of his lack of knowledge and experience. I'm sure that happens all the time with swim teams. Someone is assigned to coach almost out of desperation, the pay keeps them from wanting to shed the responsibility, inertia keeps them in the position.
