First it was captains. Someone needed to organize rides and collect money
Then it was player coaches. You can't expect them to sit on the sidelines all weekend
Then it was youth and college coaches. So much to teach.
Now..
Coaches for club teams.
It's a trend that's growing. First it was the injured player, the boyfriend of the female star captain, or the retired star. These people were really managers in leaders clothing. Now we're actually seeing strategic people being brought in with a background in player development and/or real world leadership experience.
"Flanders"! (Source: Wikipedia)
I've played for a good coach for several years, and although I have never been a favorite (probably for good reason) I think my team and myself are much better for it. Having a coach has many advantages and perhaps disadvantages:
Pros
- One voice
- Knowledge from a good coach can make a greater difference on ultimate teams (given the sport and the level of play/expertise) than more mature sports. For example, the expertise of a great mlb baseball manager can affect his team by +- 5-10 games. I hypothesize ultimate teams can get much more improvement.
- Organized practices
- Sober second though during games from someone not in the state of physical exhaustion
- Someone who has no bias to play time
- Coaches can last longer than players.. so it adds continuity to a team/program
- Good coaches are hard to find
- Good leaders are even more scarce in every walk of life
- Athletes have a very tough time figuring out what kind of coach they need, as opposed to what they want
- Coaches are rarely appreciated or safe in volunteer positions from politics and conventional wisdom
- Coach?
- Player Coach?
- Player Captain(s)?
- Captain(s)?
- Other?
