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Old Wed Nov 28, 2007, 12:02pm
Nevadaref Nevadaref is offline
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Join Date: Nov 2002
Posts: 15,003
Two additional thoughts:
1. Many kids don't respond to their number being called. "Hey, 12, blah blah blah." May just get ignored. A lot of these kids change numbers each year or aren't that focused on what number they are wearing. Some teams even have different numbers for home and away jerseys. A quick, "Kevin, calm down," or "Ok, Mike, I'll make sure to watch for that." Really connects with the kids.

2. Every coach in this area knows that I know their names. Most of the players even know it now too. They've remarked on it before games. Prior to the girls state final in soccer I heard, "It's so cool. He knows all of our names." One team thought it was fun to challenge me before a game in warmups to rattle off their names. It was worth a good laugh when I did it. I even had two girls who graduated two years ago at a local school come back for a game, see me there and come and ask me if I still knew their names. Not only did I, but I also told them what numbers they used to wear! So, I'm good at it.
What's my point?
The point is that it makes for a great contrast when I don't use their names. If I turn around and sternly say, "COACH, that's enough." The shock value is quite high and they know not to press the issue any more. Just another example of how this can be used to help control a situation.
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