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Old Wed Sep 21, 2016, 09:52am
Tru_in_Blu Tru_in_Blu is offline
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Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Fremont, NH
Posts: 1,380
Well, I'd be happy to have someone call me "kid" nowadays.

I don't issue hard ultimatums to coaches. Things like "not another word" or "no more" can sometimes come across as a challenge to some belligerent species and they'll jump on it just thinking they're going to get the last word. (They aren't, of course, as we never lose that battle.)

Appealing to the coach that it was a scrimmage game, after all, is a good strategy. If he's that animated in a practice game, I can't imagine what he'd be like in a game that mattered.

As a precursor to ejection of a coach as a result of a debate, I'll often asked them: "Coach, is there anywhere else you'd rather be right now than coaching your team?" This usually takes a few seconds to sink in, which helps to defuse some of the emotion. The answer has always been "No." so far, at which point I'll say, "Good. Let's play ball." I've had good success with that tactic.

If conflict management or game management is what you consider to be your weakest point, you obviously have a focus to get better in that area. That's not to say go looking for opportunities to create conflict , but being more prepared in how to address issues as they come up. Clearly, getting inputs from this forum will provide you with several game management techniques.

Good luck.
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Last edited by Tru_in_Blu; Wed Sep 21, 2016 at 09:55am. Reason: sp
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