Who Assumed Jeremy Lin Couldn’t Play?

The question here is not where did Lin come from; the bigger picture is why the coaches didn't see him when he was there?

Where did Jeremy Lin come from? Where has he been? Why now? What overnight magic dust wafted through the THICK NYC air that transformed a marginal bench sitter into a headliner? The question here is not where did Lin come from; the bigger picture is why the coaches didn't see him when he was there? Being an Asian Ivy Leaguer, some have said Lin suffered from cultural and race bias. Could the NBA really take a Harvard grad seriously? But, Jeremy Lin didn't just get good; his combined early stats indicated he was always good.

But this is not about the NBA

I know few if any people who care about what happens in the NBA.  Professional basketball is a culture somewhere between a hip hop video and roller derby in slooow moootion. It's a great spectator sport, especially for those who dare to say they play defense. 

The Lin saga has only reminded me about fairness and propensity for assuming lack of talent in our role as coaches.

The biggest challenge in coaching amateur sports is fairness. Please consider this situation that you may have encountered in the past. Each year many parents come into our Academy and relate a story similar to this:

"My son wanted to pitch but the coach would never let him. The team never had pitching practice so the coach never saw how he pitched. Oh yes - the coaches’ sons were the main pitchers. We didn't win many games; our pitchers were not very good. In mid season one of the starting pitchers hurt his arm and another went out of town. My son had to pitch. I was worried because he did not have any training and had not experienced game situations. But you know he did remarkably well! Now he IS a starter. "

As high school and recreational teams hit the fields this season fairness and development should be high priorities. While collegiate and professional sports are highly competitive and revolve around image and money, amateur sports are developmental and process oriented. As such their programs should be inclusive not exclusive. That does not mean we should minimize competition. We should increase opportunity and continuously work to place players at realistic and appropriate competitive levels.

We should not in any way loose the need to appreciate competition and the desire to win. After all, that’s why we keep score! Losing is not fun either. We need to recognize and balance this effort with a responsibility to teach. Our role in developing athletes is much more than organizing teams, running tryouts, creating a game schedule and filling out a starting lineup. 

Building individual relationships, discovering hidden skills and desires on the team, is the sign of a great coach. Assuming a lack of talent or skill in a developing child is something we all should guard against. Who knows we might pass up a Lin-sation.

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