Adam Anderson

High school coaches: Paid more than ever. Collecting camp money. Adding a percentage of that pay to their pension - in Illinois. More technology than ever to do their jobs and in most cases, a bigger budget to do things than decades of past. The result: More lazy high school coaches than ever. It’s something I hear consistently from their peers, parents, school leaders and I’ve seen it first hand. They play games with postseason seeding, literally screwing innocent kids. Years ago, high school coaches were volunteers, community leaders - yes leaders off the field - and then smaller stipends started to appear. High school coaches will nail club coaches or trainers saying it’s a business. I don’t see high school coaches doing it for free. In fact, I see high school coaches looking at ways to do things in the offseason. You can’t have it both ways. I also see high school coaches gaming the system as they near retirement, coaching lower levels of some sports they have no business coaching just to collect a check and pad that pension. You can’t have it both ways. I’ve been in and around high schools now nearing my fifth different decade, covering and working with school leaders locally in Illinois and nationally. Just as I say with parents, there are great coaches and there are bad ones. And trust me, you know the great coaches right away. You do - everyone knows this. But in the end, the adults in and around youth and high school sports are the problem. It’s not the kids. High schools need to figure out how to enhance or clean house. I’d rather have an adult who actually cares and knows nothing about the sport than one literally using kids to pad their personal gain. #MoreThanJUSTGames #IHSA