Believe it or not, I not only love to talk about basketball, but I also love to play it. Basketball runs in my blood. I am the third generation of the Crowns family that has both played and coached basketball, and by being surrounded by this sport all my life, I have grown to love the game more and more. However, there is one aspect about this wonderful game that aggravates me: basketball politics.
Players run their own campaigns, involving praise from coaches, a substantial amount of coverage from the press and parents who have their hands tangled up in everybody else's business. Once they make it to the college level, politics seem to lessen.
However, in those years leading up to this accomplished level, I have noticed a ridiculous amount of parental bribery and special arrangements with coaches. It seems like the players whose parents had a close relationship with the coaches got the most playing time, leading to more praise from the press. But what about the players who were just as talented but did not have parents sticking their brown noses in the coach's business? What sort of praise did they get?
It all depends on the coach. In fact, everything comes down to the coach's decisions. If the coach does not like the way a certain kid plays the game, even if all of the spectators are aware of player's talents, the end of the bench may have his/her name on it. If the parents question the coach for sitting their child, the coach could retaliate by sitting the player even more. But if the parents don't complain, then the coach will think the player is satisfied with his or her position on the team. It is a lose-lose situation at this point.
When I was in high school, my father was actually the head basketball coach of the girl's team. Nobody really could understand what it was like to play basketball in my shoes.
While all of my teammates got to go home to a coachless atmosphere, I was stuck dealing with basketball problems in the comfort of my home. I could never just leave it on the court."" It also did not help that my dad was too nice of a guy to yell at any of my female teammates, thus, most of the disappointment and frustration was taken out on me. I hated being yelled at, but it made me a stronger ball player and a better leader.
It seemed like parents of the other players always had me under a microscope, too. If I made a mistake, my punishment would be much more severe than any other player just because my father did not want to favor me in any way, and I thank him for that.
Even so, I was moved up to the varsity team my sophomore year, and instead of just worrying about impressing my older teammates, I had to impress my father and my teammates' parents. My father actually received phone calls from two of my teammates' parents, threatening him to play their daughters at the guard position instead of me, otherwise he would ""have hell to pay.""
Knowing my dad, who did not want to be linked with favoritism, he ended up making me pay the price even though I performed better than those other two girls in games and in practices. Did I know this was going on at the time? Did I know my father was being threatened by my teammates' parents? Of course not. Just try to imagine how I felt as I was earning more and more bench time while I had improved enough to be the sixth woman.
By the time my senior year rolled around, my patience had paid off. No longer were my teammates' parents criticizing my ability; they were supporting me instead. My dad learned not to listen to other parents and gave every player the court-time she deserved. Because there was no basketball politics allowed that season, our team was the most successful it had been in years. We may not have had the most talented players, but we did have the least controversy. The team was finally able to come together and support each other without our parents putting us up against each one another.
Who determines which players are good enough for universities to recruit? Politics may come into play here. Few players are able to make it to the college level on their own; kudos to those who did.
If you were ever affected by basketball politics or if you are planning a campaign of your own, e-mail Crystal at crowns@wisc.edu.
