Jerk coach or me making a big deal?

Quote from kid, quote from coach, rinse, repeat, right? It's the standard formula for profiles.

 

Here's the rub ... you need to at least talk to the coach about the kid, if only to make sure the kid isn't a bad element. (Yes, I know how old that phrase makes me sound.) If the player is a prima donna, or gets into trouble, or whatever, you ought to know that going in.

Yes, you can find out some of that by talking to others -- teammates, teachers, parents, etc. -- but the fair thing to do is to talk to the person who oversees what the kid does, as far as the reason you're writing about him. Of course, you can also do that after you've interviewed everybody else. But be prepared to re-interview people -- or scrap the feature entirely -- if the coach tells you something you didn't know.

No, you don't need the coach's comments to write a feature, but it's a big, gaping hole if you're writing about the kid's athletic performance and you don't have the coach's perspective. You also should think long and hard about a line that says the coach declined to talk about the player -- it's a knife that cuts several ways. Depending how it's written, it could lead the reader to believe the kid's demeanor is suspect, or it could lead the reader to believe the coach is just a prick.

(If you're taking a different approach -- talking about the kid's personal life, with just a sprinkling of sports -- then you're probably OK without the coach.)

Restating my original assertion: Don't ask a coach for permission to interview a player. It makes it too easy for the coach to say "no" for any capricious reason.

 

"No, I'm not doing those, man," coach Fargin' Ice Hole said.

 

I think the idea that these profiles are only read my relatives is misguided. My local suppliment paper does something similiar and I know I read them even if I don't know thekid.

Just sayin

 

Been a garbage month for me all around, and this made me laugh hard for the first time in awhile. Thanks.

 

Illino didn't ask permission to talk to the coach for the article, he asked to talk to the player after practice. So the coach, in effect, is shutting down access to his players.

I would call or email the coach and say that these stories are meant to put seniors in a positive light and that you want to include his school as part of the rotation because the goal is to spread the stories around the schools you cover.

He may say OK, or that he doesn't want kids getting a big head or suggest you talk to all of the seniors. I've heard it all.

But that is the next move I would make.

If the coach doesn't want you to talk to a particular player for a story like this, I would ask if he can suggest someone else. He knows background you don't.

If he won't cooperate, it's up to you how far you want to push it and how deserving the kid is. You can obviously do a story without him.

I have had parents who have said they didn't want these types of stories done. Never understood why.

I assumed that the coach "suggested" to them it might take Little Jimmy's focus off the state Steeplechase finals but it has happened even when the coach was real eager. Maybe the family was in witness protection. Who knows?

 

I realize that at some places -- especially small communities -- the "senior feature" may be a tradition, or whatever, but to me in smacks of bush league. No offense intended. I'm not saying you are bush league, I'm saying that's the vibe these stories give off. If they're well-received, I guess that's good, but you said you've done 40 of them? Eh ... loses its luster after a while, I think. And I have to imagine these things become formulaic and boring for you to write after a while.

So aside from your troubles with the coach -- which I agree is a frustrating pain in the ass -- I'd say think about other types of stories you can do to fill space rather than relying on these. Go for other types of features. Do notebooks. Do second-day stories from every game you cover ... come out of every game with a straight gamer and a second story of some kind. I think these would be far more interesting than blowing sunshine at kids just because they're seniors.

As far as dealing with the coach, there's good advice in this thread. But there's no way to deal with some people. They've been burned by some other media person, or they don't want to shine light on certain kids, or they're more interested in getting coverage from some other outlet and your place is not their primary concern. Could be a lot of things. Try a different tact with a different type of story and see what happens.

 

My town's paper did a senior feature on a basketball player my senior year. He was a starter on our very good team, in addition to being a big part of the state cross-country champions and a two-year starter in baseball. He also got named student of the month that month. Great kid, great kid.

Turns out he had also been busted for a felony a couple of weeks earlier when he dropped his hall pass, with his name on it, in a home he was burglarizing during school hours. He was a juvenile so it didn't make the public record.

I don't know if there's something the coach knows that you don't, but it's worth pondering.

 

It was great writing a senior feature on a kid whose parents and older brother were crooks.

 

Or Thanksgiving profile on a kid who got in a fight the day before the game and was a DNP-Suspended.

 

Ignore this advice. I assume you're not after some hard-hitting angle of whether this kid was involved in points shaving or recruiting violations. You're looking for a nice feature about a good high school athlete in the community. Letting the coach steal the spotlight takes away from the story and seems nothing more than vindictive.

We're not here to teach that asshole a lesson. We're here to serve the community.

 

There's an element on this board that likes to pretend that the Podunk Press is the Big City Daily. There's nothing wrong with being the Podunk Press. The fact is, I'm guessing ifilus is more than a little overworked and the "Senior Spotlight" has become a simple way to fill a story spot once a week with something people around the community like to read. As long as you're reporting honestly and not sugar coating the story of some asshat or problem child, I think it's a good way to serve the community with a reliable feature. You want to maintain your integrity, but you also want to serve the community. Spotlighting worthy seniors is a good way to do that.

Continuity is as important as spontaneity in this industry. Readers wanted to be surprised with a great story or package, but they also want to feel the can count on your paper for things. A "Senior Spotlight" provides that continuity. If you're at Big City Daily, then maybe it's not the best use of space. If high school sports are your bread and butter, this is a nice feature that allows you to connect with readers.