Cordre Hunter

3/5/16
Dr. Buchanan
Paper 1

What is a good coach? A good mentor or coach is someone who: 1. Leads by

example. 2. Has seasoned experience in your field and willing to share skills,

knowledge and expertise.

For my Paper I chose to interview two coaches from the Athens area of Georgia.

These are two coaches that i have watched coach for most of my life. They are a big

reason to why I also want to be a coach soon.

The first coach that I interviewed was Dr. Veronica Hunter. Dr. Hunter was a girls

basketball coach at Madison County High School, where she also served as the first

African American person to serve as Vice Principal. She started her coaching career in

1992 and held the position until she resigned in 2005. When asked what were her

influences to get into coaching listed out a couple of things. I loved the game of

basketball for as long as I can remember. It has always been in my life and after my

playing days were over I could leave it behind. In working with athletes, the coach

must simultaneously be able to return a long-term perspective in planning for a season,

and make immediate decisions on the training ground and in the heat of the game.in

addition, the coach is held accountable not only for the performance of the team and the

individual athletes, but also for the well-being of the team member.(Hardman and

Jones pg.46) She also talked about her former coaches being huge influences for her.

She talked about how they were more than coaches to the players. They were like

second parents to ALL of us. No one was treated different. Everyone that had

something to do with the team were expected to act like respectable adults. If not they
would be punished. She said that really helped mold her ethically in coaching. I treat

my players like they were my own children, so I expect them to act respectable outside

of the court, and expected nothing less of them.

What moral/ethical issues did you face early in your career? Dr. Hunters answer

to this question was dealing with early racial issues at the beginning of her coaching

tenured in Madison County. Madison County Ga is a small county on the border of

Athens. It is a mostly white town, that once had high racial tensions. Dr. Hunter recalled

stories of parents refusing to let their child play for a black coach. Coach Hunter said

she ended the tension in her program by ordering players to bond together in team

activities. I made them do everything together. I forced them to be friends and it

ultimately made them sisters in the end.

What moral/ethical issues did you face towards the end of your career? The

hardest period of coaching for me was coaching my daughters. A lot of parents coach

their kids in the beginning as the child enters youth sports and competition. The problem

is that this is a very difficult dual role to pull off. One important role of a coach is to push

a child outside of his comfort zone, and to criticize, to provide helpful feedback on what

needs to improve. The problem is that this role directly conflicts with a parent's primary

role which is to love your child unconditionally. Coaching your own child is always a

tough task perform. Dr. Hunter said that in her heart she wanted to have her child on the

court at all times, but as a coach she knew that she had to make decisions that would

most benefit the team. It was extremely hard to watch her not play early in her career

with me, because as a parent we all want our child to be the star. But after many heart
to heart conversations with them, they understood that I had to do what was best for

the team.

How do you decide what to do when you are faced with ethical issues? Dr.

Hunter stated that when she is faced with an ethical issue she first pray. God is always

the answer. Dr. Hunter was raised in a very religious household. She has been involved

in the church since she was a child. After praying, Dr. Hunter said that she like to

consult her solution with her coaches. Then she asks herself what would my mother

do.

The second coach that I chose to interview is Coach Cory Hunter. Cory has been

coaching basketball for twelve years and is currently an assistant varsity basketball

coach in Macon Georgia.Coach Hunter started his career off as a middle school

basketball coach in a small town in Georgia. He quickly earned the head varsity

coaching job where he created a program in a school where basketball was never

funded. He created a solid foundation and helped many students make it to college.

What influenced you to get into coaching. I always had a love for the game, but

when I got injured in college I felt empty inside, and coaching filled that hole. Coach

Hunter was a basketball standout at Worth County High school where he earned a

scholarship to play at Fort Valley State University, but he unfortunately injured his foot

and unable to play in a single game. It was really hard to deal with at first. I lost my first

love just like that. My career was over. But by his sophomore year, Corey had earned

an internship under his former head coach. I love working with kids. There is no better

feeling than seeing how my former players/students grow from children to respectable

adults.
 What moral/ethical issues did you face early in your career? The view of sport

as a form of embodied intelligence can go some way to breaking down unjust

stereotypes, such as athletes being all brawn and no brain.(Hardman & Jones pg.104)

Most of the players that played for Coach Hunter had never played organized

basketball before, so it was up to him to build a love for the fundamentals not only the

school but the community. Throughout his career Coach Hunter helped create the first

recreation youth league in the county. It starts with the youth. If you teach them the

fundamentals early in their childhood, so they can reach their full potential later in their

career.

Another major issue that Coach Hunter mentioned in the interview was when he

coached girls varsity basketball at Greene County High School. It was a interesting

experience.Males coaching females is always a sensitive subject, but it teaches you so

much about actually coaching instead of yelling or cursing. While the psychological

impact of such relationships has not been well studied in the educational setting,

impacts within the therapy relationship have been documented that explain that clients

eventually come to see such relationships as breaches of trust and professional

responsibility, and that such breaches of trust may lead to impaired sexual relationships

in the future, a distrust of therapists, psychotherapy, and members of the opposite sex

generally, severe depression, hospitalization and suicide, and feelings of anger,

rejection and abandonment(Shopland and VandeCreek 1991; Greenberg 1983, cited in

Vasquez 1991.)While having this discussion I asked Coach Hunter how did he feel

about consensual sexual relationships between parties with different parties. He

responded that he felt like that is never acceptable. I see my players like my children. It

just seems wrong to me.

How do you decide what to do when you are faced with an ethical issue? Coach

Hunter said he likes to call his parents when is forced with a problem. They have

always been there for me and I just feel better when I know they're behind me.

Works Cited Page

Hardman, A., & Jones, C. (2011). The ethics of sports coaching.

London: Routledge. Pg. 45,46
COACHING YOUR OWN KID. (2015, August 17). Retrieved March
05, 2017, from https://www.competitivedge.com/coaching-your-own-
kid
Hardman, A., & Jones, C. (2011). The ethics of sports coaching.
London: Routledge. Pg. 105
Hardman, A., & Jones, C. (2011). The ethics of sports coaching.
London: Routledge. Pg. 123