Keep on Coaching
February 1, 2013
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
A few weeks ago, I finally got my first chance this season to watch a friend coach his basketball team. After guiding some others at the lower levels, this is his first time running the varsity – something he wasn't sure he wanted to do with a 1-year-old just learning to walk, but a challenge he ended up taking on to the benefit of all those involved.
Simply put, he’s good. I've seen a lot of teams and a lot of coaches over the past 15 years, and although I wouldn't know much of what to do if I were walking the sideline, I felt pretty qualified in telling him I was impressed – even if he didn't buy that I was offering an unbiased opinion. The best news is he’s gone from not sure about this a few months ago to talking about next season.
We know, at least anecdotally, that coaching continues to get more challenging. The time commitment has grown substantially to make running a program a year-round endeavor in a lot of sports at a lot of schools.
That commitment – especially for coaches with children of their own – was a main reason referred to in a New Haven Post-Chronicle story Saturday that noted 23 football coaching openings in Connecticut at one point this offseason. That state has 146 football teams – meaning roughly 15 percent will have new leaders this fall.
And that got me thinking about my friend, about how glad I am he’s given this a shot, and how I've seen so many others either not do so, or not stick around long despite having some pretty nice success.
A study published last winter in Interscholastic Athletic Administration magazine – a product of the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association – noted some predictable results of a study that sought to determine the biggest challenges faced by first-year high school coaches.
The toughest according to the study was balancing the demands of coaching and teaching, experienced by nearly half the respondents – 98 percent of which coached high school teams and 81 percent of which are teachers.
The next six reasons all were noted by at least 30 percent of those in the study – personal fatigue, securing community support, securing and caring for facilities and equipment, parental contact, keeping non-starting players motivated, dealing with schedule interruptions and motivating athletes to achieve consistent, peak performance.
Nothing there is earth-shaking, and most if not all of these challenges are faced by high school coaches regardless of how long they've been in the field. But I got a little more perspective from some of the 32 items that ranked as least challenging to the first-year leaders – keeping in compliance with state and league regulations, dealing with substance abuse issues, teaching sport skills and creating a positive team atmosphere – things that seem most important, and yet appear to be easiest to do. I’m not sure what that tells us – but I think it tells us something.
Click to check out the entire three-page breakdown of the study, plus the researchers’ recommendations to remedy some of what first-year coaches face.
Giving back to Saginaw
I love reading about high-level athletes – like a star-studded group of alums from Saginaw – giving back to where they got their starts.
Pittsburgh Steelers star LaMarr Woodley made a big impact before the start of this school year by donating $60,000 to cover all participation fees for athletes in his former school district. The Saginaw News’ Hugh Bernreuter writes today about how Woodley (Saginaw High), the Philadelphia 76ers’ Jason Richardson (Saginaw Arthur Hill) and former Oakland Raiders standout Stu Schweigert (Saginaw Heritage) have combined to give more than $865,000 back to their home communities.
Bernreuter also mentions the non-monetary contributions of the Golden State Warriors’ Draymond Green (Saginaw High) and former Indianapolis Colts receiver Blair White (Saginaw Nouvel).
Click to read more about it.
Quote(s) of the Week
While rifling through more papers on my desk, I found an article from the Washington Post from Sept. 2011 titled “How high school sports save our schools.” I was drawn to it in part because I spent more than a decade in a newsroom, and it was a piece by a reporter covering education who instead of reporting on school boards and the like, delved into the importance of interscholastic athletics to education as a whole.
He spoke of how participation continues to grow even as resources dwindle, and of data supporting that extracurriculars like sports are more effective than academic classes in teaching leadership, teamwork, time management and “other skills crucial for success in the workplace.” Later, he mentioned a study noting that those who participate in extracurriculars earned more a decade later.
Click here to read the entre piece. These passages struck me most.
“Coaches might be the only faculty members still allowed by our culture and educational practice to get tough with students not making the proper effort. They have the advantage of teaching what are essentially elective non-credit courses. They can insist on standards of behavior that classroom teachers often cannot enforce because the stakes of dismissing or letting students drop their courses are too high. …
“Students do better in activities they choose. If we provide more of them, led by committed adults … that can make a difference. We know the bad news about education. Dropout rates are high. Achievement scores are stagnant. But sports participation is going up, despite pressure to cut it back. Let’s cheer about that and look for a way to draw in more students.”
Soccer Dream Coming True for Suttons Bay's U'Ren Sisters, Coach Dad
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
April 21, 2023
Dreams came true for at least one Northern Michigan soccer mom when the spring season got underway.
It was really more of a plan. But it’s quickly becoming more a nightmare for some of Suttons Bay’s opponents.
The dream part belongs to Sarah U’Ren, who gets to watch her daughters, senior Dani and freshman Megan, play on the same high school pitch. The sisters are wreaking havoc on their opponents already.
Both U’Ren girls are already on the scoreboard this young season. Dani, a center back, has one goal. Megan, who plays center mid and striker for the Norse, has five goals despite sitting out a game due to injury.
The plan component may belong pretty much to their coach Randy U’Ren. He took over the girls program just before the 2020 season lost to COVID-19 in anticipation of coaching his daughters. He returned to coaching high school after successful six-year run at the helm of the Suttons Bay boys program. Under U’Ren, the Norsemen played deep into the postseason regularly, reaching MHSAA Semifinals twice.
The Suttons Bay boys team compiled a 102-29-12 record with U’Ren coaching. When he stepped down after the 2011 season ended with a loss in the Regional, U’Ren began dreaming of a potential day his girls played soccer together at Suttons Bay and he was the coach.
“Ever since both girls started playing and enjoying soccer around 5 years old, we thought how fun it would be for them to have one season together on the same team,” the coach recalled. “As my girls kept playing, I stepped down from the boys to coach their youth and travel teams.
“But they were too far apart in age to be on the same team,” he continued. “And when the girls job opens up, I knew it was the perfect time for me to step in.”
U’Ren notes it really wasn’t a plan though.
“It was still a distant vision of coaching them both at the same time, and now that is here, I am so happy it all worked out,” he continued. “I feel so fortunate that one of the things they love and are excelling at is the same thing I have loved as a player, fan and coach.”
The sisters are thrilled to have their father as a coach and pleased to be playing together. Over the years, they say, their dad has brought out the best in them.
“I have had my dad as a coach for many years, and I think he has pushed me at home and at practice to be the best athlete I can be and to go above and beyond what most players do,” said Dani. “He has always been my favorite coach, and I had been waiting to play with my sister on the same team.
“Having my dad coach these past few years was very fun for me, but I am so excited to be able to have my last year with my sister playing too,” Dani continued. “The best part is having my sister to hang out with and play against; she always pushes me to be better.”
This season was in sight for quite some time for Megan, the high-scoring freshman. She’s planning to make the best of the only year she’ll have this situation.
“We have been thinking about this one season for a very long time, and I love playing on the same team with my sister because I can look up to her as a leader on the team and in my life,” Megan said. “The best part for me is that it’s super fun listening, and learning, to all of the strategy at home, practices, and games.”
Dani agreed.
“We have the same ideas about the game, we can bounce ideas off of each other and if he is explaining something new I usually get it right away,” she said.
Coach U’Ren’s belief the team will benefit from having sisters playing together stems from what he saw in his playing and previous coaching experience. Brothers and sisters tend to have each others’ backs, including back when his younger brother Ryan played with him at Alma.
This year’s Norse teams have another pair of sisters, Sophia and Clarice Bardenhagen.
“The sibling bond has always been strong,” the veteran coach pointed out. “A lot of times they just know what the other will do before anyone else — I've seen that same thing with every set of siblings I've coached.”
U’Ren admitted he tends to be harder on his own girls and reminds himself regularly to switch back to “Dad” mode from time to time.
“Coaching your own girls is a fun challenge,” he said. “I try to treat them like I do all the other girls.
“I often have to remind myself to coach them as if they weren't my girls,” he continued. “The other thing is to really try to switch back to ‘Dad’ mode after practices and games.”
U’Ren has hopes of returning Suttons Bay to prominence in league and postseason play. The Norse have won few postseason games since the coaching days of Ryan Defoe and Leland starting its own girls program. Leland had been in a co-op with Suttons Bay.
Today, Suttons Bay has a co-op with Northport and Leelanau St. Mary’s that has been in place since 2015.
The Norseman are preparing to take on Buckley this evening and have high hopes of evening their record at 3-3-1.
“As with any season, we want to improve each week,” Coach U’Ren said. “If we do that, the results start to speak for themselves.”
The U’Ren sisters believes the team enjoys playing with them and for their dad.
“The team loves it,” said Dani. “They always tease us and sometimes get our names mixed, but they love it.”
Megan summed it up.
“The team thinks it’s really cool,” she said.
Coach U’Ren, though, is trying to keep a perspective that goes beyond soccer and winning.
“I will always cherish just being able to spend more time with Dani and Megan,” he said. “Kids are so busy, and time just flies.
“Having these couple extra hours together each day is priceless.”
Tom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Dani (15) and Megan (10) U’Ren have grown up in Suttons Bay soccer and now play for their father, coach Randy U’Ren. (Middle) Dani and Megan U’Ren defend against Kingsley and Moira Martz (8). (Below) Randy U’Ren organizes his team during a game this spring. (Photos by Ron Kramer; except family photo courtesy of the U’Ren family.)