As the temperature continues to drop, winter sports at are about to heat up. The new season is about to begin, and parents of student-athletes learned what they can expect, right from those that will be training, teaching, and in some cases, yelling at their kids.
'Meet the Coaches Night' was held on Nov. 16. The event is held at the start of each sports semester, where coaches from every sport stop by to chat with parents, and answer any questions they may have.
"It's geared toward the parents, gives them an opportunity to meet the coaches, have the coaches explain their expectations...and mainly provide information for them, so going forward they know what's going on," says Athletic Director Kevin Regan.
Regan addressed the parents first, reminding them about the various rules and procedures set forth by Section 8, which governs high school sports in Nassau County. This includes the proper code of conduct when attending events. Regan also ran down some of the events the school will be organizing this semester, such as hosting a varsity cheerleading competition with Clarke on Dec.11, and the East Meadow Wrestling Tournament, scheduled for Dec.28.
After Regan's address, coaches broke off into their own groups, to speak with players' parents, and talk about their own expectations as the season kicks off.
"Parents need to understand what the commitment is," Varsity Basketball Coach Barry Dixon said. "With schoolwork, there is time to do both, but there is a big commitment...six days a week, two hours a day."
One of the main concerns parents have involves playing time. Bottom line, coaches say, when it comes to high school sports, not everyone is created equal.
"We talk about how not every player is going to get to play. They all know that coming into the season...it's not little league anymore," Dixon says.
Girls track coach Steve Josepher says he faces a wide array of questions from inquisitive parents.
"They want to know how long the meets are, there's school nights, they want to get a sense of the coaches, that we are going to be caring about their daughters," he says.
Girls basketball coach Bethany LeSueur is entering her second season with the Lady Jets. She says the night is an opportunity for athletes, parents and coaches to all get on the same page when it comes to studying, time management and competing. It's the latter that LeSuer is most looking forward to.
"You miss driving to the game on the bus, coming here and getting ready," LeSuer said. "As a former athlete and now coach you never lose that, you get excited about games and competition."
Regan says the East Meadow program is strong, and feels its teams will continue to succeed, both on the field (or court), and in the way they conduct themselves outside the athletic arena.
"We have only positive things going on here. We want to keep that rolling," Regan said. "Hopefully it leads to some championships, that's the goal, but doing it the right way is very important as well."
