Millennial Interviews

Evan Merryweather:

Evan Merriweather stated that he was more in control of taking himself out of the game when he did miss games. In my opinion, I believe that generations Xers have their own entitlement when it comes to their bodies as it pertains to what they can and can't do. I believe that legality also plays a role in some coaches peer pressuring their players to continue if they are injured. He also stated that he was lucky enough not to encounter any peer pressure by coaches or players to play through his injury and put himself back into a game. A quote from ‘How to crush a culture of entitlement’ states that “Entitled people often live in a bubble where they think the world should cater to them and what they have is never good enough.” (Janssens) This quote surely doesn't answer our question completely, but  I suppose that he probably never felt the pressure because he knew he legally could sit out if he chose to do so. This bubble I stated can also cause the player to not know that they are they have privileges and perks that will fog their minds to think that it is a "me" sport and not a "we" sport. My follow up question was has he ever had a concussion in a game? He replied that he had one before during a game, but was immediately taken out and not let back into the game. In conclusion, I think coaches aren't as hard on players because of the advances of culture in society. Coaches know legally that they will be held liable for any harsh or severe treatment they use on their players, so they loosen the reigns.

Jakori Pruitt: 

I asked him questions completely different from the questions I asked my first interviewees. My first question was have you ever had a coach that didn't agree with him? He replied that his coaches were really good and relatable, but there were some coaches that he did not get along with. For my follow up question I asked him what he was that did if he didn't get along with a coach did age play a factor in the relationship? He replied to my question with an answer that correlated with my thesis. He stated that “his head coach was an older man (60s) that really didn't mess with the team at all, that he was more of a figurehead”. I asked him lastly why you think you didn't have a good relationship. His final statement was that “he got along with his position coaches who were younger”. He told me that the ages of the position coaches were mostly around the same ages 25-35 and the assistant head coach and head coach were in their 50s. This analysis brings me to believe that there might be a generational gap that may hinder a relationship between coach and player, but there was still more research to be done.