10 Ways To Be A Great Youth Sports Coach
Many people think they can be a sports coach for young people but only a few are very good at it
I first became a youth sports coach I was only twelve years old. All alone with no adult supervision, there was just me, and the team.
“You were what age?”
I hear you say. And that’s fair enough.
If you were to make a double-take on that age you’d probably think that I was making a mistake regarding my age. Even though it was in just in double digits, surely it wasn’t old enough to be a coach of young people in sport.
But that’s the age it all began for me.
My brother who was seventeen years old at the time had been given the job to coach the under-10 boys’ team each Saturday morning. But because he was working on Saturdays he hadn’t the time.
That’s when I stepped in.
Every Saturday morning at 10 am I`d walk the mile or so journey with a bag of balls and cones and set up the field for the training at 11 am. There were about thirty lads on the training field by 11 am and I was the one making the calls.
From that moment until now I`m convinced that there are all different types of coaches and although many have qualifications and perhaps plenty of experience, as well as good factual knowledge of their sports in question, its other attributes that more important.
I`ll give you ten that comes to mind now and while you`re reading know that all of these are more important than sporting knowledge itself.
A sense of fairness:
When you have small children or even adolescents you must show that you are fair. In my time I’ve seen many coaches who know this and who talk the talk about being fair, but few really carry out these promises all of the time.
One example is when they promise young players who come to practice that will all play a part when game time swings around. It all seems like a big aspiration and by the first game day of the season, unfortunately, this is proved to be the case. That’s when countless numbers of coaches go against their own words from only weeks beforehand and choose players that are better than those who were consistently practicing.
A great role model:
Children and young people are very clever. They’ve had short lives but within that short life, they feel they’ve packed a lot of action in. They socialize and talk to one another as if every new day holds a brand new experience in life. But, let’s face it, it usually does.
Their natural inclination is to just jump out of the car when their mother or father drops them to practice and leg it to the field to mingle with other players. From there, the action begins.
A good coach needs to be able to command respect from children and young people before they can begin to organize the numbers of youngsters that are hyped up to get into action.
Self-discipline:
Coaching can be lonely.
And before you know it you`ll find yourself having pressures of a variety of kinds. These will result in you realizing that you must make decisions that are both fair, and fast enough to react to the speed of the drill or practice game.
This pressure can push you to snap at children or young people if they aren’t doing as you wish they would.
You need to have enough self-discipline to not just control your reactions but to be aware they are coming in the first place.
Patience:
Young people love to do things in their own time. Even though they realize that games have a certain time period in them and that there is a ‘before’ and ‘after the game’ and even a period for replacing teammates as substitutes, not being ready to pounce on the pitch can test the coach’s patience. As they are not yet fully matured, young players may not be as organized or ready to join the game when the game demands another player.
Having natural patience as a coach allows you to deal with any potential delays that a young person may put on their team.
A sense of humor:
Young people can be hilarious.
Working with them will put a smile on your face. In every group, there seems to be special characters that can inspire fun and laughter and generate that great buzz within a group.
As a coach, it’s really important to keep the sunny side out as this is the lingo that young people understand.
Observational skills:
Children go missing all of the time.
If that sounds like an alarming sentence then I`m glad it alarms you because that’s what it was meant to do. But, rest assured, if you are alarmed is a great sign that you care enough about children. This means that you could very well have an aptitude that would make you ideal to work with children who are involved in sport.
Children tend to get sidetracked easily and sometimes they wander off. Finding that child whilst keeping the others in the group safe too is a challenge that all good coaches will have met and it’s one that begins to test your organizational ability too.
Knowledge of children:
Many people simply don’t understand children. I`m not saying that you need to be an expert, but, you certainly do need to understand them in general.
Thinking back to when you were a child. Remembering this time can be a good start for coaches but relaying off that as the only understanding of children is unwise. There’s usually a big difference in your perceptions of what went on as a child in your day and how the present-day children are experiencing things.
That’s why you need empathy.
Empathy:
Having empathy is about putting yourself in the shoes of a young person. Ask yourself questions like
‘Why are they here?’,
‘What can they get from my coaching?’,
and
‘How can I help them?’
to get to understand how they truly feel.
Knowing how young people feel can allow the young sportspeople to respect you better than you would have ever expected that they would.
Communication skills:
Many people who begin coaching dismiss the power of their adult voice and the effect it can have on children and young people who play sports. If you use your voice correctly, you can not only command respect, but communicate exactly what your ideals are to not just one player, but a group of players easily.
Of course, speaking is just part of communication but it’s always best to remember you`ve got two years as well!
Understanding the competitive nature:
Many people in youth sports are on the fence about the idea of competitive action for young people. But, children and young people love to compete. It’s that simple.
Getting them kitted out in their sports uniform, lining the field, park, pitch, or arena, gets youngsters excited about the performance that is coming up.
Perhaps even more so than adults, the competition gets young people’s blood flowing.
The trick for a good coach is knowing how to manage this competitive spirit for the benefit of each player and their teammates.
Conclude to be human:
Lastly, always remember that if you are in doubt of a decision treat a child humanly and as if they are the most important person in your world at that time.
Once you do that you’ll begin to realize that they truly are even more special than the sport you both partake in together.
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