The Educated Sports Parent
Coaching youth sports can be a very rewarding activity. You are present to observe
your team growing and learning, facing challenges, and experiencing success. But
being a coach brings with it a huge responsibility. As a coach you are also a teacher
and a role model for your athletes. You are ultimately responsible for making sure
each one of your team members has the most positive experience possible.
By the nature of the work you do, you have the opportunity to make a tremendous
impression on the lives of the youth under your direction. In fact, research has
shown that coaches impact the motivation, enthusiasm, enjoyment, and self-concept
of youth sports participants. What is even more critical to realize is that these factors
also influence long-term involvement in sports (1). Chances are you have heard
stories of a coach who, through his or her influence, has had a tremendous impact in
the life of a youth headed in the wrong direction, or maybe you even have your own
experiences of being there for a child in a precarious situation who needs advice. I
know I remember each and every one of my coaches starting with my first day at
soccer practice in elementary school through my last track practice in college. Most
of the memories are good ones, but there are also memories of a coach or two who
had good intentions but just had no business coaching. You have a decision to
make. Are you going to be the coach who leaves your team members with fond
memories for years to come, or will you be the coach about whom your former team
members say, he or she had no business coaching?
There is a huge challenge surrounding coaching in youth sports today. Most
recreational youth sports organizations rely predominantly on volunteer coaches who
have very little training for what it is they are doing. The need for coaches is so great
that youth sports organizations can ill afford to chase away interested coaches by
making them sit through intensive coaching sessions, which these busy volunteers
probably feel they do not have the time for. In addition, in my experience the
required “training” most coaches must attend is a far from adequate. There may be
the required sexual abuse workshop and the one time, two-to-three hour “training”
session, but these do not adequately prepare coaches for dealing with complex issues
such as making practice developmentally appropriate. These sessions focus more on
dealing with parents than on developmental differences among children and how to
deal with them. The sessions I have been involved in did not teach the coach how to
structure a practice to best meet the needs of the participants. And these sessions
did very little to address the “winning is everything” mentality held by too many
adults that has no place in youth sports. Motivational climate was not discussed.
Neither was any information given on how to help children re-define success and
failure, so that they are capable of seeing the small successes they make every day in
practice instead of just looking at their win-loss record to know if they have
succeeded at sports.
With the tremendous popularity of youth sports and the millions of youth
participating in them, it is imperative that we have a youth sports system that looks
after best interests of the young participants. Unfortunately, the general opinion on
coaches seems to be that “anyone can coach” (1). This is far from the truth. Youth
sports coaches must be competent and knowledgeable about child development,
motor development, biomechanics, sport psychology, coaching techniques, training
and conditioning methods, nutrition, injury prevention, first aid, and legal risk
management. Youth sports organizations have a responsibility to their paying public
to ensure that the volunteer coaches they employ are knowledgeable and capable
when it comes to dealing with children. However, too many barriers exist which seem
to be preventing organizations from requiring more formal training for their coaches
(1).
But it is not just the organization’s responsibility to ensure that a coach is adequately
trained. As a coach, you should desire to be the best possible coach you can be and
seek out opportunities to educate yourself. There are many resources aside from the
pre-season “training” session offered by your organization that exist to help give
coaches the knowledge they need to be competent in their profession. Many
organizations even offer courses via the Internet which you can complete on your
own time. Check out the resources below on this site and other. But don’t just stop
here. You can work for change in the arena of youth sports by demanding that the
organizations employing volunteer coaches provide adequate training.
Articles for Coaches from The Educated Sports Parent:
Tips for Youth Sports Coaches
Creating a Mastery Oriented Environment
When Dad (or Mom) is the Coach
Awards
Burnout
Competition
Eating Disorders
Overuse Injuries
Program Modifications
Re-Defining Winning
Youth Strength Training
Performance-Enhancing Supplements
Articles on Other Sites:
Coaches: Making Youth Sports a Positive Experience - from Penn State University
Coach Training Resources
(I make no claim about these programs. I have simply attempted to assemble a list of
useful resources for you to use at your discretion)
National Association of Sport & Physical Education - The second edition of Quality
Coaches, Quality Sports: National Standards for Sport Coaches is now available from
NASPE. According to NASPE this book "is a playbook for running a successful training
program.
US Soccer - Now available from US Soccer - Best Practices for Coaching Soccer in the
United States. This is a must read for all youth soccer coaches. You can download it
free from their website. Also available are the E certificate and D license candidate
manuals.
The American Council for Coaching
The American Council on Coaching has developed youth and advanced level
certification courses in baseball, softball, soccer, and basketball. All courses are
accredited by the American Council on Fitness Education and have been reviewed by
university coaches, physicians, educators, and physical therapists.
American Sport Education Program
ASEP offers the following online courses for coaches: Coaching Principles, Coaching
Youth Baseball, Coaching Youth Basketball, Coaching Youth Football, Coaching Youth
Soccer, Coaching Youth Softball, Coaching Youth Tennis, Coaching Youth Volleyball,
Coaching Youth Wrestling, Sport First Aid
International Council for Coaching Education
Kids Sports Network
KSN is a website for coaches and parents. The KSN offers coach training programs,
articles, and support to volunteer coaches.
Little League Coach and Manager Training
Locations of regional clinics
Little League Education Program
You can purchase the official Little League training program here.
North American Youth Sports Institute
Offers on-site presentations as well as a free online course
National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE)
NASPE offers resource material, workshops and the yearly National Coaching
Educators’ conference for coaches.
P.R.E.P.A.R.E.
Online youth sports safety course for parents and coaches from the National Athletic
Trainers’ Association
Other Coaching Resources
British Journal of Sports Medicine
Canadian Journal for Women in Coaching
Coaching Association of Canada
Coaching Youth Sports
This website offers an electronic newsletter with great information and articles for
parents, coaches and athletes. It is run by the Health and Physical Education
department of Virginia Tech.
Positive Coaching Alliance
National Youth Sports Coaches Association (NYSCA)
Offers on-site and online training programs
Youth Soccer - Help!I Volunteered to Coach . . .What do I do?
This website gives information on team management as well as what a practice
session should look like for U6 and U8 teams. It also gives sample lesson plans.
References
(1) Wiersma, L. D. & Sherman, C. P. (2005). Volunteer youth sport coaches’
perspectives of coaching education/certification and parental codes of conduct.
Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 76, 324-338.
