I have posted in various prior articles about the first coaching course I attended and the first thing that was said by the instructor. To put it into context, it was the winter after my first full season, a season where the team had won the provincial cup and gone onto finishing 4th at nationals. I was young and thought I knew so much about coaching. Right after taking attendance he said:
" The most important thing you need to know about coaching is that without athletes, there is no requirement for coaches, you are there for them, not the other way around ". This is something that I have always kept in mind and has always been an essential part of my coaching career. All my efforts are about creating the best possible environment for " the athletes". I am sure that if you were to poll my former and current athletes, you would get a range of answers about their perception of my efforts to put them first, be their for them etc. The reality is that regardless of your efforts and your best intentions, there will always be those who due to their own issues won't appreciate your efforts or even feel that you do care about their best interests. All I can say is that as coach ( and as person) all you can do is your best. Be consistent, be transparent, be honest, be respectful, make good moral decisions, and most important, only worry about those things that are within your control. That is tough enough, if you start worrying and trying to control things over which you have no influence, you will always be chasing your tail. Remember coaching isn't about personal accolades and rewards, but I must admit it does make it all worth it when you cross paths with former athletes years about you have finished coaching them and they relate to you how much they appreciated your efforts, or how much you might have helped them grow as an individual, or pretty much any kind of comment that validates everything you try to bring to your role as coach. Google search articles about the influence coaches can have on their athletes and many studies to one extent or other will indicate that coaches have more impact on the lives of young athletes than parents, teachers, peers, school, and religion. I'm a little skeptical about the this assertion in the extreme, but it is beyond dispute that coaches have a significant influence on the athletes that they coach. Coaches can be one of the most influential figures in the life of an athlete. Their influence can continue long after the season ends. This implies that coaches have a moral responsibility to have a positive influence on their players. Coaches will impact their players, and it is up to them whether this impact is for good or ill. As a coach, it is important to remember that everything that you do both on and off the playing field can be absorbed or assimilated by the minds of your players. It is very important that you consider all of the ramifications of your actions before you commit to them because your players look to you for guidance and direction. A coach is a mentor who teaches his players how to develop themselves both physically and emotional. It is important that as a coach you tell your players that you believe in their abilities to make appropriate and smart decisions. Let your team know as athletes their personal integrity and accountability is most important. It is important that as a coach, you not only lead by example, set the tone in terms of the environment you want around the team but also and maybe most importantly, have the athletes be responsible for their decisions and part in the process. This is not merely a responsibility, but also a tremendous opportunity. What determines the nature of a coach's influence on athletes? There are many factors in play, but a primary one is the character of the coach. A coach must be a person of character. They must display moral courage, compassion, humility, respect, honor, and integrity. These are demanding traits, especially when the culture in many contemporary settings is about winning at all costs and seeing opponents as enemies. In fact, one barrier to being a coach of character who develops character in her players is the overemphasis on winning. I'm a coach, and I value winning. But some coaches seem to think that sport is war and winning is all that matters. But more than winning matters: winning in the right way, respect for oneself, and honoring the game all matter as well. It's better to lose with honor than win without it. It is imperative that as a coach and mentor that you teach your players the founding principles of ethical behavior so that as they mature they understand what it means to make moral, sound decisions for themselves. It is important to teach your players the principles of making wise decisions on and off the court. When your team members are faced with tough decisions like fixing games for gambling purposes or feeling peer pressures with drugs and alcohol your support as a positive role model will help them make the right decision. As a coach, you automatically become a mentor, and must expect that you and your players will be good role models during practice, at games, tournaments, during school hours, and when out socially. Athletes are high profile individuals who are often idolized by other children and peers. It is important that your players are acting by school rules, state and federal laws, and have morally sound judgment. By expecting that your players are going to be good role models and then teaching them how to make sound decisions, you will be creating model citizens who can enter the workforce with responsible and self-sufficient attitudes. Whether you realize it or not, as a coach your influence especially at youth levels goes far beyond teaching sport ( I know, I am repeating myself but it's something that many coaches starting out often overlook) , you are molding and creating a group of people who could become the next generation of decisions makers perhaps, or at least, becoming contributing members of society and future role models themselves. You as a coach have the ability to shape and mold the self-esteem and moral compass of your athletes. Your example of good citizenship and moral fortitude can cause your team to influence their peers to behave with uprightness and ethical behavior which in turn create a more productive environment where positive things transpire. It starts with how you as a coach communicate to your athletes and how you expect for the athletes themselves to communicate together. Sports have a way of bringing together individuals who if not for their involvement in sport, may have never crossed paths. At the athletes get older and the level of competition increases, it isn't always realistic to expect team members to all be the best of friends, but it is important that they learn to work together and communicate in a manner that is conducive to success. When these same athletes enter the work force, they may find themselves having to work with, for or oversee individuals with whom they might not be friends or have the perfect fit but with whom they have in some sort, no choice but to find a way to move forward. The example you set as a coach, the expectation that you place on the athletes can be the foundation for how they handle interpersonal conflicts in the future. It is important that you and your team can communicate openly with each other and that as a coach you build trust with each of your players. We cannot expect as coaches to be perfect. While we are coaches, we are also human beings and as such are human and fallible, but in accepting the role of coach, we must accept the responsibility of developing excellence in those we teach. As someone who loves competitive sports, of course I want to win and maybe more so, hate losing, however especially as I get older, I look to some of the non-sports lessons that I hope in some small way will stick with them. When talking about accountability, commitment and character, I try to model it on and off the field. One important aspect of character is taking responsibility for our failures and doing what we can to rectify them. This will be more useful to my players in their future than any soccer-specific skill I teach them. My hope is that more coaches take the responsibility and the opportunity of seeking to be a role mode for their players. If we are intentional about this, we can make a difference that will last a lifetime.
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AuthorAfter many years of coaching at various levels and with different teams, I thought I would share some of my experiences and thoughts about coaching. Archives
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