How to be a Good Youth Sports Coach

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Youth sports organizations are always looking for volunteer coaches, and you may be asked to coach when you sign your child up for a team. Even if you’re not asked by the organization, your sports-loving child may ask you to coach him or her — and what parent can resist that?
The thing that strikes terror in the hearts of many parents, however, is being asked to coach a team when they have no experience in that sport. “But I never played!” is not a valid excuse, however. Soccer was virtually nonexistent as a youth sport in the U.S. until 20 years ago, so there are thousands of parents coaching soccer teams right now who never kicked a soccer ball as a child.
What do you do if you’re asked to coach a sport that you never played?
. Learn the sport. Most youth sports organizations can get you started with coaching clinics, where you can learn the rudiments of the sport. There are also DVDs you can buy or rent, books, Web sites where you can learn the fundamentals of the sport, and online videos. If you do your homework, it won’t take long to get a basic understanding of the rules and strategy for any sport.
. Get organized. There are a lot of administrative details involved in running a team. On some teams the coach is responsible for: putting together a list of parents’ phone numbers and email addresses, a practice schedule, a game schedule, information about team pictures, uniforms. It helps if you can delegate these to another parent, but if not, you’ll need to stay on top of them in order to have a smooth running team.
. Learn how to run a practice. Practices are important, because that’s when you do the teaching and drills that pay off during the games. You’ll need to make up a schedule for each practice and stick to it. This is especially important for teams with small children, because their attention span is short. If you don’t have control, your practices could degenerate into chaos very easily.
. Teach the right values. In our winning-is-everything culture children often learn the wrong lessons from watching sports on TV. Small children will sometimes taunt their opponents or gloat when they’ve won a game. It’s your job to teach them the right values: respect for their opponents, honesty, team play, giving their best, and sportsmanship.
. Have fun. Always remember that ultimately this is a game, and the children should have fun playing it. Try to foster an attitude of fun, of enjoyment of the sport for its own sake. Children are very sensitive to the attitudes of adults, and they will mimic them. Be relaxed when you’re on the playing field; there is no reason to get upset about anything that happens. Your goal should not be winning or losing; it should be making sure that every child has fun, and learns the value of playing as part of a team.
And that’s the way to have a successful coaching career in youth sports!