Seven Smart Things High School Coaches Do.
Does Yours?
For the past two decades I’ve unfortunately witness too many bad decisions by high school coaches. It doesn’t matter what sport, high school coaches can make a huge difference in revolutionizing youth sports now and well into the future. High school coaches can and should play a more vital role in correcting the problems in youth sports.
First let me state that there are high school coaches who do completely get it, and are ambassadors not only for their sport, but for all sports. For the most part high school coaches would prefer to abide by the following seven leadership rules; however the public forces them to be focused on winning, and primarily nothing else. The following provides seven things high school coaches should be executing in every town nationwide, and you should be supporting.
Seven Leadership Rules for High School Coaches:
1) Sincerely encourage the development of their sport at the youth level.
- Do they provide youth coaching clinics?
- Do they help local youth leagues recruit?
- Do they make their own players available to work and communicate
with younger players? - Do they provide preferential treatment for kids at home games (special seating sections, opportunity to participate as assistant managers & honorary captains, etc.)
throughout their community.
Today, kids struggle executing basic movement and athletic skills. Agility, balance, coordination, speed, strength, and stamina are areas that are often ignored in organized youth sports or physical education programs. It’s to a high coach’s advantage to conduct general athletic development clinics for younger athletes. This prepares them to execute sport specific fundamental skills more effectively as they get older. Coaches can find a complete curriculum and program in the new book “Athletic Fitness for Kids”, available through this web site or amazon.com.
3) Support the development of the neighboring/in conference competition.
You’re only as strong as your competition. If the communities that surround you are weak it will eventually weaken the performance of your program and town. We encourage coaches to offer and share their knowledge through training, recruiting tips, etc., in order to build competitive programs around them. If you continue to play weak teams your players will not develop and will be at a significant disadvantage if they move to the next level.
4) Continually seek to improve their coaching skills.
If you’re not seeking to continue to learn you’ll not improve as a coach. The most successful coaches at any level never stop learning. During the off-season attend coaching clinics hosted by college and other high school programs, or attend college practices. New teaching techniques, technology, and equipment are constantly changing how sports are taught and played. If a high school coach doesn’t keep up-to-speed on these changes they’re cheating themselves and their athletes.
5) Play everyone.
There is no doubt that high school competition is and should be taken more seriously than organized youth sports. However, good high school coaches always find a way to engage and allow everyone on the team to participate and contribute. Just because athletic programs take place after school does not change the fact that the experience is still not an educational one, and should be inclusive. Some of the best high school coaches in this country win while allowing everyone on the team to play. Coaches that believe otherwise are either not doing their job to prepare everyone properly or they’re poor teachers of the game. Even elite coaches at the NFL level win championships by playing and finding vital roles for the entire squad. Bill Belicheck, Head Coach of the New England Patriots is famous for utilizing his entire squad in most all games.
6) Respect their opponents.
A coach that runs up the score on their competition not only hurts the reputation of their community but also destroys the possible development of the overall sport in your area. It’s the responsibility of a coach to win, but not damage the psyche of those kids that play on the other team. A good and responsible coach cares enough to want to enhance the development of the entire game not only his or her team.
7) Support all sports programs in their community and school.
Nothing creates more damage to sports programs in your community than two high school coaches from the same school that doesn’t support each other. Coaches that require athletes not to play other sports during the off-season are seriously hampering the full development of their athletes. Multiple sport athletes are often better prepared and less likely to get injured due to the variety of movement skills they learn and their continued improved fitness levels. By preventing other coaches’ access to athletes it sends the wrong message to youth coaches and parents throughout a community. Often youth programs and parents will follow the lead of high school coaches and employ the same policy at the younger levels. Why allow one coach’s selfish behavior affect the entire development of athletes throughout your community.
Engage high school coaches in your effort to improve the youth organized sports experience throughout your community. They can be an extremely powerful force in affecting change and lifting the quality of the youth sports experience to a broader group of kids. Share these seven leadership rules with your school’s athletic director, superintendant of schools, etc., and start a productive conversation to affect positive change.
Scott Lancaster, January 2008