Dos and Don'ts for Coaching Youth
20 Rules to Live By in the Coach’s Corner
Community youth sports programs are full of amateurs, volunteers and first-timers. If you're a new coach, you're in good company.
Whether new or experienced, all coaches should know the tremendous impact they have on the kids on their team.
Coaches should remember to keep the focus on the kids, says Chuck Laney, president of the Fairless Soccer Club in Navarre, Ohio.
"The fastest way to ruin children's sports is to add an adult," Laney said in an email interview April 22. "Kids will find ways to even out games in the back yard. Adults try to find ways to make it as uneven as possible."
He also tells his 24 coaches at the start of the soccer season to not underestimate what a child can learn.
"Many coaches hold kids back because they think they are not old enough or mature enough to get it," he said. "I have rarely found a case where that is true."
Here are his Dos and Don'ts for Coaching Kids:
Dos:
- Always be positive. Negative comments destroy self-esteem.
- Set a good example - for the kids as well as the parents.
- Kids stay interested by being active. They learn by practicing. Design drills that are repetitive and inclusive.
- Make it fun for everyone - including yourself.
- Ask other parents to help with snacks, carpools, equipment bags, phone trees and other team management details.
- Take the time to let each individual player know that he or she is important to the team.
- Sometimes youth leagues have developmental guidelines for different age groups. Know what you are supposed to teach.
- Understand the rules. Take time to read them!
- Be organized. Kids have a short attention span. If you're spending practice time on getting things ready, your team members will lose their focus.
- Have a routine. Use it, especially on the days that you're not organized.
Don'ts
- Never commit unless you know you will have the time and means to follow through.
- Don't yell at the ref or umpire. Kids see enough of that on TV.
- Don't yell instruction constantly from the sideline. Good players learn to think for themselves. Average players get confused.
- Don't think you can do it all yourself. Team up with someone. Have assistant coaches.
- Don't let your competitive spirit ruin a game.
- Don't judge how kids will grow up. When a player is 10-years-old, there is very little you can predict about how good that player will be at 15.
- Don't let a problem parent get you down.
- Don't forget that children have an immense ability to learn.
- Don't expect miracles. Losing seasons are just as important as winning ones.
- Don't ever forget that kids that don't have fun will not come back.
Check out Coaching Your Child's Sports Team: The Pros and Cons of Taking on Kids' Athletics
and Teaching Good Sportsmanship: How to Show Your Child Winning Isn't Everything
