Do you want to coach?
or
Do you want to BE a coach?
Coaching is very rewarding, which is why so many coach little league or do some lessons on the side.
Coaching can also be a career and a lifestyle for those of us that can't get enough of it.
As a coach, you're a teacher, counselor, surrogate parent, role model.
No matter the role, you are a problem solver.
A coaching staff is generally built by the head coach, but in some cases you inherit them from a previous regime.
A new coaching regime usually means for sale signs at the home of every staff member
Back in medieval times, the first order of business was to kill the remaining members of that royal family when conquering a city.
As we call it, "clean house".
Not pretty, but if I was on a staff being turned over, that was the first thing I thought, "are they coming for me next".
I actually survived a few turnovers at the pro level, but moving on is inevitbile.
Remember, there’s two kinds of coaches.
By going into coaching your exit strategy is important to consider.
Learning takes place everywhere.
I had a guy who taught in middle school and had played ball in a small college. One day, he leaned over the fence at practice and during a break said he wanted to coach.
He didn't have the experience to coach on varsity, but middle school was a place where he could start.
This is when I stated my "hang out" program.
He could get experience coaching the middle school team while observing varsity.
If you are trying to break into coaching, go to a head coach and tell them you want to learn and getting into coaching.
Offer to do the dirty work and add value wherever you can.
That’s not a sure thing, but offer to help in the middle school program or anywhere else.
This is no different than any other industry.
Working experience is priceless and has to be sought out.
Any opportunity to be an apprentice will be the catalyst to your next step.
While you are in your apprenticeship phase, you must learn learn learn.
Even after you are a master, you must learn some more.
There are more ways to learn than ever before.
Three ways to learn how to coach:
Most coaches coach the way they were coached.
That assumes you played the sport in your formative years.
Ex players are not automatically the best coaches.
It is well documented that there have been many successful coaches who didn’t play past the high school.
X’ and O’s can be learned in the “classroom' '.
You can learn anything academically.
While the game studying, be wary of trends, but know how to identify them.
Trends come and go. Experiment, but don't hop on the new shiny idea all the time.
Stay true to your personality and develop your style and brand of coaching.
This will define how you rally the troops, parents, fans or other supporters when things go south.
If you are the head coach, the buck stops with you.
Some people say that the coach gets too much blame and too much credit.
Probably true, either way, you just keep moving.
