Perspective Youth Coaches

“Coaching youth sports is about teaching children competition, sportsmanship, education and discipline.”  (Holtzclaw)  This is how Charlie led off the Youth Coaches Banquet.  These are the fundamentals of coaching youth sports.  Most people who are not already involved in youth sports would think the fundamentals would be teaching the fundamentals of the sport.      

 
 

 

 “The job of a youth coach is to teach the children how to win and lose gracefully.” (Ware)  The children are naturally competitive with winning being their ultimate goal.  The problem with this is, when they don’t win they broken spirits.  One aspect of being the coach is teaching them how to accept losing when the outcome is evident.  Another very important aspect of coaching is teaching them how to win gracefully.  It’s natural for kids to win and gloat.  Coaching is teaching them how to enjoy winning while being respectful.  Coach Ware talked about his four principles of coaching which are, “commitment, compassion, perseverance and leadership" as very important keys to being a successful youth coach.    I share these beliefs, so if you are interested in coaching you may want to think about what it takes.  You will have to be committed; this was shared by all of the speakers.  Not committed to the sport but committed to the participants.  These days most of the players are coming from single parent homes which place the value of the coach very high in their eyes.  Most of their fatherly discipline will be taught on the athletic field.  “In my opinion, between 90% and 95% of the players are in need of a discipline structure in their life.” (Ware)  Over the several years that I have coached, I have had parents, guardians, and teachers tell me that a player on my team made great improvements in their attitudes, school and discipline during the season.   The reports are the player actions before and after the season is subpar compared to what they see during the season.

   

 

 

 

 

A perspective coach must have compassion not only for the sport but for teaching the youth also.  The coach must be able to express a caring feeling to the children.  “The children don’t care about how much you know, but they will know how much you care.” (Fisher)   The coach is tasked with showing the kindness to help the child understand the basics of the game but more importantly the coach shows each child how to work, understand and respect each other.

   

 

 

 

 

 

When a coach is dealing with a child that has a problem, the coaches much show perseverance.  You can’t start to help then just stop.  You have to stay on task, whether it is with the sport, school or social behavior.  One of the worst things you can do is to tell a child to do or not to do something then lack to help them stay on task with your instruction.  If you give up on them, they will give up on you and themselves.

The coach must show leadership.  This is a very important key to the success of the child on and off the field.  Most children strive to imitate the people they view as leaders in their life.  Show them how to be responsible.  Teach them how to achieve goals. One thing that will stick with them the rest of their lives is how you carry yourself and conduct business in front of them.  “The worst part about coaching is dealing with the parents.” (Hopper)  You will have unhappy parents confront you in front of the children.  How you handle the situation will burn into the mind of the children.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Youth coaches play a bigger role in the lives of their players than most people could ever imagine.  Teach them sportsmanship and techniques are one thing but when you have coached for a while and come across some of your former players five or 10 years later……and the still address you as “Coach”, then you will realize that you have been an influence to the past their football lives.  As Ware says, “As a coach, you have to influence them beyond the game.” (Ware)  One thing to remember as a youth coach, you are not dealing with professionals who are required to win.  You are not dealing with college kids who are expected to win due to their scholarships.  You are dealing with children who wants to win, but winning is just a bi-product of what you do.  You will find that winning is not all that important to most of them.  They are looking for someone to give them some kind of structure.  In some cases, they are looking for a role model or disciplinarian.  Your greatest reward will not come from winning championships.  You will feel accomplished when that child runs to you with their report card, or when they thank you for helping them through a social situation.  Even when they are teenagers or young adults they thank you for things.  This is the reward for being a youth coach.

For more information you should research the website for Youth Football Coaches Association (YFBCA).   This association is a great resource for training, rules and regulations and other information.  You can also find leagues and organizations that operate in your area.  The website provides links to the Pop Warner and American Youth Football associations.  If you are interested in other sports you can go to the Amateur Athletics Union website (AAU).  For information in the Shelby area clink this link.  Doug Hull (Hull, Youth Football Coaches)

 

 

Works Cited

Fisher, David. "Recreation Programs Manager." Youth Coaches Banquet. Shelby, 2013.

Holtzclaw, Charlie. "Parks and Recreation Director." Youth Coaches Banquet. Shelby, n.d.

Hopper, Barry. Youth Football Coach of the Year Tony Whisnant. 25 03 2013.

Hull, Doug. Athletic Program Supervisor Tony Whisnant. 25 03 2013.

Hull, Doug. Youth Football Coaches Tony Whisnant. 25 03 2013.

Ware, Lance. "Shelby High Football Coach and Athletic Director." Youth Coaches Banquet. Shelby, 2013.

About Coaching Youth Football

 

 

I have been coaching youth football for a total of 9 years.  I coached peewee (7-9 year olds) for 4 years then switched to midgets (10-12 year olds) for 1 year before taking some time off from coaching.  I returned back to the peewee league for the past 4 years. I am a member of the Youth Football Coaches Association.  (YFBCA)   If you haven’t coached small children before I can tell you that it is a different type of task.  You run through so many situations that you never know what to expect.  As far as the children go, they will surprise you every day.  They have a different type of logic that makes perfect sense to them but it will make you laugh.  At times it can be very frustrating but I love doing it.  Normally, you don’t have problems with the children.  The parents, on the other hand, are very difficult to deal with most of the time.

If you think you want to become a youth football coach this article may give you some insight that may help you make a decision.  The first thing to consider is do you have a love for teaching children and do you love football.  If your answer to either of those questions are no, I don’t know, or I am not sure, then you probably should not consider it even if your child is playing.  One of the biggest mistakes of becoming a coach is that, “I want to coach my child.”  If you don’t have a true love for all of the children or the game then you will just end up being unfair to the rest of the children.  Now that I have said that, if you fit into this category you should still continue to read this article to find out if you truly fit this category or if you can be of some assistance in other ways.

Notice, I didn’t say the first thing to consider is the amount of knowledge you have of football.  The knowledge of football is important but there are other things that are more important.  The next thing to consider is, do you have the time and dedication it takes to give the children the amount of time they need.  Coaching involves a lot more than just going out for a couple of hours on Saturday to play a game.  There is a lot of planning and preparation time that goes into it.  This does not include the practice time.  As far as my team goes, we practice Monday through Thursday for one and a half hours each day until we play the first game.  After the first game, we practice Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.  By mid- season, we practice just Tuesday and Thursday.  You may be saying that an hour and half of my time four days a week isn’t bad.  Now consider that’s just practice time on the field.  You have to be there before the first child arrives and after the last child leaves.  Sometimes that means staying up to an hour after practice is over and may include driving children home.  You have transport all of the equipment to and from practice.  If you think I am trying to discourage you, I am not.  I just want you to know exactly what you are getting into.

Now think about your personal life.  Are you stable enough in your relationships to where your personal problems will not follow you to the field? Or even worse, will your personal dealings keep you away from the field?  Remember, there are twenty-five children depending on you to be there.  Also, will the amount of time and dedication required cause you relationship problems?  If you have passed all of the test so far, I have a warning for you.  Coaching will cause you relationship problems.  Maybe not a home, but with parents and fans which may be some of your current friends. Some of them will not like your coaching philosophy.  Some will accuse you of being unfair and some will even ask you to show favoritism to their child, nephew or little cousin.  Now, if you can deal with this you have past the major hurdles to becoming a youth football coach.

Still, I haven’t mentioned football knowledge.  It is needed but you have to take care of the most important things first.  The job of being a youth football coach is not just coaching football.  You will quickly realize that you will become a role model for these children and even some of the parents.  You job is to teach teamwork, commitment, discipline and cooperation.  You have to teach them to do their part while relying on others to do theirs.  One of the most important things you have to do is keep them interested in their education.  Never let them put football before their school.  If they get in trouble in school that means more exercising and less playing time.  If they have a lot of homework that has to be worked on before they can practice.  Here is a short video talking about the basics of coaching youth football.  “How to coach youth football click”  Notice he never mentioned teaching football was the most important thing.

Now that I have discouraged you, let me tell you that coaching youth football is a great experience.  You get to see the joy on their faces as they have fun with their team mates.  You will always and forever be a part of these young men and women lives. 

 

http://yfbca.org/main

http://www.ehow.co.uk/video_4997917_coach-youth-football.html

My name is Tony Whisnant.   I am a father of four.  My hobbies are watching and coaching sports.  Especially football, I currently coach peewee football.  I have coached track, baseball and fast pitch softball.  Currently, I am a full time student working on two degrees.  My first priority is Industrial Management Technology with the second one being Computer Information Technology.  Fall 2012 was my first semester and I obtained 31 hours in Industrial Management Technology and 15 hours in Computer Information Technology.  This semester I am trying 19 hours in Industrial Management Technology and 24 hours in Computer Information Technology.  I don’t have any unique abilities except staying busy.  My New Year’s resolution is to read the entire bible within 90 days.  I plan to do this twice a year.  My career interests are in warehouse or inventory management.  The other areas of interest are scheduling and software applications.

 About Coaching Youth Football