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Skills Needed to Coach?

I currently coach youth football and wheelchair tennis but in the past I have coached baseball, girls softball and swimming as well.

There is considerable overlap between your remaining questions but I will do my best to answer each.

As far as important characteristics are concerned, one of the most important for a youth coach is compassion. Webster's dictionary defines compassion as "a sympathetic consciousness of others." A youth coach must have concern for the physical and emotional well-being of all the players on the team.

Understanding is another very important trait. Coaches must understand that the priorities in youth sports are safety, fun and learning. They must understand and appreciate the level of play involved in the sport as well as the skill level of each of their players. They must use age appropriate techniques and drills to teach the players.

Coaches must also have reasonable expectations and must recognize that not all players on the team are in the same stage of physical or emotional development. They must accommodate these differences in how they deal with and what they expect from each player. Without question youth coaches must have patience. They must also have a positive approach.

The youth coach must also be a good communicator with both the players and the parents. Coaches need to understand that children have limited vocabularies and may be confused by a coach's words. Parents need to be informed of schedules, practice times and changes, special equipment needs, etc, as well as the progress their child is making. A youth coach must also be creative to keep drills and practices fun and not boring or repetitious.

The coach must be organized and well prepared for practice and for games. Finally, coaches must have remarkable self control and must not let their desire to win interfere with any of the game's three priorities or the physical or emotional well being of any player. They must remember the game is for the kids not for the adults.

The criteria used in building a team must include a definition of success that is not dependent solely on winning but on player improvement, participation and enjoyment. It must also include a commitment to 100% player participation. Simplicity should be the starting point for coaching decisions and actions. Start out with simple concepts, explanations, plays and drills then progress to more complex ones if appropriate. At the start put players in positions in which they are more likely to succeed then help them to develop at other positions as well. Effort as well as accomplishment should be recognized and rewarded.

Being a successful coach and building an effective team are, for the most part, two different ways of saying similar things. But before going further, let's understand what is meant by "successful" and "effective" in the context of youth sports. Too often winning is the sole criteria for success. Certainly kids are competing to win, as they should. But the essence of sports competition is striving to win, not winning alone. I believe the measures of "success" and "effectiveness" must have more to do with players' participation, improvement and enjoyment than with having a winning season.

A youth coach will be successful and will build an effective, perhaps even a winning team if he or she teaches the players to always try to do their very best, to always play by the rules and to demonstrate good sportsmanship. The successful coach will  teach players to respect their coaches, their teammates and their opponents. The successful coach will make the sport fun for all the players.