Problems, comments or questions about this site?   Please email us at  webmaster (at) coachjerry (dot) com

 In Kids’ Sports - The Coach Can Make A Big Difference
By Jerry Norton
Not surprisingly, many parents today are quite involved with their children's education and intellectual development. Parents join parent-teacher organizations, participate in school board meetings, faithfully and enthusiastically attend open school nights, serve on committees or meet frequently with teachers, councilors and administrators. They are intensely interested and aware of how, how well and what their children are being taught.
Curiously though, millions of these same prudent and concerned parents allow total strangers to dramatically influence the physical development and psychological well being of their children without a second thought. Who are these parents and who are these total strangers who are having such an influence on kids today?
The parents referred to are many of the mothers or fathers of youngsters playing organized youth sports. The strangers are today’s youth sports coaches.
Youth coaches may spend dozens of hours a week trying to teach youngsters the skills necessary to play a particular sport. In the process, the coach can profoundly influence players both physically and emotionally. But is the volunteer coach prepared and qualified for this task? Will the coach’s influence be positive or negative? And, shouldn’t parents be concerned about the qualifications of their child’s coach?
Indeed they should. Statistics suggest that there are serious problems with organized youth sports today and that many of the problems can be traced to coaching. For example, seventy percent of the kids who participate in organized youth sports stop playing by age 12. The reasons given are; abusive coaches, players don’t get a chance to play, winning is overemphasized and there is excessive repetition that leads to boredom. In short, kids quit playing because it is no longer fun and it is the coach who determines whether children enjoy their sports experience.
Unfortunately, too many youth coaches today are more concerned with winning games than they are with developing the skills of all their players and making sure all their kids participate and have fun. Jack Hutslar in his book Beyond X’s and O’s, uses the phrase "coach the best and bench/cut the rest" to describe the inappropriate mentality of many youth coaches.
To make things different, basic coaching philosophies and attitudes in our youth sports organizations must change and parents must help bring about the needed improvements. More parents must take a proactive role in the organization and administration of their children’s sports programs to ensure that programs focus on total participation, skill development and fun, not just on winning games. Remember, players striving to win is the essence of youth sports. Winning or losing is simply an outcome.
Organizations should consider the experience and qualifications of the coaches and should require that coaches be trained and certified. For guidance, read Beyond X’s and O’s, and review the "Standards for Developing and Administering Youth Sports", created by the National Alliance of Youth Sports (NAYS) and the NAYS "Code of Conduct for Coaches and Parents".
Parents  should talk to their child’s coach to learn about his or her specific goals and objectives, beyond winning games, to make sure they reflect the philosophies established by the organization. The coach should be committed to player development and improvement, fun, sportsmanship, safety and 100 percent participation.
Parents should also attend and observe several practices. Things to look for include whether practice is well organized or haphazard? Are there enough coaches? Are many kids standing around idle or waiting in long lines? Is the coach working with all the kids or just the best ones? Are players being subjected to harsh or abusive treatment? Pay particular attention to how the coach speaks to the players. Is it positive or negative?
Parents should attend games and watch how the coach behaves in the heat of battle. Is the coach courteous or disrespectful to game officials, opposing players and coaches? Does the coach harshly and publicly criticize players for failures? Are all the kids getting a chance to play? It really doesn’t take very long to recognize a good coach or a bad coach.
Kids deserve an opportunity to play and enjoy the benefits that organized sports can provide. Parents should require that organizations set and enforce appropriate standards for coaches. Good coaches should be coveted and cloned and bad ones replaced. The brief mission statement of the NAYS says it best:
"Better Sports For Kids… Better Kids For Life!"

[About Coach Jerry]  [About the Site]  [Stories, etc.]  [Book]  [Features]  [Info]  [Ask The Coach]