Here at GMAAC we are, first and foremost, sport-specific amateur coaches. A lot of posts are information we pass along targeted at amateur athletes like the young men and women we coach, but the truth is that while the compliance levels of young athletes do seem to be getting worse by the year, being an athlete is one of the easier pieces of the equation.
All you have to do is make sure to have the will to work, and then place yourself in the hands of an outstanding, experienced, coach. The problem is, those *coaches* are getting harder and harder to find as well, so this New Year's Message goes out to all the new, and even future, coaches out there.
Think hard about what it is you are doing, and why you are doing it.
There are a lot of 'coaches' out there who are actually just shepherding his or her son or daughter through the system in order to live vicariously through him or her; this is often either to somehow compensate for the coach's failed sporting career, or simply to make the child "a star" and/or earn him or her a scholarship.
Bad reasons to be a coach. Period.
Coaching, in this era, is often unrewarding. There are many parents who *would* fit into the demographic in the above paragraph, only they are too lazy. These are the first people to willfully embarrass their children and berate them at a wrestling meet, and then yell at you for not coaching their otherworldly-gifted child with the necessary high-level tactics. By the way, this parent never wrestled.
So, what to focus on? That kid who was berated by his or her misguided parent. In today's society, amateur sports is still the best way to teach a child, adolescent or even adult discipline in a rewarding fashion, to educate them on the cycle of hard work/reward, and maybe most important instill a lifelong 'plan' for fitness. So keep your eye on the ball, so to speak. Winning bouts, matches, races and meets is fun, but be sure to teach your athletes the fundamentals, encourage them when things go poorly but provide honest feedback, point out what they have done right when things are going well, reward hard work, and most importantly help them to build healthy habits and turn themselves into fit, bulletproof adults.
All you have to do is make sure to have the will to work, and then place yourself in the hands of an outstanding, experienced, coach. The problem is, those *coaches* are getting harder and harder to find as well, so this New Year's Message goes out to all the new, and even future, coaches out there.
Think hard about what it is you are doing, and why you are doing it.
There are a lot of 'coaches' out there who are actually just shepherding his or her son or daughter through the system in order to live vicariously through him or her; this is often either to somehow compensate for the coach's failed sporting career, or simply to make the child "a star" and/or earn him or her a scholarship.
Bad reasons to be a coach. Period.
Coaching, in this era, is often unrewarding. There are many parents who *would* fit into the demographic in the above paragraph, only they are too lazy. These are the first people to willfully embarrass their children and berate them at a wrestling meet, and then yell at you for not coaching their otherworldly-gifted child with the necessary high-level tactics. By the way, this parent never wrestled.
So, what to focus on? That kid who was berated by his or her misguided parent. In today's society, amateur sports is still the best way to teach a child, adolescent or even adult discipline in a rewarding fashion, to educate them on the cycle of hard work/reward, and maybe most important instill a lifelong 'plan' for fitness. So keep your eye on the ball, so to speak. Winning bouts, matches, races and meets is fun, but be sure to teach your athletes the fundamentals, encourage them when things go poorly but provide honest feedback, point out what they have done right when things are going well, reward hard work, and most importantly help them to build healthy habits and turn themselves into fit, bulletproof adults.
