Welcome to CuriousParents.com

Kids & Sports

Tips for the Rookie Coach
By Don Lafferty

This year, more than 30 million children will participate in organized youth sports in America. The youngest of these children, 5 to 10 year olds, are often coached by well-meaning parent-volunteers with no preparation or formal training. Usually the only qualification for becoming the coach of a young team is a work schedule that accommodates the basics needs of the team: practice and games. The new coach is handed a list of kids’ names, and phone numbers and a bag of equipment.

Managing these four key areas of coaching will minimize unnecessary conflicts and ensure your rookie season is fun and productive for everyone:

1. Understand your Youth Athletic Organization: Be sure you understand the goals of your youth athletic organization. Review their written charter and include it in the first parent handout. Understand their policy on playing time, as this can vary as kids become older. Know the availability of fields or gyms for practice time and contact information for your commissioner. Make sure you know who is responsible for scheduling and payment of game officials, as well as the organization’s protocol for rainouts.

2. Team Organization: Most times, the coach will simply be provided with a list of names, phone numbers and the equipment for the season. Take the time to be organized. Create a one page roster with key contact information for each player, parent and coach, including cell phone numbers and e-mail addresses. This will streamline the process of communicating with your team. Add a few columns for notes so when making phone calls you can easily associate the results of the call with the appropriate player at a glance. This form can be created with pen and paper or in Excel.

Frequently, a coach will need to manage multiple documents for each kid on the roster. Registration forms, medical releases, birth records and other documents should be in order and easily retrieved. An inexpensive zippered folio and a half dozen file folders should keep everything in its place. Keep copies of everything safely tucked away as a backup.

3. Communication: Prepare a formal welcome handout for the parents outlining the youth organization’s charter, your goals for the players, your plan to achieve these goals, and your expectations of them. Provide as much information as possible. Attach the game and practice schedules, but be sure to include other special dates and functions like picture day and the annual banquet, as well as your complete contact information. Provide every family with a list of every parent’s name and phone number. This simple handout enables each family to plan, minimizes surprises, and makes it easy to reach the coach or a teammate if there are any questions.

Schedule time at the end of your first practice to deliver this handout personally as it will give you the opportunity to address any special needs a player might have directly with mom or dad.

If you plan to communicate using e-mail, be sure you confirm everyone’s address. Drop a short e-mail to all requesting a reply, then create a group for all team correspondence in the address book of your e-mail client. This will allow you to communicate with your parents with one click of the mouse.

This is also a good time to ask for volunteers if you need assistant coaches or parent help of any kind.

4. Preparation: One of the keys to keeping things fun and engaging for young, energetic kids is solid preparation. This also sends players and parents the message that you respect their time. Set the lineup and changes before arriving at games, and remember everyone will be looking to you for direction when participating in special activities like pictures, skills, fundraisers and carnivals. Have all the details before your team arrives, and, when coaching the youngest kids, keep the focus on fun.

Don Lafferty is a freelance writer. Visit his Web site, www.myspace.com/donlafferty or e-mail him with questions at " don@rookiecoach.org