Let us be clear: coaching pre-teen youth sports is different than coaching teen recreational and teen competitive youth sports. The goal of coaching pre-teen sports team is about player development and having fun, the top priority is not about winning. Too many times I have seen coaches of pre-teen sports teams either play to win at all costs or coach the team around their child. When this happens some youth players sit out games, loose their interest, and never re-consider rejoining the sport at a later date.
Considerations for coaching pre-teens
Your biggest concerns when coaching kids at the lower levels (pre-teen) should be:
- Make the experience fun
Success at the pre-teen level is gauged by how much fun the kids are having. If everyone is having fun, including yourself as the coach, then you are doing something right.
- Teach the game
There are many of books on the basic skills of coaching, teaching skills, drills, etc. Take the time to read these and put a practice plan that develops the basic skills and rules of the game. While it helps to have played the sport yourself at some point in your life, it's not a prerequisite to being a good coach. Just like in the sport itself, coaching has certain fundamentals.
The year before the player's reach the middle school grade, ask the middle school coach to come to a game or, better yet, have the middle school coach run a practice or two for you. This provides the middle school coach with an opportunity to show the players what is expected from them the next year, teach the offensive and defensive schemes and drills, and best of all, associates a young player's name with a face.
- Demand respect from the players and treat the players with respect
Kids sense a pushover, will take advantage of a weak leader, and walk all over you. Drills will be non-productive, no practices will be frustrating for both players and coach, and play during the games will be sloppy. The coach is the authority figure. You deserve the respect that this position entails. Keep the team rules simple. One of the rules should be: if a coach is talking then no one else is talking and all eyes are on you.
The key is to set the ground rules right at the start. Point out what you expect from your team and what they can expect from you. Just like you must follow through with your threats of punishment with your own kids when they push it too far, you must be gentle but firm with a team's players.
Conversely, the player's deserve the coach's respect. If the player's are putting forth 110% effort, independent of the results, then that is all the coach should ask for. A simple way to show player's respect is when talking to a young player is to not stand over them and talk down to them. Bend over so you are face level, maybe even kneel down, so they are even with you or a little above. It's amazing how this will prevent intimidation, and rivet his attention.
Keep in mind that your highest goal at this level is to instill a love for the game in your players so they will want to continue playing for years to come. Help them to succeed at the basics of the game, which can be measured by the team being better at the end of season than when they began, is more important than any number of wins.
To be an effective coach, you must:
- Be prepared:
Like a good scout, a good coach is prepared. That means you come to practices with a specific plan as to what you will be working on that day, right down to the drills and stations. Run drills at multiple stations to that keep most of the kids actively involved. Idle players leads to fool around time. Have your practice plan written down with the most important areas of development to be done at the beginning of practice, but leave time for fun activities near the end.
Always have your equipment, plenty of practice balls, and first aid kit.
For game days, have your line-up and rotations figured out the night before and charted on paper. Have a few alternatives in case some kids don't show, or get hurt. There's nothing more annoying than watching a coach scramble madly to figure out who should be playing, who played all game yesterday, who sits, who replaces whom.
- Communicate with parents:
The parents can make coaching a joy or a chore. Distribute a roster with phone numbers. Assign duties, such as concession duty, work days, etc. Let them know your game and practice schedules, enforce pick-up times (you are not a babysitter), and have them voice concerns to you, not behind your back.
Keep these simple concepts in mind this coming season, and you will do fine.
Good luck!
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