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How To Be the Coolest Kids Sports Coach in the League

Improving Your Dad-Son Relationship

By KevinPublished 4 years ago 3 min read
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One way or another, you have ended up as the coach to a kids' sports team, and you are interested in gaining the players' admiration. This is no easy task, but doable with the proper guidance. There are lots of ways you can go about this, but a good way to start is with these key areas.

Attitude

One of the most important ways you can be a cool coach and an amazing role model is to have a positive attitude. Remember, playing a sport should be fun in addition to teaching important lessons about life. Positive reinforcement, or rewarding the type of behavior you want to see, is a proven way to get through to kids and teach them to do better. It's easy to do- the rewards can be a simple as a high five, praise or a cheer. Kids will also be more likely to open up and come to you if they feel that you can listen without judgement and give them positive advice. Once this type of respect is won, they will almost always listen to your instruction. Encouragement does much more to improve a player than only pointing out faults.

Gear

One crucial aspect to being a cool coach is to look the part, and to help your players look the part. Plus, the entire team will feel more cohesive if everyone matches. Showing pride in your team through this type of expression will also boost team spirit. You can have fun by including the entire team in the design process, like by putting it to a vote. There are plenty of sites that let you customize your logo, imagery, colors, names and words. If your school has a sweet wolf logo, be sure to play it up. Give your players lots of options, like sweatshirts, sweatpants, jerseys, t-shirts, bags or socks. This might also be a good fundraising opportunity for your team, as parents and siblings might also want to show support by sporting the team colors.

Practices

Making practice time something to look forward to, rather than dread, is another solid step towards becoming the coolest coach around. Drills are important, but making drills fun is more important if you want them to actually work. Besides, fun is the number one reason that kids join sports, so this should be what is emphasized. There's actually evidence that fun and success go hand in hand. Turn practice into a game, and the lessons are more likely to stick. It's been proven that players improve faster if they enjoy what they are doing. It also teaches your players to associate fitness positively. You can include a team bonding exercise at the beginning or end of each practice, or as a special occasion, to further boost cohesiveness both on and off the field. Activities can include games like the human knot, getting pizza together or setting up a field-day type scenario.

Snacks

If all else fails to make you seem cool, you can always bribe your team with food. If you have the means, players could use the extra fuel at both practices and games. Everybody loves when snacks are provided, and it's an easy way to make the players feel cared for. That way you can also make sure that they are eating well. There are lots of snack options that are both tasty and healthy, like string cheese, turkey, fruit kabobs or popcorn. Every now and then you can sneak in some chips and cookies just to keep them on their toes. To ease the burden you can also set up a snack schedule for players' parents, but this may take some of the acclaim away from you- just make sure that your snacks are the best.

There is no foolproof formula for being a cool coach, but these methods will at least make you a good coach. Maybe the coolest thing about a coach is striving to do what's best for your team. Get out there and give it all you got!

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