Coaching and coaches make a difference. The coach is at the hub the athletic experience. As a coach your primary mission is to provide a positive experience and create an atmosphere where success is possible in both sport and life.
Good coaches foster independence not dependence on the part of your athletes. It is not about you, it is about the athlete. As a coach you start out as a guiding light or a beacon and evolve into a mirror for the athlete to reflect off of s their career progresses.
Sport is a vehicle for self-growth. It provides the opportunity to learn about self-expression, self-control, and commitment. Strengths and weaknesses are soon discovered. Sport allows the coach and athlete to increase self-awareness. Coaching requires conscious thought, sensitivity, willingness, an openness to receive cues, and honest detached objectivity.
A coach is a teacher. Unlike the teacher you get immediate feedback as to your effectiveness. Your work is on display for everyone to see in every game, match, or meet. You can’t hide.
Coaches choose the level of achievement of their athletes by setting their level of expectations. There must be a willingness to do whatever is necessary within ethical bounds to get the job done. No day is too long, no task too unpleasant, you have go the extra mile, lead by example.
Coaches and athletes become excellent by doing ordinary things consistently and with care.
A coach learns from EXPERIENCES, good and bad, wins and losses. Too much is made of experience. It is possible to have one experience many times or to have many experiences. Experience is not what happens to a man, but rather what he does with what happens to him.