All of our hard work (which we considered fun, we had no idea playing sports could be considered work) resulted in conference championships in football all four years that we were in high school, including one undefeated season. Our senior year we led the conference in both offense and defense. The defensive backfield, which I was a part of, lead the conference in interceptions and didn't give up a single touchdown the entire year. 

   In addition to four years of high school football, I played three years of Little League, four years of high school basketball and three years of collage basketball. Two of my college coaches played in the NBA. One of them was also a starter on an NCAA Division I national championship team. I've also played softball, basketball and football in recreational, intramural, or shop leagues too numerous to count. 

   Participating in sports as an athlete has been a huge part of my life. It has helped me make new friends. It has helped to give me self-respect and confidence. It has taught me to be humble and respect the rights of others. It has helped to keep me busy and out of trouble.  Being an athlete has taught me how win and to accept the inevitable losses. Most importantly,  it has taught me to do the best I can and deal with the results. And if I'm not happy with the  results, what it takes to change them the next time I get a chance. 

Coaching Experience: 

I started coaching kids 18 years ago when I first got out of college. I didn't have any children of my own at that time but I loved sports and kids. I coached three years of flag football and then got involved with administration of the league by serving on the rules committee and as the Director of Officials which involved training and scheduling the referees. 

Since then, I helped a baseball friend of mine coach his kids in basketball. We've coached one boy's team and five girls teams. I also picked up a neighborhood soccer team when none of the parents were able to make the commitment. 

For my own children I've coached seven basketball teams, eleven baseball teams, and five soccer teams.

Football                3 
Basketball           13 
Baseball              11 
Soccer                   5

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Total 32 Teams

I'm an Idiot: 

I'm not an idiot in the general sense of the word. Its just that since I have been coaching I've learned more about each sport than I ever knew by just playing. I'm also a student of coaching in general, and of each sport in particular. I read books and magazine articles. I watch videos and attend coaching seminars. I surf the Internet and download as much information as I can. I talk to as many other coaches as I can about how and what they do. The more I learn, the more I realize that I have been teaching bad habits. Most of the common things about any sport that everyone "knows" is wrong! Think about it, if all this stuff we "knew" were true everyone could be a professional coach. Don't be discouraged. I believe there's still hope for me and there is for you as well. Simply be open to what are for you new ideas. Do all of the things I have listed above to learn. Most important, don't quit just because you don't know something, learn it, and then teach it to the kids. 

Recreational Sports are for Fun: 

The single most important aspect of youth sports is for the kids to have fun. I'm not saying that playing to win is bad. As a matter of fact, I believe playing to win can be translated to playing as hard as you can and to the best of your ability. If you aren't going to try your hardest and play your best, why play at all? 

I've coached in instructional leagues where keeping score was strictly forbidden (at ages 4 & 5 that's appropriate). But guess what? Every kid who knew how to count, knew what the score was. It’s natural. I've coached in leagues were game scores were kept but standings were not (again at younger ages I believe this is appropriate). Once again however, every team knew where they stood relative to the others. Were not going to stop the kids from competing, and there is nothing wrong with some healthily competition. It only becomes a problem when us adults get involved. 

I've heard or read opinions of people who believe winning is the only way to have fun in sports. They say "losing sucks, just ask the kids they'll tell you." And they're right, I hate loosing, and I've seen the look of disappointment on the kid's faces when they lose. But they're only partly right. They don't seem to realize that there is more than just winning and loosing in sports. As long we are using the kids as the experts here, just ask the kids that sit the bench how much fun it is. By definition participating has to be more fun than winning, because without playing you can't win. If all they are going to do is watch, they might be better off watching their favorite team play on TV. The other thing to remember is that the disappointment of loosing lasts for about as long as it takes for them to get into line for the after game treats. The disappointment of not playing can last a lifetime. 

In recreational leagues I believe that ALL team members should play approximately equal time during each game. Every kid should get the opportunity to use all of the basic skills in each sport at some point during the year. The more often the better. Participation however, is the key. I coach for participation first, learning second, and winning third, they are all components of "fun." 

I substitute players independent of the game situation. This does not mean I believe that every kid should get to play every position every game. Until the kids really start to understand the game one position a game is enough. Too much changing of position and the kids won't learn anything. There also are certain positions in certain sports that some kids may never get to play. Pitcher in baseball for example. No one has fun when the pitcher can't get the ball across the plate. The point guard in basketball is another example. If the guard can't get the ball down court to the other players everyone gets frustrated. Both of these situations can also be very embarrassing for a young child. There are also some positions which can put kids with lesser abilities at greater risk of injury. Quarterback in football, and any infield position in baseball are examples. Kids should not be pushed into playing positions that they are not ready physically and mentally, to play. Goalie in hockey and soccer are great examples of positions with unrealistic levels of pressure for a young child. I never force a kid to play that position. On the other hand, I never refuse to allow a kid who wants to play it give it a try (as long as I believe the risk of physical injury is not above average). And I never pull a goalie just because they allowed someone to score, or because its a close game. First of all, the TEAM let someone score, not the goalie. Second, I refuse to humiliate a child that way. When winning becomes more important than the person, its time to quit coaching. 

Select Sports are for Older Kids: 

As a rule, elementary school aged children do not need to participate in select sport leagues. They can actually harm the kids. Many of these leagues require a year around commitment. I know of cases where kids were burnt out mentally or physically, or both, before they ever reached high school. Young bodies need time to rest so they can grow properly. Young minds need to experience many different things to develop completely. 

The problem with some (most?) youth recreational sports leagues is that they offer only one level of competition. The very gifted players are mixed in with the average and not so talented (athletically challenged?) players. This can be very frustrating for everyone. Coaches that like to play everyone equally, have problems when the better players, and sometimes their parents, get frustrated because they are ready and able to learn and do more, but are being held back. The lesser talented players sometimes feel inferior and begin to lose interest in the game or sports altogether. The problem with this is that this year's super star might be next year's flop, and vice-versa. The only thing you can say is true for all kids is that they are all different. They develop at different rates. Over a three year period in which I coached one girl she went from one of the shortest girls on the team, playing guard, to being one of the tallest, playing forward/center. A tall uncoordinated kid gets stronger and more coordinated. A short fat kid gets thin and quick. A shy kid becomes the team leader. This can all happen in a single year, more likely two or three years. It can't happen at all however, if the kid becomes uninterested in sports because they didn't get a change to play, or were made to feel inferior. The early developers may also run into a problem if they develop the belief that they are so good they don't need to practice. The next thing you know they are the challenged ones. 

A huge disparity in talent can also be dangerous. Either group can cause injury to the other. It’s like the way speed disparity on our high ways kill people. It’s not the speed, fast or slow, that kills, its the difference between a 50 MPH driver and an 85 MPH driver. If you don't believe it think about how fast racecar drivers go on the track. As long as they all are going fast its relatively safe. 

If you experience any of these problems try asking your league about supporting at least two levels of competition. Don't be upset if they don't want to support your suggestion. Most, if not all, administrators are volunteers and maintaining a multiple level competition league is a lot more work. You could also ask about letting your child "play up" a year (play on a team with kids that are a year older). Please think twice about this. If your child is of average or small size you may do more damage than good. If none of this works, allowing your child to participate in select leagues may be your only alternative. If, and only if, your child really wants to. Never push your child. If possible try to find a team that requires something less than a year around commitment. Three months of any one sport is enough. (A light off-season development program is OK, its the three days a week practices with games and tournaments that needs to be limited.) Remember that they need to experience a number of different sports, and other life enriching activities. And they need time to rest in-between sports as well. 

Please DO NOT force your child to play ANY sport, in ANY type of league, including recreational leagues. Please do not think your child is going to be the next Michael Jordon or Ken Griffey Jr. No matter how good they may appear to be, the chances that your child will play professional sports is a million to one. Do not discourage them from trying, just don't plan on it, and don't let them plan on it. 

Organization is the Key: 

In youth recreational sports, the head coach’s most important responsibility is organization of team activities. Actually, that's the case for head coaching at all levels. The problem with youth recreational sports is that most of us coaches are volunteers. We have jobs and families. And we don't have the resources the hired guns have. We don't have secretaries to handle all of the administrative aspects of the job. We don't have full-time, paid assistants that we can delegate to. Sometimes we're lucky if we have an assistant at all. 

Still, the level of organization maintained by the head coach plays a big part in the level of enjoyment experienced by everyone, including the head coach. I've had a number of people tell me: "I tried coaching once, the kids wouldn't listen, they didn't want to practice, it was a disaster. "I'll never do that again." Doesn't sound like a fun experience to me. 

At a minimum all practices should have activities planned. If the coach needs to stop in the middle of practice to think of what to do next a disaster is going to break out. We all know how hard it is for kids to concentrate on one thing for too long. Well, it’s even harder for them to concentrate on nothing. If not kept busy they'll be running all over the place, balls will be flying, and trouble is only seconds away. 

I attended a coaching clinic where the presenter suggested a practice of 45 minutes to an hour for the first and second graders that I would be coaching. He said that they couldn't concentrate for much longer than that. Well, I scheduled one and one half-hour practices because I knew that one-hour of practice per week was not enough to learn the sport. My challenge then was to keep the kids interested for that period of time. What I did was to plan enough 5 to 10 minute activities to fill the hour and a half. I typed them into my computer and took a print out with me to practice. After what seemed like 15 minutes to me, the hour and a half was over, and the kids were saying "are we done already, I want to play some more." The kids had fun, the parents that helped had fun, and I felt good because we covered so much material. See Elements of a Good Practice. 

An organized practice is the most important element of organization because it affects the greatest number of team members. General team organization is also very important because it affects the coach. Being organized might seem like a lot of work but it will make your job easier. It may also make you look like you know what you are doing. The kids may not consciously notice it but their behavior will show it. 

Things like a phone call sheet to make sure everyone has been notified of some specific news. A schedule containing all team activities (games, practices, scrimmages, and any other events like picture day and end of the year party) distributed at the "Parent's Meeting" (see Preseason Activities). Accurate score sheets and statistic sheets. A team directory containing the names, phone numbers and addresses of all the coaches and players. Player's parent or guardian names are also a good idea. Announcement slips with the kid's names on them (so you know who didn't get one) to be handed out when something on the schedule has to be changed. 

Getting at least some of these things setup and using them throughout the season will make your head coaching job much easier and more fun. It will also encourage more parents to come out and help you. 

Preseason Activities: 

Equipment 

If your league expects you to handout uniforms at the beginning of the season and be responsible for collecting them at the end of the season (most do) you need to do two things. First catalog what you have been given. Write it down. Sizes, count, color. Then write down what is given to each player. Keep both sheets in a safe place. You'll need them at the end of the year. 

Most leagues give their coaches a limited amount of equipment for practice and games. Balls, cones, bats, what ever. I have never found it to be enough. I'm always buying more, but it helps to have the equipment. In addition there are some coaching essentials you must have. A clip board, a whistle, and a good hat. OK the hat is optional. 

Some leagues give first aid kits (I think they all should, but some are afraid of liability) if yours doesn't get or make one. I bought a couple of reusable ice packs, some athletic tape, some Band-Aids, and some gauze. I keep the reusable ice packs in an insolated lunch bag with a little cooler ice pack in the freezer until its time to go to a game or practice. Then I throw it into my coaching bag with my clipboard, whistle, and some other stuff I'm about to tell you about and I'm off. 

To be responsible I should warn you about the trouble you can get into by incorrectly administrating first aid. I'm not actually suggesting you apply any first aid. I have been certified by the Red Cross in first aid and CPR and I don't really ever use either one. The first thing they teach you is DON'T DO ANYTHING IF YOU DON'T NEED TO. Most of the time calling 911 is the best thing you can do for a serious injury. For non-serious injuries, the ice pack helps the injured kid get over it. For real injuries that aren't serious enough for 911, I let the parents of the injured player use my equipment to apply their own first aid. I haven't been sued yet. 

There is some other more optional stuff that I have found very useful. A stopwatch for example. Some times I use it in practice for certain drills or tests, but more importantly I use it to time games when a publicly visible game clock doesn't exist. Or when the game clock breaks (which happens a lot to shoe string budget leagues). A rain suit for outside sports. I use a suit marketed for campers and hikers, it folds into about a four inch by four inch square pouch. I also take my cellular phone to every practice and game. I unfortunately have had to use it to call 911, but is also useful for other things. Like the time I had to call half of the team because one of the other coaches read the schedule wrong and they were all going to be late for the game. 

Season Schedule 

Practices, games, Picture Day, Uniform Handout, Uniform Return, Treat Signup 

Parent's Meeting 

League Rules, Your Team Rules, Your Coaching Philosophy, Introductions (yourself, assistant coaches, parents) 

Elements of a Good Practice: 

Similar to a good speech, where you tell the audience what you're going to tell them, you tell them, and then you tell them what you told them. A good practice involves telling the kids what they are going to work on, working on it, and then telling them what they just worked on. This approach does two things for the kids. First it allows them start thinking about the sport. We all know that only half of any sport is physical, the other 90% is mental. Second they need the mental repetition as much as the physical repetition. With that in mind I have divided my practices into the following segments: 

1. Introduction 

2. Warm-ups 

3. Activities 

4. Conclusion 

The Introduction is where you tell the kids what they are going to work on. The Warm-ups and Activities segments are where they work on it. (Warm-ups and Activities are kind of the same thing. I separate them because too many coaches skip the very important aspect of warming up.) The Conclusion is where you tell them what they worked on. The following paragraphs go into detail on each segment. 

Introduction 

I break my introductions into two parts. In the first part I review the last practice or game. During the preseason I review the skills worked on during the previous practice. I actually use the notes from the conclusion of the last practice. During the season I review the previous game. Praise the good team play as well as individual play. Let them know the one or two areas that need the most work. This will lead into the next section, practice overview. 

In the practice overview tell the kids what skills you are going to work on during this practice. Be sure you tell them why they are working on a particular skill. The purpose of dribbling in soccer for example, is to move the ball down the field - away from your goal. This may sound obvious, but young or first time players may not understand. 

This part of the practice should not take too long. Coaches love to talk, but players/kids don't like to listen. If you get the kids involved by asking them questions and/or allowing them to ask questions you can go a little longer, but even then, if you go too long you'll get into trouble. I allow five minutes for the entire introduction. Most of the time it doesn't last more then three or four minutes. 

Warm-ups 

The warm-up and activities parts of a practice correspond to the body of a speech, it’s where the real work gets done. I have broken warm-ups out because too many coaches forget to warm the kids up, or worse yet don't think its necessary. (When my son was seven years old he pulled a groin muscle in a soccer camp because they had the kids jump into dribbling competitions without warming up first.) Even if you believe its not physically necessary, they should get into the habit early so they don't hurt themselves later. 

Warm-ups should start with some light running, jumping, and twisting. The idea is "to get the blood flowing." After the muscles are warm they should be stretched. No bouncing, simply hold a stretched position for about twenty seconds. There are numerous warm-up and stretching drills that are generic and can be used for all sports. There are also drills that will target specific skills for a particular sport. Intermix both types for variety. See the section on warm-up drills for examples. Somewhere between 10 to 15 minutes should be allocated for warm-ups, which is a good reason why some of the drills need to target specific skills. 

Activities 

This is the part of the practice where specific skills are developed. Offensive and defensive schemes are developed. And most of the fun is to be had. Every practice should include at least 10 to 15 minutes of scrimmage. The kids love it, and it’s the best way to learn how to play. They can't learn to play the game without playing it. By allowing them to scrimmage, you are allowing them to scrimmage, you are allowing the kids to learn from each other. I have come to the conclusion that kids can teach each other much better than we could ever hope to. If you leave this for the end of the activities section you can let the kids earn the opportunity to scrimmage. If during the introduction, you let the kids know what they are going to do during the practice, you can remind them throughout the practice that the more they fool around the less time they will have to scrimmage. 

Pick one, at the most two, skills to concentrate on during a practice. Choose a set of drills, five to ten minutes each in length, that build upon each other. The drills should allow at least half of the kids to be participating at the same time. You may need to recruit help, but if you can give detailed instructions there will be other parents willing to help. 

I know some coaches that will make a kid, or set of kids if that's what a drill calls for, repeat a drill until "they get it right." I have found that this approach embarrasses the kids and makes the other kids get bored waiting for their turn. (We all know what happens when kids get bored.) I prefer to let the next kid, or group, go. Yell encouragement to those who get it right. The kids will teach each other better then we can. 

Consider making the scrimmage activity something less than a full team scrimmage. In soccer for example, play two games of 3 on 3, or 4 on 4 instead of 7 on 7, or 9 on 9. Try to set up as many games as possible to avoid substitutions. The smaller teams will allow each player to exercise their skills more often. 

Conclusion 

Like the introduction, the conclusion in divided into two parts. The first part is a review of the current practice. I actually copy the overview notes from the introduction. Tell the kids what they just worked on and why. Ask if they have any questions or comments. Ask if there were any drills that they did or did not like. Make note of these for the obvious reasons. 

The second part of the conclusion is announcements. The time and place for the next practice or game. Any special events like picture day or a parade that the team might be participating in. Some coaches like to handout announcement slips to each player. This is especially important if part of the schedule handed out at the beginning of the season has to change for some reason.