Sunday, May 27, 2012

What Are Your Responsibilities As A Sports Coach?

By Quinn Harris


Coaching in sports is an awesome responsibility and it makes no difference whether we are talking about professional, sanctioned sports or organized youth sports.

There are people who may ask what exactly is a coach. In the World Wide Web, you will see this definition: "In sports, a coach is an individual involved in the direction and instruction of the on-field operations of an athletic team or of individual athletes."

The application of sport tactics and strategies during the game or contest itself is entailed in coaching and usually, it entails substitution of players and other such actions as needed. In fact, a lot of the coaches are former participants in the sports in which they are involved, and those who are not have had extensive training in the sport in question.

Aside from having the responsibility of teaching the fundamentals of their chosen sport, coaches are also entrusted to guide the athletes as individuals, as well as offer or set an example of behavior for the team to follow. While different sports, as well as the different sports organizations that coaches work for, all have their own set of rules and regulations, there are a few fundamentals that all coaches are expected to follow.

For example, all coaches are expected to abide by the particular laws that govern their sport, and to make sure that the athletes do so as well. In sports, what all coaches are expected to follow and enforce with their team is the unwritten rules of sportsmanship and ethics that exist. Things such as fair play and the integrity of the team as well as the individual athletes are all covered in these ethical standards.

What coaches need to ensure is that their players are safe and protected during games as well as during practices. A drug free environment, act as a role model both on and off of the playing field, ensure respectful conduct among the players and so much more are the things they are expected to provide and maintain. Keeping current on any new provisions that might come into being that relates to the sport they are coaching is another thing coaches are also expected to do.

It takes so much to be a good and effective coach which is why there are now many institutes of higher learning that actually offer classes for coaches. These classes actually run gamut from how to influence the players, how to motivate players, as well as how to build team spirit.

Many coaches find themselves in need of an education that will better equip them to handle a certain group of athletes because of the huge number of different sports, as well as the diversity of the players. An example would be more and more of women's sports teams being formed and this can present a problem for the male coach who has never had to coach anything except a team of males. Being a coach in sports is not an easy job, but it does have the potential to be a rewarding one.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...