All coaches should strive to coach life skills through sport. Sports are the perfect opportunity to teach life skills in a team environment.
As I’m currently coaching a very young team, we are focusing on the basics. When the coach is talking, you’re not. You never sit on a soccer ball, as it will wreck it. Eye contact is important. Having your back to the coach when they’re demonstrating is not signifying good listening skills. Kicking the ball at your teammate’s head is not acceptable. If you are having a meltdown for no reason, go sit on the sideline and come back when you’re ready to play. They are a joy to coach and are learning life lessons along the way.
Overall, there are three important life lessons that I encourage you to teach as you coach.
How to be a leader: This may entail leading your team’s warm up or cool down, or picking up garbage when your teammate forgot to throw their tape away. Teaching them that everyone on the team needs to be a leader, in order for the team to be successful. Rotating through the captain role, ask them what they think and allow them to be a part of the decision making process. Change is always required and teaching youth to lead will ensure they will have the confidence to take their team in a successful direction.
Mistakes happen: I have yet to meet a perfect person or a perfect athlete. In sports you are not going to make 100 per cent of the shots you take and in life you are not going to do everything perfectly. Teach youth how to positively respond and adjust their actions to help them be more successful next time around. How you deal with a mistake after it’s made will either set you up for success or failure and is determined by your attitude. A positive attitude is always required.
Work ethic: Teach athletes the importance of hard work and allow them to experience the results. Yes, running stairs is never super fun, but you know what is? When you are more fit than the opposing team and you get to roast the defender each time with your speed and endurance. Don’t let your athletes sit out and miss out on working hard. There is always an athlete on a team that seems to be hurt or sick the day of fitness testing. Hold your athletes accountable and reschedule their testing or modify the testing for them if an injury is present. Hold all your athletes to the same standards and when they’re stronger than their opponent they will thank you for asking them to do things they did not want to do at training to help them become more successful.
As a coach, I encourage you to go above and beyond for your athletes. You are their mentor, their role model and you have the responsibility to ensure that you do everything you can to not only help them develop as an athlete but as a person. Teaching life lessons through sport, will make athletes better leaders, teammates and citizens.
Kristina Segall is the coordinator of the Alberta Sport Development Centre – Southeast. She can be reached via email at ksegall@mhc.ab.ca and via phone at 403-504-3547.
