Youth and interscholastic coaches have changed a lot over the years, with increasingly more coaches today ascribing to a cooperative coaching style over the old school, authoritarian approach that had been the norm for many decades. While old-school coaches were known for their toughness, yelling, and sometimes even physical aggression, cooperative coaches tend to be more involving of student athletes and their thoughts, and they offer rationale for their coaching ideas and game plans. As we witness these coach changes occur before our very eyes, there are still many questions from parents when it comes to what is healthy, normal, unhealthy, and even dangerous?
Evaluating coaches
First, let’s begin with a short list of cooperative coach attributes that are desirable and help kids grow — on and off the field:
- Accountability. Great coaches emphasize accountability, both from themselves as well as their team. Being accountable means owning one’s actions, justifying decisions, and facing the consequences of their performance or conduct.
- Grades. Great coaches emphasize grades, and hold student athletes accountable when grades suffer.
- Time management. Nothing in life gets done without having time management skills, making this an incredible life skill for coaches to teach student athletes.
- Communication. Similar to time management, student athletes need to learn the value of being to communicate with teachers, coaches, administrators, and teammates.
- Emphasis on sportsmanship & integrity. The best coaches are the ones that play by the rules, and emphasize healthy/safe training, and clean play.
Now, let’s take a look at authoritarian coaching (“old school”) characteristics that are no longer viewed as healthy or desirable:
- Physical coaching. There is no place (and never was) for coaches to physically grab and throw around kids in order to make a point. Similarly, coaches who regularly resort to coarse language and/or keep an intimidating tone generally do not help kids develop nearly as well as they would if they practiced a more cooperative approach.
- Prioritizing sports over school. Student athletes are always students first, and it is expected that interscholastic coaches emphasize and prioritize academics over athletics.
- Questionable sportsmanship & integrity practices. Respecting officials and the opponent, abiding by all school and league rules, and prioritizing integrity over cheating are things parents should expect from their coaches.
- Safety & mismanaging injured athlete concerns. Coaches are responsible for making sure playing conditions and equipment are safe, as well as making sure that injured athletes are afforded quality care and not rushed back to playing before the athlete is medically cleared.
Of course, there are more ways we can slice and dice coach qualities and what we should expect from good coaches, but the list above provides some of the basics all parents should identify. Good coaches are really tough to find (and keep), so if you have good coaches at your school make sure to share your thoughts with school administrators.
Final thoughts
We are currently witnessing a change in coach philosophy in youth sports, with more coaches using a cooperative leadership style over an authoritarian approach. This new, cooperative approach invites kids to be a part of the leadership process, uses rationale to clarify decisions, empowers kids to share their voice, and places a priority on integrity, safe play, and helping athletes rehabilitate from injuries. Good coaches also stress the importance of accountability, both of themselves as coaches, and the kids they coach, and regularly model responsibility through their words and actions.
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