The design of a volunteer coaches training program: think you need a big budget to train volunteers? Think again: learn how to design your own program from the ground level

Parks & Recreation, August, 2004 by James M. Toner

Sports today are an increasingly important part of childhood and of American life. The coach is an important ingredient in any sports program recipe. The coach can make the program a success or a failure. A successful coach is one who gains the confidence of his athletes, which can only be achieved through training.

Coaching presents a tremendous challenge because it demands a life of service to youth, in particular, and society in general. Parents of young athletes believe sports are good for their children because the activity builds character, and develops socially desirable characteristics such as achievement, motivation, cooperativeness and sportsmanship.

Players often look to the coach as a symbol of all these things. The coach has a strong effect on the athlete's role in sports and, since the time he spends with the athlete may be considerable, he can have an enormous impact on the child's personality. The coach may provide a model for the child to follow, and his/her personality and behavior may influence the player's actions. A child can gain much from associating with a coach who has admirable characteristics that he/she admires.

Vern Seefeldt, director of the Youth Sports Institute, says, "Coaches perform specific duties and should possess certain task-related competencies as a standard for employment in the profession." A major problem today is that many volunteer coaches have little or no professional preparation for their coaching/teaching responsibilities.

Many parents are granting temporary custody of their most precious possessions, their children, to someone who may have little or no formal training or expertise. The problem is exasberated by the the fact that many volunteer coaches are simply parents of children in the athletic programs.

Fred Engh, president of the National Youth Sports Coaches Association says, "Parents feel that because they volunteer their time as coaches, they are doing a great service for young people. What many parents do not realize is that some untrained and unqualified people who proclaim to be 'just volunteers' are doing a disservice by psychologically and emotionally abusing young people with their win-at-all-costs theories."

Many times, not only is the volunteer coach lacking professional preparation, but he/she may not be capable of protecting the health and well-being of the athletes. The coach's lack of understanding of the structure and function of the human body may constitute a serious limitation that keeps him from knowing how to properly condition the athlete, prevent injuries, recognize, evaluate and respond to medical incidents.

"Volunteer coaches frequently are well versed in the technical aspects of sports skills and strategies, but rarely do they have any training for creating a healthy psychological environment for their players," Dr. Frank Smoll from the University of Washington says. In addition to the well-known responsibility of the coach to teach athletic skills and develop game strategies, he is responsible for the physical welfare of his players.

In order to prevent harm to the player, a good coach must incorporate the most recent medical facts available in his coaching. Coaches should keep up with new developments in their field. "One way to accomplish this objective is to attend workshops or clinics," according to Arthur Gallon, author of "Coaching Ideas and Ideals." Coaches are teachers, and as teachers they are, or should be, familiar with the principles involved in the process of education. Coaches share with other educators a common concern for developing the person intellectually, socially, ethically and physically. A coach's major goal should be the total development of the athlete in mind and body.

Any coach dealing with a group of athletes should be aware of the characteristics associated with his team's age group. Furthermore, he must have the training for creating a healthy psychological environment for his players.

Coaches who are truly interested in helping children will be eager to acquire the competencies needed to become effective teachers. Vern Seefeldt, author of "Who's Educating Volunteer Coaches, and What Difference Does it Make, Anyway?" says, "Those who are too busy to attend educational sessions may be too busy to coach."

The General Model Approach

Few coaches know that the United States supports more research in the sport sciences than any other nation in the world, probably more than all other nations combined. Yet the results of this research are almost never made available to coaches, whether professional or amateur, paid or volunteer. There simply has been no delivery system for coaches to obtain information.

"Not only are other countries using American sport research to help elite athletes, they are using our research in educational programs for coaches of children and youth," says sports coaching author Rainer Martens. "Canada has an excellent program in which coaches receive training both in the technique of the specific sport and in the theory and science of coaching. Coaches voluntarily enroll in the program and receive certification for each level of training successfully completed."