Surviving your first coaching session
Issue: Volume 30 Number 4
You’ve been appointed as the team coach for the first time: congratulations! It may seem a big responsibility at first and you may feel a little nervous, but you can survive your first session — and enjoy the experience — with a little pre-planning.
What should I wear?
Even if you do not feel like a coach you must look like one. Wear something that allows you to move around and be part of the session. There is no need to buy expensive brand name clothes and trainers, just wearing the right sort of sports gear (for example, joggers and shorts or tracksuit) sends a message to players that you are keen, active and ready to have a go. Children will judge you based on what they see first: if they see someone who looks ready to go, you are already part of the way to a good session.
What gear will I need?
This will depend on your sport, but for many team sports there are similar requirements. A successful session won’t require a great deal of equipment, but it will require at least:
- markers to define the area you want to work in: for field sports, normally 24 (six sets of four different colours) soft dome markers (avoid hard plastic ones) will be enough
- balls and/or bats: one ball and/or bat between two is ideal; one between three is acceptable. Ask players to bring their own ball or bat if the budget does not stretch to provide enough gear. This will ensure all children have plenty of touches on the ball. Giving out equipment as prizes instead of plastic trophies at end of year presentations may be a good option
- bibs in team colours: two sets of distinctly coloured bibs are an ideal way to get teams defined quickly and easily. For example, ask the players to find a partner and then form two lines behind ‘Jim’ and ‘Bob’. Jim’s team wear the orange bibs and Bob, the blue.
What activities should I include?
Enjoyable and active learning should be the cornerstone of every coaching session. Your goal is for players to learn skills and game elements while getting plenty of physical activity. Of course, if you don’t have much background or experience in a sport, it can seem a little intimidating — if so, here are a few suggestions:
- Start with a fun warm-up game that gets the players active.
- Select small team-based game activities that allow players to be engaged in game play, rather than drilling techniques that you are not sure are correct.
- Try to introduce challenges in the games, such as attempting to achieve a certain number of passes, using time limits, requiring each player to touch the ball, or changing the size of the playing area.
- Finish with something fun that ends the session on a positive note. Some light stretching as a cool down is a good idea, and this provides a quiet time to chat to the players about requirements for next week’s training or game.
What if the players won’t listen to me?
Setting the ground rules early on is the key to making sessions enjoyable for the coach and players. Ensure everyone is paying attention before you give instructions (for example: ‘everyone sit on your football and eyes on me’).
A whistle is a useful tool to get the attention of players and to stop or start an activity. Make sure your instructions are delivered in a clear and confident voice. You can check that players have understood the instructions by asking one person to repeat them back to the group.
If there are players who are ‘mucking around’ you need to address this early on. Try strategies such as talking to them and asking them to stop the behaviour, swapping them into a different group or giving them a greater challenge if it seems their behaviour is due to boredom.
Where to next?
So you’ve got through the first session — what about next week? Some ways of preparing for the next session include:
- gathering more information: try the Australian Sports Commission’s tools and tips web pages (see related links), coaching manuals and sport websites
- reviewing what worked well and what needs to be changed
- enrolling in a coaching accreditation course: check with your national sporting organisation when the next coaching course is available.
Making sure children want to be part of the team next year is your major goal. This will happen if the players have enjoyed themselves and learnt in a caring and safe environment. Developing players and yourself is your mission — it is not about winning premierships, something which won’t guarantee your players will be back next year.
