Coaching (Ambassador badge)

The Coaching badge is part of the “Legacy” badge set introduced in 2011.

Requirement 1: Begin to outline your coaching strategy
Before you identify your team and the activity you plan to coach, dig into coaching strategies. In this step, focus on three areas: how to motivate a team, how to train, and how to assess progress. After you’ve gathered tips from pros, gather the tips together, and start your personal coaching playbook. (As you grow through the badge with more ideas and observations, you can add to the playbook – it’s your personal and inspirational reference.)

CHOOSE ONE:

Talk to a great coach or highly experience athlete.  Ask for insights from a coach or a professional or amateur athlete. It might be someone who coaches at or plays for a school, an after-school program, or a local college or university. If possible, shadow them during a practice or a game. You might ask to see a playbook – and take notes!

OR

Watch three sports documentaries.  The sport doesn’t have to be the one you’ll coach – this is about the nitty-gritty of strategy. As you watch, keep the three focus categories in mind, and analyze what makes the coaches you see successful.

FOR MORE FUN: Get together with a group of girls working on this badge to watch and dissect great coaching moments.

OR

 Attend a coaching clinic or seminar.  If there isn’t a class nearby, check online for various coaching clinics and sports camps. At the clinic or seminar, look specifically for ideas about the three focus areas.

Requirement 2: Conduct a first assessment
Do one choice to clearly define each of your athletes’ objectives for your sessions, as well as the team goal (if appropriate). Depending on the sport or event you’re coaching for – or what individual or group assessment may be most appropriate – decide which choice is best for your group.

Tips for Assessment

·       Treat each athlete as an individual. Try not to compare their performance to someone else’s. Especially if you’re working with younger girls, remember that an individual player’s goals might be simply to learn the game or reach a personal best.

·       Remind athletes to respect each other and use good sportsmanship – an assessment shouldn’t feel competitive.

·       Acknowledge and show appreciation for everyone’s contribution, no matter how small. It’s a great way to encourage performance.

·       Handshakes and attitude count! When meeting your athletes for the first time, introduce yourself, make direct eye contact, repeat their names, and offer each a firm handshake.

CHOOSE ONE:

Prepare individual questionnaires.  Ask each athlete to assess where they are in their sport and what they want to gain in your time together. Review the questionnaires, and meet with each person to set goals and outline how they might achieve them.

OR

Host an initial session.  Design a fun session that tests players’ skills and/or how they work together as a team. The drills should help them decide on goals for your sessions. During the session, make notes to assess the skill level of each player and how you think you can help.

OR

Prepare a goal chart together.  In a group, ask players to discuss what they hope to accomplish in their sessions. Together, make a chart outlining a training schedule and goals for each player, as well as for the team collectively, if appropriate. Use the chart to help you guide each session.

Listen Up!

Coaching requires good communication, and a big part of what is not talking – just listening. Here are some tips:

Seek out information from your team that might improve your coaching skills.

Listen sincerely and intently. If you’re distracted, wait until you can really focus.

Always welcome your team’s comments, questions, and input.

More to EXPLORE Sports Safety.
Further your coaching skills by taking a sports safety first aid class or seminar, or by interviewing a physical therapist or sports medicine expert about potential injuries and how to prevent them in the sport you plan to coach. You might look for online courses, such as the one developed by the American Red Cross.

Requirement 3: Design your coaching plan
Combine what you learned about coaching strategies and what you now know about your players into a coaching plan that utilizes everyone’s best skills. Use at least one of these choices to help you define and design your plan for each of your sessions. You’ll need to run at least one session in each of the four weeks to complete this badge.

Leading By Example

Design your drills, and start with a demonstration. If you don’t feel comfortable demonstrating a skill, ask an athlete who is to do the demonstration.

Try this process:

1.     Demonstrate the skill.

2.    Next, ask your group to perform the technique several times alongside you or the athlete doing the demonstration.

3.    Now, ask your athletes to perform the technique on their own.

4.    Be in the immediate area so you can answer questions if someone gets stuck. Guide them through the problem, but allow them to fix it on their own.

CHOOSE ONE:

Design a special warm-up and cool-down.  For any sport, it’s important to stretch before and after training. Instead of running through these components in a basic way, research the best stretches and warm-up exercises for your sport, and put them together in a unique format. You might incorporate some fun trust-building games or exercises.

OR

Research and choose some training drills.Are they too hard, too easy? Try them out on your own. If neither you nor any of your athletes can do a particular skill your team needs to practice, find someone who can demonstrate it. (See the sidebar for tips on drills.)

OR

Open and close each session with a message.  Interview a sports psychologist or find some sports psychology tips (perhaps on motivation, teamwork, or perseverance) to inspire your athletes. Incorporate these tips into the opening and closing of each of your sessions. You might even get creative with visuals and music or by singing an inspirational song.

Tip:  Before your first sessions, gather the necessary equipment. You might need things like a whistle, cleats, cones, weights, or balls to conduct drills. If you want your athletes to bring specific items to sessions, let them know!

Parts of a Practice Session

IMPORTANT:

'''Take all possible measures for injury prevention. '''

Always have a first aid kit and a safety plan.

MORE TO EXPLORE

CODES OF BEHAVIOR

What behavior do you expect from your team and your athletes as individuals? What values do you want your team to exemplify?

When violations occur, how will you handle them?

    I WILL:

BE TRUSTWORTHY.I will compete honorably.

BE CARING FOR MY TEAMMATES.I will offer my teammates positive encouragement and be careful not to engage in reckless behavior that might cause injury.

BE RELIABLE.I will be on time to all practices and games.

HAVE INTEGRITY.I will live up to the ethics of sportsman ship and pursue victory with honor.

PLAY BY THE RULES.I will understand the game’s rules and principles and abide by them.

BE LOYAL TO MY TEAM.

LIVE A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE.I will get regular sleep, eat nutritious meals, and be active.

ALWAYS SHOW RESPECT FOR MY TEAM MEMBERS AND COACH.

Requirement 4: Put your plan into action - and revise it, if necessary
Now’s the time to start sessions. At some point during your four weeks of coaching, get some feedback to help you assess and improve your coaching plan.

CHOOSE ONE:

Add a morale-boosting time-out.  Find a place outside your practice sessions where you and your team can talk. It might be a coffeehouse, a picnic table in the shade, or in front of a fire on a cold afternoon. Get your athletes together to ask questions, to inspire discussion about sportsmanship and goals, and to review how your sessions are going.

OR

Ask your players to coach you!  Discuss with your athletes, as a group or individually, how you’re doing as a coach. What have they loved about your sessions, and what suggestions for improvements do they have for you? You might design a questionnaire, and then discuss their answers to lead the conversation.

OR

Bring in another coach to watch a session.  You can do this in one of your initial sessions or when you feel more comfortable with your athletes and your routine. Ask for advice on the content of your sessions and your coaching style.

FOR MORE FUN:

Ask the coach to co-run your session so the group gets double the feedback and double the fun!

Top Coach Plays

Many professional coaches agree that these tips might help you build a winning team:

·       Avoid negatives when instructing, such as “You shouldn’t…” Instead, say “How about if you try to…” or “Another option might be…”

·       Be aware of possible safety issues, such as hypothermia, heatstroke, or frostbite; pay attention to the weather, and put safety above sport!

·       Encourage peer coaching. When one team member has a technique down, ask her to work with another player.

·       Keep players hydrated. Talk about healthy snacks, and find out what your team might want during practice. Each person could rotate bringing snacks to the sessions.

·       Admit when you don’t know the answer to a question. You can always research the answer for the next session.

·       Let your athletes know when breaks will be to avoid interruptions.

·       Make sure you have your group’s attention before talking. Hold up one hand until everyone is focused on you, then, begin talking. If outside, make sure the sun is facing you, not the group, so they aren’t forced to squint when looking at you.

·       Include everyone in your training. Avoid drills that some people have to sit out.

Requirement 5: Attend the big event, and make a final assessment'
Be there at the final event – whether a game, tryout, race, or performance – to coach your athletes to success or to cheer them on! Review their goals, and take notes on their performance so you can offer specific feedback.

CHOOSE ONE:

Meet with your players for a relaxing post-training assessment.  While there, ask each athlete to share two or three things they learned in your sessions. Find out if they think they met their goals, and if not, why not? Tell them how you think they did and why you’re proud of their accomplishments.

OR

Host a celebration.  Get everyone together for a post-event party. Over food and fun, discuss how it went. Focus on what goals were accomplished, and share encouragement for the future.

FOR MORE FUN: Before the event, make individual cards for each athlete. Offer positive feedback on their progress. This way, no matter the result of the final game, competition, or tryout, each person will have a written record of their success.

OR

'''Make a “trading card” for each athlete. '''You’ll need a photo of each person in your group (you could take one at a practice session or during the final event). Review your first assessment and how far each person has come toward reaching their goals. Choose decoration, statistics, sayings, or inspirational tidbits specific to each person.

Tip:

If your group doesn’t have a specific event to work for, create one! Show off new skills for family, friends, and Girl Scout sisters.

Sue Enquist
In women’s softball, Sue Enquist coached the Bruins at the University of California Los Angeles to 10 national championships. She, also, coached the gold-medal-winning team of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

Tara Vanderveer
Tara Vanderveer was inducted into the women’s Basketball Hall of Fame to honor her illustrious 31 years of coaching. Considered one of the top women’s basketball coaches in history, she is a three-time National Coach of the Year, and coached the gold-medal-winning 1996 Olympic women’s basketball team.

Stephanie Ready
In 2001, then-25-year-old Stephanie Ready made history when she became the first woman to coach a men’s professional basketball team. Ready, a former woman’s basketball and volleyball player in high school and college, graduated with a degree in psychology. These days, Ready is a sideline reporter for the National Basketball Association.