Coaching is a passion that I would like to pursue in my professional career as my experiences with coaches have been an important aspect of my athletic history. When coaching, you can get a closer relationship with those students, which is very important in my career as a physical educator. Being able to have that closer relationship with some students is important because it makes those students feel like they are valued and getting more out of their athletic education. In sports, we learn a lot of different life lessons, and I want to help youth hone in on specific sport skills, whilst also developing other skills for our other aspects of life. As a coach I want to value teaching them as a whole person, rather than just focusing on the development of their sport skills. I can do this by giving my athletes opportunities to take on leadership roles, holding them accountable for their actions, and teaching them how some of the lessons they learn through sports can be used outside of athletics. Going through my life, I had coaches help me shape into the person that I am today through those traditions. I want to be able to pass on what I have learned and experienced to the next generation to help guide them.
I have also had negative influences from coaches, so being able to understand how they coached and stay away from that is also important towards why I would like to become a coach. I want to be an overall positive influence that the students that I coach can view as an approachable coach who is focused on developing their students as a whole. I can create this type of relationship by getting to know my athletes individually, communicating with them regularly, and making sure they know they can come to me when they need help.
Athletics provides opportunities for leadership and personal growth. In athletics, we get the chance to grow and learn each day through different unique opportunities. Athletics can provide opportunities that help individuals develop skills and habits that can benefit them throughout their lives. Through athletics, individuals can learn the importance of being active, working with others, overcoming challenges, and finding activities they enjoy. As individuals age, these experiences can help them adapt and find age-appropriate lifetime activities that allow them to continue living a healthy and active lifestyle. So they can understand and find activities to do once they get outside of school. As a coach I want to be competitive and win games, but I would also like my team to have a community-like environment where everyone is viewed as a family and having fun. I can create this environment by still holding my athletes to high expectations during practices and games, while also making sure that mistakes are viewed as opportunities to improve and learn. It's important to be able to balance the two which can be hard, but I do not want an environment that is unenjoyable.
I value that athletics can be a great place for our students to have peer-to-peer interactions in person. This also allows for unique relationships to be made. There are friend groups in school, so getting a bunch of different people together through athletics opens more opportunities to create relationships with students they may not normally interact with. Being on a team gives students the opportunity to work together, communicate, and spend time with people outside of their normal friend groups. This can help students build new relationships while also learning how to work with and support different people.
As a coach, I want to be an approachable mentor. I want my athletes to be able to come to me if needed; that being said, I also want to be strict--meaning that I hold my athletes to a high standard. I can find a balance between the two by being open and willing to listen to my athletes while also setting clear expectations for them from the beginning of the season. I want them to be examplarly athletes and students. I want them to behave and achieve their goals in school, and I also want them to behave and stay disciplined when it's game or practice time. I can help with this by checking in with my athletes about how they are doing in school and reminding them that being a student comes before being an athlete. I want everyone on my team to feel respected no matter what their role is. I can do this by making sure each player understands their role and recognizing athletes for their effort and improvement, not just their playing time or performance. I want my team to understand that everyone has an important role towards the team and that it’s up to them to give their best effort towards their role. My players and I will have a relationship where they are not afraid to come up to me and communicate whatever they need to. I also want them to understand that I am their coach and not their friend.
With my other coaches, I want to have a relationship where everyone is open to display their opinion. They are all coaches for a reason and have valid opinions, so it's important to let them know that their opinion matters and is being considered. I want to be able to discuss sport and our team outside of practice time, whether that would be film or just a simple phone call. This allows us as coaches to be as prepared as possible. I want for my community to be involved with our program. This involvement could include helping at games, raffles, community events, and online posts. Giving them these options to get involved can create more buy-in and support for the team.
Building this type of supportive team environment also connects to how I want my athletes to treat others. As a coach, I want to teach my athletes how to treat others with respect. Including the other team, I want to teach my team to be disciplined and not react to what others say and do. I would like my team to keep things respectful towards the other team. I also want this same respect to be shown towards officials. Even when I disagree with a call, I need to communicate respectfully with officials because my athletes will see my behavior and follow the example that I set. As a coach, I will not tolerate any trash talk or bullying towards others.
Ultimately, I would like my students to leave my team with more than just physical skills and abilities to perform tasks. I want them to live as an individual who is a leader who has grown through sports. I want my students to have an understanding of the sport, why it’s healthy, and how they can incorporate it into the rest of their life.