Your role as a coach
People, young and old, take part in marching for a variety of reasons. As a coach you should consider why your marchers are participating and why you are coaching. Review the information below, then ask yourself, why are you coaching?
Why People Play Sport?
- Fun and enjoyment
- Improve fitness / skill level
- Make new friends
- Sense of belonging
- Fame or money
- Achievement goals
- Thrill of competing and winning
- Health and well being.
Why People Don't Play Sport?
- No time / too busy
- Family/ home / work commitments
- Sport is too competitive
- Lack motivation or confidence
- Cost - too expensive
- Feel inadequate (physical or performance)
Why People Coach
- To give something back to their sport
- To help others achieve
- To stay involved in the sport they love
- Power / recognition / money
- To help the local community or school
- A natural progression
- No one else to take the team
- Too old to play
- Personal challenge
The principles highlighted above will influence how you approach your coaching during training and competition and the goals you and your marchers will set.
- Think back to the coaches you will have had.
- What sort of impact did they have on your life?
- There may be one coach in particular who stands out more than the others in your memory.
- What was it about that coach that set them apart from the others?
Here are some examples of an effective coach:
- Well organized, on time and they plan ahead
- They abide by the principles of fair play
- They're a good communicator
- They're committed to self growth and developing their marchers to perform to the best of their ability
- They reflect on what is going well and evaluates on what they are doing and learns from it
- They understand and appreciate the needs strengths and weaknesses of their individual marchers
- They have a genuine concern to help others develop both physically and mentally.
- Finally the most important, they have are able and willing to learn.
There are also some examples of a bad coach
- They have an authoritarian approach
- They want to win at all costs
- They push their marches beyond their developmental limit
As an activity, why don't you consider some examples of both and why they might be good or bad.
Click here to continue to the Principles of fair play
