Are you ready to coach?
Making the choice to become a coach is one that should not
be taken lightly. Good coaches spend
infinite amounts of time working for the teams they coach, planning, preparing,
analyzing, and watching film (Yes, even cheer coaches watch film). A lot of time goes into planning a successful
cheer season. Cheerleaders are an active
and involved bunch as I have mentioned many times. Someone has to be in charge
of coordinating all that.
I don’t want to scare you off from coaching, but I would
like to outline a few things to think about before getting into a head coaching
position. To take a quote from the Boy
Scouts, “Be Prepared.”
Time management
The first thing to consider when making the decision is to
determine the type of squad you are going to have. Set up a meeting with your Administration to
discuss the expectations they have of the program. This meeting will serve many
purposes, we’ll refer to it often. If
the administration would like a highly involved squad that participates in many
games and functions, then your time commitment is going to be greater. If they simply want a squad that shows up to
games and the occasional assembly, then you won’t have to spend as much time.
An involved team will require approximately 15-20 hours per
week from the coach to prepare, plan, practice and attend games. I typically spend 1 hour per day planning and
then 2 hours per day at practices 3-4 days per week. Once or twice a week we have games to perform
at which are 2-3 hours. You could spend
more or less time than this depending on your coaching style. I am a pretty hands-on/involved coach so I
spend extra time when I can.
Knowledge of the Rules
Coaching sports comes with a required amount of knowledge of
the sport and its rules. Many times
there are sport-specific certifications that must be obtained. Most of the knowledge is learned on your own
time and classes are often paid for on your own dime. At the minimum, I would recommend that you become
certified in CPR/First Aid, Concussions, and the AACCA Certification (American
Association of Cheer Coaches and Advisors).
The CPR/First Aid will cost around $40.00 depending on who or where you
take it from. The AACCA certification is
$75.00 and done online. It takes 2-4
hours depending on your previous knowledge of the sport and test. The concussion course is also offered online
from the NFHS (National Federation High Schools). It is a free course.
Each state you coach in will follow a national standard for spirit
team rules. The two most common
standards are the NFHS or the AACCA rules.
Many of the rules from the two are the same, but with some minor
differences. The two entities have been
working closely together for the last few years to start making them similar. In Nevada, we use the NFHS rules and all
coaches must attend a yearly rules meeting for updates. There is a test at the end of the meeting
that we must pass as well. You will be
responsible for knowing which rules you need to follow and making sure that
your squad is following them. In some
states, a violation of the rules could result in a fine or even loss of your
job.
The last layer is the school district, each district will
also have generic all-sport rules that you will need to know and follow. These typically deal with the amount of
practice time, when you can practice, grade requirements, athletic clearances,
numbers of games and missing school. If
you are not familiar with any of the rules or organizations listed above, check
with your administrator at your initial meeting for these requirements.
Travel is something that falls under time management, but
could be its own category. Check with
your admin in that first meeting about the travel requirements of your
squad. Do they travel to away games?
Where are the games? For some schools travel may be simply across town or a few
miles down the highway to another town.
In some schools travel could be a 5 hour bus ride. Check to see what the expectations are. Are the cheerleaders required to find parent
drivers? Will the school or district pay for bussing? Do you as the coach need
to become certified to drive a district van? Be prepared.
Financial Security
Coaches do not do it for the money. Yes, some coaches get paid, but many of us
spend more in a season than we get paid.
Gas, goodies, pizza, coaches clothes, certifications, etc. They add up.
You should make sure that you’re financially secure before taking on the
job.
The next few things to consider are more emotional in
nature, but non-the-less important.
How are you at dealing with difficult people? If you’re a youth coach you deal with mostly
difficult parents. If you coach middle
or high school you deal with difficult teens AND their parents. When coaching, you need to communicate team
expectations often and in writing to keep the difficult people at bay. Set rules that you are willing to enforce and
make sure that your athletes and parents understand them before starting. I suggest having them sign the rules to make it
easier enforce them later on. Also be
prepared to use every ounce of patience that you have when dealing with these
people. They are not bad people, just
passionate about their kids and sport.
You will also need the have the ability to compartmentalize
your emotions. Kids and parents will say
and do things that will constantly push your buttons. As coaches, we should act with
professionalism at all times to maintain order and respect as a coach. We will need to keep our personal feelings
and emotions in check. It is not
easy. I have been known to cancel a
practice mid-way through to keep myself from losing my cool on the team.
All of these things make coaching sound awful, but really
coaching offers SO many wonderful and rewarding points that all the preparation
and time management become worth it. The
first time you see a struggling athlete accomplish a goal or learn a new skill
and they light up with excitement you forget the drama and the struggles. Years after you coach a student and they come
back and thank you for the leadership and lessons learned, you’ll cherish their
memory. It will be worth it knowing that
you impacted their lives in a positive way, helping them to find themselves and
become better people. They touched your
life too, and you were impacted by having them on your team.
It’s worth it.
Cheers!
*\o/*
CW3
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