One of the signs of a good youth sports coach is that he has demonstrated his committment to to coaching and the physical and emotional well-being of athletes entrusted to his care in the following ways :
- By becoming trained (or, better yet, licensed or certified) in the sport he is coaching;
- By viewing an understanding of child development as essential to setting age-appropriate expectations for athletes;
- By keeping his coaches skills current, such as by attending coaching clinics or workshops;
- By acquiring a thorough understanding of the rules of the game so he can teach the sport correctly (remember: the rules and equipment may have been modified for younger children);
- By watching and learning from other coaches;
- By making the safety of athletes a priority by becoming certified in first aid, CPR, the use of an AED, and sports-specific injury prevention and treatment;
- By refusing to ask an athlete to play hurt;
- By encouraging athletes to report signs or symptoms of a concussion;
- By refusing to allow an athlete to return to play after suffering a concussion before all post-concussion signs and symptoms have cleared both at rest and with exertion;
- By setting age-, sport and developmentally-appropriate limits on the length and number of practices, number of pitches thrown, and/or number of games in order to avoid exposing athletes to overuse injuries to their growing bodies; and
- By emphasizing to athletes the importance of engaging in appropriate warm-up and cool-down exercises.
How does your child's coach stack up? Share your thoughts on what makes a good youth sports coach in our forum.
