Youth sports coaches should set realistic, age-appropriate expectations for athletes, which requires an understanding of child development, and being child- rather than adult-centered.
Youth sports coaches should be aware that:
- large physical and psychological differences are common, even among children the same age;
- children younger than eleven or twelve are not always emotionally and cognitively ready to compete as adults compete because they have not yet developed a mature understanding of the competitive process, and don't really care as much about winning and losing; and
- pushing a child to do something for which he is not developmentally ready, like specializing too early, is not a good idea and can result in burnout or the child quitting the sport early.
As Tony DiCicco and Colleen Hacker, head coach of and sports psychology consultant to the 1996 Olympic gold medal and 1999 World Cup champion U.S. Women's Soccer Team say in their book, Catching Them Being Good, coaches should challenge their players "to stretch them individually and collectively" with the "demands placed on players ... carefully balanced between their actual skills and abilities."
A good youth sports coach is also child- not adult-centered. He or she understands that the game belongs to the players, not the coach or parents, and that the players and the game should be focus, not the coach. A simple way for a coach to do that is to periodically ask him or herself, "Whose sport is it?" The answer should be the same every time: the athlete's. A coach is there to guide, motivate, help, teach and inspire, not to control or to gratify his or her ego.
Updated August 6, 2011
