Coaching Philosophy

Tyler McDonald

I have now been a coach of youth sports for over five years and have realized that each

and every coach has a different philosophy or mindset on how they want to run their own

team. I have read over the National Coaching Standards and have developed a good idea of

what I want my philosophy to be when coaching sports.

A huge part of being a coach is having goals for my program, of where I want to go with

the program. The other part is, is my program supporting ethical practices. Ethics in sports has

become a very prominent topic because I have to find that happy medium of wanting to win

but not crossing an ethical line. As a future coach I would love to win the majority of my games

but the reality of it is I am becoming a coach to help teach and guide my athletes in that sport

and in life. Standard 1 is “Develop and enact an athlete-centered coaching philosophy” (SHAPE

America, 2018). This standard is something that I truly want to be one of my core beliefs

because to be an effective coach my job should revolve around the athletes. Not the idea of we

need to win every game, I want to be a role model or someone my athletes can come to when

they need support. As a coach I will make sure to map out goals for my team and promote

playing sports the right way, to not take short cuts to gain advantage in games.

Building relationships and creating a safe and positive environment is maybe the

number one job of a coach. If my athletes do not feel like they are coming into a safe

environment, why would they want to play for me as a coach. In the past I have had some very

positive coaches, and that is how I want to be as a coach. I will teach my athletes the game but
ensure that I do it in a positive way. If an athlete is being corrected in a positive way compared

to being yelled at, they will take it much better and continue to listen to that person. A big thing

I want to have as a future coach is an open line of communication with everyone that is

involved in my program. Standard 9 says “Acquire and utilize intrapersonal and communication

skills” (SHAPE America, 2018). As a coach direct communication with my athletes can make me

a better coach, knowing how they are feeling and getting an idea of their thoughts. That can

then help me coach the team in a way that I know these athletes need. To have communication

with administrators and other faculty involved in athletics can only make my job as a coach

easier. I would never want to turn my back on those other members because they could only

help me with sport related things. It could never hurt to have good relationships with my peers

that could potentially make my job go smoother. I feel I currently am I good communicator and

build meaningful relationships and as a coach I want to continue that practice.

The last part of coaching is actually preparing my team for games and competition.

Coaches are supposed to and expected to prepare their team for the upcoming competitions. I

feel that I have a wide variety of knowledge in many sports with a great deal of knowledge in a

few sports. As a coach I want to be well versed in the sport I am coaching, so that I can educate

and train my athletes like they deserve to be. Standard 26 is “Plan practices to incorporate

appropriate competition strategies, tactics, and scouting information” (SHAPE America, 2018).

The idea of using competition and game like situations in practice I feel is a crucial thing for

athletes and I will use in my coaching. It is one thing to just run through drills and go over skills,

but if the athlete cannot use those skills in a game setting than it does not help anyone. I

believe that teaching my athletes the correct age-appropriate skills and techniques, then
allowing them to use it in a competition would benefit the team as a whole and me as a coach.

Getting my team ready for a game or competition is what people expect from me as the coach.

Coaching is a much more complex thing than just showing up to a game and letting my

team play. Coaching has many parts to it. I spoke about three major parts of coaching above:

developing goals and using ethical practices, building relationships and a safe/positive

environment, and preparing your team for competitions. As a coach I would like to be a positive

influence in my athletes’ lives, who was able to teach them their sport and someone they look

up to.