Episode 12-What you'll need

The host of the podcast "Gotcha Coach" shares his frustration at not receiving feedback from listeners. However, he realizes that he should continue posting episodes after discovering that more listeners downloaded the last podcast. In this episode, he discusses the requirements and preparations necessary for coaching youth sports at various levels and in different sports. He emphasizes the need to understand the rules, dynamics, and mission of the organization, as well as handling parents' expectations. He also provides recommendations for necessary equipment and the potential expenses coaches may need to cover. Finally, he discusses the challenges and costs associated with coaching track and field. Overall, he encourages individuals to consider all aspects before taking on a coaching job. Hey there. Welcome back, coaches, to Gotcha Coach, the podcast about coaching for coaches and hosted by a real coach. I'm your host, Coach Rick, and I want to welcome you back to the podcast. In what I thought was my swan song in the last episode, I shared with you my frustration at not getting feedback about the episodes and not knowing whether what I was sharing was making an impact on my listeners. Well, the proof is in the pudding, as they say, and I only had two listeners reach out to me and express their dismay at my suspending the podcast. That, to me, was all I needed to verify my decision until I saw that three more listeners in the USA and one in Australia downloaded the last podcast. And I realized also that I was doing exactly what I have told my athletes not to do when they're not getting the results that they expect or want. I mean, given that, I'll continue to post podcasts in hopes of reaching more and more listeners who are willing to learn about what it takes to coach youth sports and some of the ups and downs that you can expect. So welcome back to episode 12, an episode that I started before my decision to suspend the podcast titled, What Should You Expect? Tonight, I'm going to go through and try to convey what kinds of things you're going to need to get started in coaching at various levels and in various sports. Are you ready to learn? Good. Then let's get started. For the most part, getting involved in coaching a youth sports team such as Little League Baseball or AYSO Soccer is relatively easy. Well, it used to be. When I first got into coaching youth sports, specifically the AYSO and Little League Baseball, there were no hoops that I needed to jump through in order to be able to coach. If you could basically walk and chew gum at the same time, you got the gig. Now there's fingerprinting and background checks that need to be done as well as classes such as mandatory reporting and concussion protocol and others. In most, if not all leagues, the background check will cost you about $75 and depending on where you are directed to take the classes, they could cost you some more out-of-pocket expenses. Once you get past the requirements, you need to figure out if you really know what it is you've gotten yourself into. Do you know the rules of the sport you're coaching? Do you know the dynamics of the sport you're coaching? Do you understand the mission statement or the vision that the organization you are volunteering to coach in has? If yes, you can agree to it and follow it. And if you can agree and follow it, are you ready to handle those parents that don't want their kid to be the star? No, really. This is something that I never even thought about when I signed up to be a coach in these two organizations. So think about it and do your homework. I mean, AYSO has six philosophies that separate them from any other organization. These are principles that separate AYSO from other sports organizations. These tenets were created to provide a positive, fair, and fun soccer experience for all their players. These principles are everyone plays, balanced teams, open registration, positive coaching, good sportsmanship, and player development. Now for some new coaches, these concepts are foreign to us because it's not what traditionally has been ingrained in most of us. Little League has similar requirements as well. So all I'm saying is be prepared. Once you've gone through all the necessary requirements, you need to figure out what else you're going to need. Now, both organizations will provide you with the basics, uniforms, soccer balls, baseballs, a selection of baseball bats for Little League, and maybe some throw-down bases for Little League as well. After this, basically, you're on your own. So what else do you need? Well, for soccer, you may want to purchase some flagpoles and maybe some small cones to use for your dribble drills and a dry erase coach's clipboard to show diagrams to your team as to the different schemes you may want to play so they can see where each player is supposed to play. A coach's whistle is always a good thing to have during practice so you don't lose your voice trying to yell at the team when you want them to stop whatever it is they're doing. Also, if you can afford to buy them yourself, mesh practice jerseys called pennies will help you immensely when you are scrimmaging during practice. For Little League, a lineup whiteboard is a must so you can post the batting order and positions inside your dugout for your team to see. If the league doesn't provide throw-down bases, you should invest in these as well. They cost about $25 on Amazon and they're important items for you to have during practice since the real bases won't be on the practice field when you're there. Here's a special note. Get used to throwing in your own money for your team no matter what sport or what level you are coaching. Now let's take a look at middle school basketball. Not a whole lot needed here unless you as a coach don't have access to the PE closet where you can access the pennies and cones or or dots as I call them used in PE classes. I used the dots which were just vinyl circles, if you will, to show positioning on the floor when teaching the players where they should be positioned. The first thing that you'll absolutely need to figure out is how you plan on who is who during your tryouts. I used to print up numbers on full sheets of printer paper, cut them in half, and bought safety pins so the boys could put the numbers on their shirts for me to be able to analyze their performance during tryouts. I also had a clipboard with an eight and a half by eleven piece of paper on it with the numbers on it so that and a blank for each player to write in their name next to the number they had taken so I could put a number to a name after each tryout date. Now let's look at cross country and track and field at both the AAU or school scenario. Cross country is very easy. At the AAU level you'll need a stopwatch, uniforms, and a budget that covers your method of transportation to meets and lodging. At meets where that applies. High school cross country programs will cover all of these so there's nothing that you need to do unless you're the type of coach that wants to make their grueling practices as fun as can be by providing times and events that foster team bonding such as barbecues and any other events that you come up with. While cross country is a relatively very cost effective sport, track and field can be just the opposite especially at the high school level. Now AAU programs especially now need to be tied to an existing high school in the city that it serves. This means that applying through the school district for use of the track facility and the school equipment is or can be kind of a dicey situation unless the coach has a in with the school. Believe me this was a lot easier 50 years ago and the local city recreation department was the sponsor of my program. High school track and field is an entire horse of a different color with 16 events for athletes to be involved in. Well let's just say there are plenty of training items out there in the marketplace that high school programs would love to have access to but however finances don't always allow for that to happen. Now my last coaching gig was at a brand new high school and I got to build the program from the ground floor up but the majority of the items that were needed to get the program started were ordered by the principal before I was even hired. He was given a list of those items from my very good friend coach Dan who is the head coach at the other high school in our city. Coach Dan did a great job of supplying a list of the basics and the school did a great job of getting them ordered but let's keep one thing in mind. Track and field is a very expensive sport to get started. Example, high jump pits can cost about $8,000. A high quality pole vault setup can cost upwards of $15,000 to $20,000 while starting blocks will cost another $2,200 and hurdles because you need to have at least 100 of them will easily cost $20,000 or more and we haven't even talked about shot puts, discus apparatus or the equipment needed to transport these items to the track or the field area. Then there's the items that you really should have if you are required to or even desire to host a home meet. Measuring tapes, clipboards, rakes, brooms and more. We haven't even talked about the quote-unquote training items out there that you may or in most cases should have in order to provide the best training opportunities for your team. This is where you may wind up spending your own cash. Many schools have strict policies about making purchases for their sports programs that may not coincide with the vendors that you can buy the things that you need. So you turn around and you circumvent the system. Order and pay for the items yourself and then submit for reimbursement only to be turned down. Here's something that I would wind up doing. My wife and I have this Christmas tradition where we give each other a list of the things we want for Christmas presents. So I would give her a list of the training items that I needed for the team. She would buy them for me for Christmas and I'd use them for the track team. Of course, this would only probably work out if you had a understanding wife who really gets the reasons why you do what you do for your team. So here's my point. There's a lot of things that you need to consider before you get into a coaching job, whether it's with your own kids in baseball or soccer or in the middle or high school arena in basketball or track or any other sport for that matter. I'm by no means trying to discourage any of you from getting into coaching because it really has served me well over my 50-year career and has provided me with many, many memories as well as lessons that I was able to carry into my professional career as a hospital supply chain manager. Seeing the smiles on the faces of a nine-year-old who drives in the winning run in a little league game, witnessing the joy of a team of 10 and 11-year-olds that just won the soccer league championship, high-fiving a middle school basketball player after he hit the winning jump shot in front of a home crowd, seeing the excitement on the face of a female high school runner who worked her butt off all season and achieved her personal best in her race, having a former athlete thank you for the lessons that you taught them that helped them in their life after high school, and experiencing your former athletes coming back to volunteer to coach with you at your school. These are the reasons why I did what I did and these are the reasons why I strongly support the profession of youth coaching, even if it only lasts as long as your child is involved in the sport that you choose. If you do it right, it will be one of the best decisions ever. I am very happy to be back on this podcast and I thank you for listening to the podcast and for your support. I hope you're learning things that you may not have known before and that the content of the podcast will help you in your endeavor to be a youth coach. And if it's not, please remember you can send your questions or your concerns and don't hesitate to reach out to me at coachrickb53 at gmail.com. Until the next time, take care, laugh a lot, and tell someone that you love them. I'll talk to you soon.