Coaching Children

            Too often people are thrown into the coaching role simply because there is nobody else to do it, or they are there with ulterior motives, but coaching children is not as easy as it appears to be, you must be able to relate to them, you have to make it fun, and you must have the ability to teach them something. Too many children don't stick with whatever sport they are playing, many times the reason for that is they don't like the coach of their team.
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             Players won't listen to a coach they don't respect. Players won't value a coach who just goes out on the ice or behind the bench and screams and yells like a lunatic at the kids and at the referees. As a coach you must be able to relate to the players and make them understand that the reason you may be telling them to do something is to make them better players. Players just want to get out on the ice in a practice and shoot pucks around and do what they want. Just as a school teacher must do, you must make the players listen to you. At the coaching clinics a individual will learn some different ways of communicating with the players, but it is mostly from within where you must find ways to bond with the players. A coach must also show the parents of the players that they are good for the job. He or she must meet with all of the parents and allow them to be involved in some of the decision making, by doing this it shows them that you are interested in improving their child's skills and person. It is important to gain the parents confidence, as the children generally will take the same opinion of the coach that the parents do, and if the players don't respect you, you will lose control , causing disorder in the dressing rooms and on the ice.
             A coach must have the ability to keep the players interested. If players aren't having fun they will get bored, lose their concentration and won't respond to the coach very well. They need variety in the drills they do; otherwise they will just gripe and complain about how they don't want to do something.