Coaches all have their own personal approach to making sure that the players understand the game and continuously improve. If you are trying to make sure that your players are reaching their fullest potential, your heart as a coach is to achieve your fullest potential as their leader. Team Mantra wants you to have four simple ways to reach that goal at your fingertips.
4 Interpersonal Strategies for Coaching Children:
- Cast a Vision and Motivate Players Collectively. Just like business people in a company or parents leading a family, children strongly benefit from having a clear goal in mind- a purpose that motivates them. As a coach, your goal is to help cast that vision for them. This has the power to unite your team like nothing else could do.
- Focus and Encourage Players’ Strengths. As you keep each player in the forefront of your mind throughout the week, consider specific ways you can give that person the individual attention he or she deserves. Consider how you can place your players in the best position for their aptitudes. Also, be sure to encourage them, building up their strengths.
- Hone and Develop Each Player Compassionately. By first telling them what they are doing right, you prepare children to be more open to an understanding of what they need to improve. You can show them techniques that they may not be familiar with without criticizing them or discouraging them from the sport. You can work with them compassionately, with their personal motivations and sensitivities in mind, in order to help develop their weak points.
- Coach and Correct Team Trouble Consistently. The next part of coaching that you should keep mind is the overall functioning of the team. When one player misbehaves or has trouble paying attention, address it personally with that player and then take it to the parents and perhaps take them out of the game if the concern isn’t resolved. If there is interpersonal conflict on the team, such as hostility between two players or bullying, address it consistently and work with those involved to manage the situation. Keep in mind that as the adult you are shaping the way these children will relate with others in the future.
By unifying the team toward a meaningful goal, honing and positioning each player’s strengths while compassionately working through the weaknesses, and by managing problems that emerge, you can be a stellar coach. You can be confidence that your team will learn vital interpersonal skills they need not only for the sport, but more importantly, for life.
Let Team Mantra help you take your team’s vision and style and further unite your team with the perfect look. Contact Us for more information.