What makes a good sports coach?

So, what is a sports coach and what makes a good sports coach? To some people, a sports coach has one simple role, and that is to deliver and teach the sport… that’s it. For instance, a football coach’s purpose is to just teach football. However, there are many important and different aspects of sports coaches and their coaching that can determine the path an athlete’s career will take. Life coach directory defines sports coaching as “the process of motivating, guiding and training an individual in preparation for any sporting hobby, career, or event”. (Lifecoach-directory.org.uk, 2019)

A sports coach has many roles. From teaching and nurturing to comforting and being a role model. Some people even see sports coaches as parent figures, outlining the genuine effect sports coaches can have on an athlete’s lifestyle. A sports coach’s main purpose is to coach, that’s an obvious role however some sports coaches’ main purpose can be many other things. For example, Jason Wilson, a Karate Teacher from the USA has a different initiative in which karate is not the main purpose of his coaching. His purpose is to take young children off the streets to discipline them and help them face their fears. He trains their mindset through karate by strengthening their mental strength as the first form of defense rather than just using karate itself. He believes actions are caused by a person’s mindset and their influence. If actions are done before thinking it through rather than getting angry, the outcome will always be better. Jason quoted “peace has to be in us before it is around us”. His aim is also to allow karate to be a form of stepping out of their comfort zone as well as support from problems children may be facing at home. he quoted “aggressively yelling at an angry, fatherless young man is as productive as attempting to stitch up a wound with a needle and no thread”.

Sports coaches have a bigger purpose in the sporting industry and their roles cover more than just teaching the sport. Sports coaches play a bigger part in a person’s or an athlete’s life than the social standard would suggest, and that a sports coach is much more than its title defines it to be.