I'm in my 6th year of coaching fastpitch softball in the Cedar Valley area. I coached 4 years at the junior varsity level for East Waterloo High School, and approaching my 2nd year at Dike-New Hartford Middle School. Inevitably, I have had good times and bad in every season. I've made so many mistakes, some big, some small but I have learned from every single one. Some of the most difficult times in my 6 seasons of coaching were when I couldn't seem to get through to an individual player, a class of players or the team as a whole. In my years as a player, I was highly intrinsically motivated. My coaches didn't have to work hard to convince me to try hard. I had a very difficult time realizing that is not how every athlete is in my first few years of coaching. I took this class with the specific intention of using the knowledge learned and directly enforcing it in my coaching philosophy and experience.
We had our first pre-season meeting Tuesday evening. It was nice to see almost every 7th grader from last season returning to play again this year, I told many of them that they are expected to be leaders now and that one goal of mine is to have even more fun than we had last summer. I also got to meet the new players, I was able to introduce myself and tell them what to expect from our program.
I've done this routine six times now and for the most part, it hasn't changed much over the years, except for one very specific activity. For the first time in my still very young coaching career, I handed each of them a half sheet of paper with many common reasons they have decided to play softball this year. The reasons included, I like the game of softball, I enjoy competing with kids my age, I love the way it feels to win, Many of my friends also play, It's fun to learn new skills, My parents encourage me to try the sport of softball, and other reasons as well as a few blank lines for them to fill in themselves. They were not required to write their names on the paper, but could if they choose to do so.
I feel that this change in my pre-season routine could potentially help me understand the most effective way to teach them the sport, encourage them to try harder and motivate them to become a successful team unit. I am beyond excited for the season to begin and I hope to become a better coach with the knowledge that I take away from this class.
We had our first pre-season meeting Tuesday evening. It was nice to see almost every 7th grader from last season returning to play again this year, I told many of them that they are expected to be leaders now and that one goal of mine is to have even more fun than we had last summer. I also got to meet the new players, I was able to introduce myself and tell them what to expect from our program.
I've done this routine six times now and for the most part, it hasn't changed much over the years, except for one very specific activity. For the first time in my still very young coaching career, I handed each of them a half sheet of paper with many common reasons they have decided to play softball this year. The reasons included, I like the game of softball, I enjoy competing with kids my age, I love the way it feels to win, Many of my friends also play, It's fun to learn new skills, My parents encourage me to try the sport of softball, and other reasons as well as a few blank lines for them to fill in themselves. They were not required to write their names on the paper, but could if they choose to do so.
I feel that this change in my pre-season routine could potentially help me understand the most effective way to teach them the sport, encourage them to try harder and motivate them to become a successful team unit. I am beyond excited for the season to begin and I hope to become a better coach with the knowledge that I take away from this class.
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