Health and Wellness
As a sports coach, it’s your responsibility to set the pace. If you want your team to be at their physical best, you should lead by example. This goes for eating healthily too!
But, it’s not just about fitness and clean eating. Don’t burn the candle at both ends. Get enough rest and take care of yourself, it’ll benefit you and your team if you have enough energy to actually get through a coaching session.
Basic hygiene is a must. Your words of encouragement won’t have any effect if your body odour or matted hair are causing distraction.
As a general rule, long hair should be clean and away from your face and facial hair should be well-groomed.
Appropriate Clothing
It’s not imperative that you invest in professional sports coach clothing, but it can help to provide a much more professional image for your team members and anyone else you interact with as part of your coaching role. Designing a sports coach uniform with your team’s logo or even just the word ‘COACH’ across the back will help you to stand out from the crowd.
If you’re not at the point where you feel sports coach clothing is necessary, it’s important that you still dress appropriately. This includes dressing for the right weather, wearing clothing that fits well and isn’t badly damaged or worn and, most importantly, not wearing any clothing that includes threatening or inappropriate images. It’s a sure-fire way of making a bad impression.
So, when it comes to clothing, just remember to keep it clean and tidy.
Personal Conduct
As a coach, you’ll be spending a lot of your time communicating so it’s important that you do it right. Your team needs to trust, respect and understand you, so be sure to speak clearly at all times and be approachable – smile, it goes a long way towards putting people, especially beginners, at ease.
It’s also a good idea to steer clear of using bad language or inappropriate actions, especially if you’re working with minors.
Professional Attitude
As a sports coach, one of the worst things you can be is unprepared and unorganised. You’ll let yourself and your team down if you don’t focus and plan for them. Treat it like a business, because that’s exactly what it is; have plans, schedules, accounts and any other necessary paperwork.
Keep on top of the admin and have a solid, defined plan for each coaching session. Not only will your team thank you for bringing your A-game, but they’ll also reward you by bringing theirs!
