Youth Coaching is just like College Teaching
It’s now been a week since my boys’ last youth football game of the season. My oldest played tackle football for the first time, while my youngest played flag football, also for the first time. Besides the boys doing a first for themselves, this season was also the first time I was a head coach. I’ve been meaning to do this for awhile and with a shortage of coaches this year I decided to step in and coach my son’s flag football team.
As the season progressed it quickly became obvious that coaching youth sports and teaching college level courses are really the same thing. As a professor I lead lectures, organize peer instruction activities, and assign exams. The overarching goal in anything we do during class is to guide the students to an understanding of the material. Their understanding is assessed on exam days where I put forth a set of questions or assign a large-scale project that tests their mastery of the material. At this point it’s all on the students.
In a similar fashion coaching does the same thing. During practice I have to instruct the players on how to pass, carry or catch a football; how to block; how to tackle, etc. Between instruction drills or scrimmages are used to put into practice the methods just taught to them. Assessment happens on game day. Plays are called for which the players have to execute as coached during practice. If they do the plays right then the game goes well. If the players don’t execute correctly, then, well you know how it goes.
As a tangent, it’s kinda funny that only recently has a learner-centerd classroom become popular. Traditional instruction found students sitting in a chair while the instructor droned on for an hour as the center of attention. It’s been said that such a method is the process of passing knowledge from the professor’s notes to the student’s notes without passing through the minds of either. Now, the preferred method is to drone on for a short time (about ten minutes or so) followed by an activity that’s centered on the students. It’s believed that by having the students directly engaging the material for themselves—in other words, practice for themselves—the outcome will be a greater mastery of the material.
Interestingly this is how coaching has always been. After a brief instruction on a proper technique or how a play is to be run, the coach has the players try it for themselves. In fact, sports practices are largely centered on the players doing what’s expected of them during a game. Why did it take so long for classroom instructors to catch on to this tried and true method?
Now back to my experience as a coach. With teaching there are those tests where the score averages are not as high as I would like them. Such exams often lead to a personal reflection about my teaching techniques. Did I properly prepare the students? Was the assessment (exam) appropriate? Did the students put their best effort forward? These moments become an impetus for improving the course and my teaching style so that in the future things won’t go as bad. (As one approach see my earlier post Taking Notes Now For Better Teaching In The Future.)
In coaching a similar process occurs. There are those games—and yes we had a few—where afterwards I felt terrible, like I let the team down because I felt that I did not properly prepare them for the game. After these games I would change my coaching approach and/or I would focus on a particular aspect of the game that needs improving. One practice was dedicated to simply watching out for those darn reverse plays.
For some reason, at the beginning of the season I completely forgot I was a professor and that my daytime job is to literally teach. Instead I went into coaching like I knew nothing about it. Once I realized the points noted above the season got so much easier. We got more out of practices. Our games became more competitive. Most importantly, every player finished the season happy and better football players than where they were a few short months earlier. As a coach, and a teacher, this is all I can ask for.
By the way, we finished the season with two wins, three loses, and two ties. The season ended with a big bang, winning 20 to 6 in our final game. I enjoyed coaching so much that I plan on doing it again next year and may even try my hand at baseball in the spring.
