IGWT t 2023
Your basic responsibility as a Coach is to make sure that you and your coaches are teaching football safely and providing a safe environment for learning much like the classroom but with an emphasis on player knowledge of safety for both your players and the opposing players.
Fundamental Principles of Coaching Football
- Practice Plan: Before the team steps on the field have a practice plan. Having a practice plan gives your team a much higher chance to accomplish what needs to be accomplished and in a much more time efficient way. Of course a big part of this is teaching yourself what skills need to be accomplished and what drills will be best utilized to get this job done.
- Attitude is Everything: No matter how many yelling and screaming coaches you have seen in the movies or even if you had an “old school” get in your face coach that made a true difference in your life don’t try and be someone you’re not. A good attitude makes football exciting and fun. You want these kids to enjoy the sport and you want them to look forward to being with you.
- Have Goals and Expectations: Don’t just set Team Goals but also set goals for each of you players. Not every team will win a championship. Football is a tough sport to learn and has many skills that apply to several positions. Set expectations for each player and as they grow you will get a sense of accomplishment with each milestone your players pass, even after they have left your program.
- Supercharge your practices: Practices with high energy are fun practices. That doesn’t mean pounding each other the entire time. There are plenty of ways to generate high energy. One of the best ways is to makes your drills and activities competitive. As a coach you will find out quickly who your biggest competitors are but your job doesn’t end there. Make sure that you put struggling players in a position to compete with other players. Having a strong competitive nature can be natural but it can also be cultivated and it won’t be if you let the same kids blast the other kids all the time.
- There’s more than one way to skin a cat: Understand going into this that there will be things that just don’t work the way in practice that you hoped they would. If something isn’t working and it’s taking time away from something else you need to accomplish either make the changes you need to or go onto the next skill or fundamental you need to work. You may have to have a collaborated jam session with your coaches or some good research to figure out another way to accomplish what needs to be done.
- Love on those kids: Expect a lot out of your players and push them accomplish but also enjoy them and let them know that you enjoy all of them. It’s not easy but you want them to enjoy being with each other as well. It is the comradery and the fellowship that strengthens the team. Every team will have differences but differences don’t have to impede the success of the team.
- Life Lessons: Kids today need more than a coach in there lives. Life Lessons will be learned during a season whether you teach them or not. You want to teach them. Football is an awesome opportunity for these kids to develop skills that help them prepare for times when life gets tough. It also shows them the advantages of having people in their lives that they can trust and being trustworthy.