Broomfield Recreation Services Coaches Training

Promote the
Growth of each
participant
physically ,
mentally , and
emotionally.

Teach the
fundamentals of
the sport

Have fun in an
active
environment and
develop healthy
lifestyle habits.

Develop life
skills :
Discipline, goal
setting and
achievement,
teamwork, etc.

Developmental
Needs

Communication

Coach and
Parent
Behavior

Safety

Please note: These are not all of the developmental needs of youth athletes, just
three important needs that we feel needed to be emphasized.

• Different ages require a different model and approach to coaching youth athletes. The ages
listed below are a generalization and each child develops at a different rate that you may have to
adapt your style to them.
• The timeline below is based on the Long-Term Athletic Development Model (LTAD) broken down by
Carson Boddicker in article on optimumsportsperformance.com on Nov. 5, 2009.
• It is important to note that an athlete cannot skip steps and a foundation has to be built prior to
moving on to the next step.
• In the next few slides, we will break down each step!
5 Years and
Under Free
Play/
Exploratory

9-12 Years

16-18 Years
Training to
Compete

Learning To
Train

6-8 Years
Fundamentals
Development

12-16 Years
Train to Train

Boddicker, Carson “Long-Term Athletic Development Model (LTAD)”, optimumsportsperformance.com 5 Nov. 2009.
http://optimumsportsperformance.com/blog/long-term-athletic-development-model/

19+ Years
Training to
Win



Free Play/Exploratory Play




Athletes in this age group should be allowed to experience any and all
types of sports and activities without heavy instruction on techniques.
The focus of activities should be to keep them moving and having fun.
Teach the language of the sport, i.e. in baseball/softball you have fly balls,
ground balls, outs, safes, etc.




FUNdamentals




Emphasis on learning fundamental movement skills
Keep activities fun and kids constantly moving
Concentrate on the “ABC’s”
 Agility

 Balance
 Coordination


Encourage kids to participante in many sporting activities.




Learn to Train



Emphasis on learning basic sports skills
Focus on learning how to compete, not on how to win.
 70% of focus should be about practice and 30% on actual game competition




Encourage general conditioning which includes endurance, flexibility, and
basic body weight exercises and movements
Sport specialization is not recommended at this time.




Train to Train



Athlete can start to develop more specific sport skills
Periodization, rather than specialization, should be used to help athletes
develop sport specific skills
 60% of focus should be on practice and only 40% on game competition



Aerobic and strength training can be an increased focus depending on the
athletes maturity

Note: We will not cover the 16-18 and 19+ age groups since they don’t apply to our programs.

8000 youth sports participates were surveyed and listed the top 5
reason they participated in sports.


1.
2.

3.
4.
5.



To have fun
To do something I am good at
To stay in shape
To learn new or improve my skills
To play as part of a team

It is important to note that “To Win” was not listed as one of the
top contributing factors for participation in youth sports at all in
recreation athletics.
Hedstom, Ryan and Gould, Daniel. “Youth Sports: Involvement, Participation, and Dropout”. Research in Youth Sports: Critical Issues Status.
(2004): 21. 2 pars. 3 Sept. 2013. http://www.educ.msu.edu/ysi/articles/CTSAWhitePapers.pdf







Most statistical research shows that about 20%-30% of the 30
million kids that participate in youth sports will not return to that
sport the following year.
An even more alarming number is that 70% of youth athletes will
quit playing all sports by the age 13.
Subsequently, the number one reason given that kids quit sports is
that is was not fun anymore.
Hedstom, Ryan and Gould, Daniel. “Youth Sports: Involvement, Participation, and Dropout”. Research in Youth Sports: Critical Issues Status.
(2004): 22-23. 3 pars. 3 Sept. 2013. http://www.educ.msu.edu/ysi/articles/CTSAWhitePapers.pdf



How do you as a coach keep a Fun Environment?


The Positive Coaching Alliance uses the “ELM” model for coaching.
 E for Effort – The player gives their best effort in every practice and game.
 L for Learning – Players continue to learn and improve every practice and

game.
 M is for Mistakes – Mistakes are a part of learning and how athletes improve
their skills. Creating an environment that allows for mistakes will help
athletes learn but not dwell on that mistake.

Positive Coaching Alliance. Sample Script for Elm Tree of Mastery. 2012. 4 Sept. 2013.
http://www.positivecoach.org/common/cms/documents/Coach%20Tools%20-%20Public/PCA_ELM_tree_script.pdf



How to keep a Fun Environment Continued.
Value preparatory conditioning: A youth athlete’s competitive drive should evolve
out of preparatory conditioning and instructional training. Inadequate physical
preparation are common themes in overuse injuries in youth athletics today.
 Enhance Physical Literacy: Coaches should value improving motor skills
competence (running, skipping, & hopping)and object control skills (throwing,
catching, and striking) in a fun and positive way.
 Focus on positive education: praising youth athletes publicly and specifically on
the skill that they did well will enhance their motivation and enjoyment of the
sport.


Faigenbaum Ed.D., Avery and Meadors Ph.D. “A Coaches Dozen: 12 FUNdamental Principles for Building Young and Healthy Athletes”. 2010. 4 Sept. 2013.
http://www.strongkid.com/uploads/CoachesDozen2.pdf

To emphasize the skill development of young athletes, coaches need to focus on a minimum of
3 things.



Positive Techniques of Encouragement

1.





Focus on the skills the athlete does well and when giving criticism surround it by skills they perform well at.
Be aware of the tone of your voice and praise publically and criticize privately by talking with your athlete.
Example: John you did a great job of getting your glove down to field the baseball. If you could do that after you
run up to field the ball, that would be really special. You do a great job of throwing to 1st base, keep up the good
work.

Effective Skill Instruction

2.



Following the Age Appropriate Coaching model, you can find a wealth of knowledge and drill examples on
YouTube for your particular age group. Just remember to the drills need to be active and fun!

Avoiding Punishment

3.





Youth Athletes do not response well to yelling, running for punishment, or public criticism.
In public focus on what your athletes do well and remain calm and collected for the entirety of the practice or
game.
If punishment is needed, talk with the athlete one on one, speak with the parent, or change the stimulus (the
drill, position, etc.)

Hedstom, Ryan and Gould, Daniel. “Youth Sports Coaching: Development, Approaches, and Educational Needs”. Research in Youth Sports:
Critical Issues Status. (2004): 9-13. 8 pars. 3 Sept. 2013. http://www.educ.msu.edu/ysi/articles/CTSAWhitePapers.pdf

The Positive Coaching Alliance “Double-Goal
Coach Job Description” is an additional
example of focusing on the skills of the sport
rather than the competition to promote and
encourage young athletes in an environment
that they will have fun and improve their
athletic abilities.
 To download a copy of this form go to:


Double-Goal Coach
Positive Coaching Alliance. Double-Goal Coach Job Description. 2012. 4 Sept. 2013.
http://www.positivecoach.org/common/cms/documents/Coach%20Tools%20-%20Public/PCA_DGC_job_desc.pdf

Coach

Program
Administrator

Athletes

Parents



As a coach, you will be a point of contact with your program administrator. Most forms of
communication come in the form of email.
 Example of information that your program administrator will distribute through you are:
 Program Schedules
 Program Rules
 Special Events (Professional Sporting Game Youth Nights, Fun Days, Etc.)
 Schedule Changes

 Roster Changes




As a coach your responsibility will be to communicate between your parents and athletes and
the program administrator.
Your program administrator is a resource for you! Please make sure that any questions,
concerns, or comments are communicated with them as soon as possible. Program
Administrators cannot help you unless they know what you need.

To communicate effectively with parents you will need to do the following things:



Set up a pre-season meeting to cover important information about the season. At a minimum, you
should cover the following topics listed below.

1.









Communicate with Parents on the environment you are trying to create.

2.





3.
4.

Important contact information (Coaches and Assistant Coaches, Program Administrator, Weather lines, etc.)
Season Game and Practice Schedules
Special Events for the Program
Your Coaching Philosophy (Hopefully modeled after this training information)
Expectations that you have from the parents. (See #2 Below)
Broomfield’s Zero Tolerance Policy
Directions to Practice and Game Locations
Expand on your coaching philosophy and creating positive environments for kids
Warn of the effects that public criticism and yelling will have on the athletes ability to learn and improve.
Focus on the skill development of their player and encourage the parent to support the “free play” mentality.
Reinforce the Zero Tolerance Policy by keeping their comments positive and about the good accomplishments of
the team/players.

As information is distributed to and from the program administrator, make sure to keep your parents
informed throughout the season.
Ask for a parent volunteer(s) to help coordinate things like snack schedules, bathroom breaks, and/or
to be a “team parent”.











Communication with Athletes also varies with their age and mental development, not their physical abilities or
attributes. Remember no matter how “good” a player is, they are still at the same mental and emotional age
as everyone else, so they will also need the same positive support.
Communication should always be positive and even when giving constructive criticism. Studies show that
when a young athlete is positively supported by the coach and their parents, the attrition rate drops from
26% (national avg.) to 5%.*
When you give constructive criticisms, they should be surrounded by positives. An example of this was given
in the Emphasizing Skill Development and Minimizing Competition. Make sure both praise and criticism of a
player are truthful and about their skills, not a personal attack. An athlete of any age cannot determine what
skills to correct with comments like you’re killing me, you are the worst shortstop ever, etc. Subsequently
these type of comments will be extremely destructive to a young athletes self confidence and ultimately make
them perform worse.
Negative comments to youth athletes create an environment and mindset for youth athletes to focus on not
making mistakes and having the coach yell at them, instead of a preferred environment of building skills and
learning to preform at their best.
Emphasize the skills and goals that you are working on in practice and stress to the athletes that the efforts
they put into practice are much more important that what happens in the game. Continue to downplay the
importance of the game, athletes will put enough pressure on themselves to preform in a game. Game
situations are excellent opportunities to prove to athletes that mistakes happen, learn from them, let them
go, and focus on the next play.

*Barnett, N.P., Smoll, F.L., & Smith, R.E. (1992). “Effects of enhancing coach-athlete relationships on youth sport attrition.” The Sport Psychologist, 6, 111-127.

Environment
Physical

Mental/Emotional

Safe Athletes

Having Environmental Safety is being cognizant of your playing location and equipment. To
provide a safe environment for your team you need to do the following things.



Inspect your practice and game locations for any visible safety hazards.

1.

Example of possible hazards are holes in the infield/outfield, sprinkler heads stuck in the up position, broken
basketball hoops, wet courts, etc.



In addition to your physical environment, your sports equipment can pose a safety hazard. Make sure
you inspect your equipment every practice and game as it can deteriorate over the season.

2.




Examples of possible safety hazards with equipment are missing padding in helmets, cracked bats, missing or
broken straps, etc.
Please note: if you equipment was issued to you by Recereation Services and it is unsafe, then please contact the
program administrator so they can replace it.

Weather also poses a threat to players safety. Recreation Services will make every effort to make
decisions prior to the start of games and practices, however there will be times as a coach you will
have to make decisions regarding weather conditions during your practices.

3.



If you are in an outside program, never take a chance with lightning. The National Athletic Trainers’ Association
Recommends the 30/30 Flash to Bang Lightning Rule. If you see a flash of lightning and hear thunder within 30
seconds, remove all players from your practice field. For every 5 seconds that passes from the flash, it is a
mile worth of distance. Therefor, the recommendation is when lightning is within 6 miles, you clear the field.
Players will need to go to a safe location such as inside a building or vehicle and not return to play until the 30
minutes has passed after the last flash of lightning and thunder at 30 seconds.



Athletic events pose a risk of injury to any athlete that participates.
The goal is to minimize that risk by following these guidelines.
Players need to be informed of the team’s safety rules. Examples of this are
always checking around you for other players prior to swinging a bat, making
sure your teammate is looking at you before passing the ball, no horseplay, etc.
 Coaches should avoid any drills that require players to “fight” for the ball.
Example: Rolling a basketball out on the court and having your players dive after
the ball.
 Overuse injuries are becoming a large problem in youth sports today. Make sure
your players are getting adequate rest between games, practices, and seasons.
This is especially important in baseball and softball with a players throwing arm.




For resources on how to prevent injuries in your specific sport, please
go to the following link: Stop Sports Injuries



What happens if a participant does get injured?


Most injuries suffered in youth sports are minor in nature such as bruises, abrasions, and minor sprains
or muscle strains. You will be equipped with a small first aid kit which includes bandages, athletic tape,
and a re-freezable ice pack that will provide care in these situations.
 Note: Always have two adults assess the injury. If you are in doubt of the severity of the injury, contact the parents

and allow them to make a decision for the athlete.






For anything above a minor injury, but not an emergency, the parent of the participant should make the
decision of what to do for the athlete. If the parent is not going to attend the practice/game, you need to
have emergency contact information for them. Please also make the parent aware, that if you call that
number during that time, the parent or emergency contact person will need to make a decision about
what to do with the athlete. If no one answers, then you will have to make the decision for the athlete of
whether to contact EMS or not.
In any emergency situation, i.e. broken leg, contact EMS immediately. If the parent is not at attending the
practice or game, then contact the emergency contact number they have given you.
After any injury has been taken care of, please file a report with the program administrator. Details
should include when and where the injury occurred, how the injury occurred, the severity of the injury,
what 1st aid was given and by whom, and if additional medical help was needed (i.e. parents took to the
athlete doctor or ems was called).







Providing a safe environment mentally and emotionally for young athletes
starts by covering their developmental needs (presented earlier in this
presentation).
Physical and environmental safety will go a long way to providing mental and
emotional safety for young athletes.
Yelling, pressure to win or not make mistakes, and fear does not provide a
safe mental and emotional environment.
At some point you will have to discipline youth athletes because of their
behavior (i.e. creating a disruption in practice, not because they made a
mistake in practice).


Broomfield Recreation Services recommends the following steps in this order:
1.
2.
3.

Talk to the athlete individually (i.e. not in front of the team) about his/her behavior.
Talk to the parents about their child’s behavior.
Talk to the program administrator about the situation

Rules

Respect
Officials

Athletes






Accepting the role of youth sports coach, you are also accepting that
you are a role model for both the parents and athletes on your team.
Part of being this role model means that you need to have respect for
policies, rules of the game, your athletes, and officials.
Parents and athletes will follow the precedents that you set forth in
practices and games.




For example, if you yell at officials during games, this will trickle down to parents
and eventually to your athletes.

Broomfield Recreation Services has a Zero Tolerance Policy. All
parents, players, coaches, and spectators are expected to follow this
policy. Anyone who does not follow the policy will be removed from the
game and will be required to meet with a program administrator prior
to being eligible to attend future games.








As a coach, you are expected to know the rules of the game you are
coaching and follow them during games and practices.
Rules are not up for negotiation in pregame meetings with the other
coach.
Explain the rules to your players and parents so they understand them.
Many of the conflicts in sports arise from either not knowing or
misunderstanding the rules of the game.
Broomfield Recreation Services has specific modified rules for each of
it’s youth sports programs.
These rules are designed to maximize fair participation and for the safety of the
athletes involved.
 Note: If you don’t understand a rule in a game, then you please contact the
program administrator to get an explanation.




To be respectful of young athletes, a coach needs to bare the
following guidelines in mind.
1.
2.
3.
4.

5.

Understand the age group you are coaching and the appropriate
expectations of that age group.
Do you very best to teach the fundamentals of the sport and allow
athletes the opportunity to learn all of the positions.
Minimize the pressure to win and emphasize setting goals of skill
development
Provide opportunities to every player to experience success.
Emphasize that this is a game and should be treated as such.





In accordance with the Zero Tolerance Policy as well as the coaches
position as a role model, it is up to the coach to set the example for
both the team and parents on how officials will be treated.
All of our officials we use in youth sports programs are teenagers and
young adults also learning a new aspect of the game. Please keep in
mind the following:
They will make mistakes and that is the only way they will learn how to be better.
 They deserved to be treated with respect.
 If they are pressured by a coach, they will change the call not because it is the
right thing to do, but rather to get you to go away.
 If you feel there was an improper rule enforcement or have a problem with an
official; contact the supervisor on site or the program administrator the next
day.













Please keep in mind the purpose of recreation programs; to have
fun and learn the fundamentals of the sport.
Coach according to the athletes age and skill level.
Know that you are a role model and have a substantial influence on
your team.
Communicate early and often with parents and administrators.
Be proactive in providing a safe and fun environment.
Allow athletes and officials to make mistakes in a pressure free
environment.
Make sure that you, the coach, has fun!

Broomfield Recreation Services Coaches Training

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