Coaching Philosophy
In this paper, I will talk about several things related to my coaching philosophy. Within my philosophy I will talk about my emphasis of my coaching, how I organize practice, expected game day and practice behaviors, postseason and off season development, and many more of my beliefs as a coach. I have developed my coaching philosophy through my experiences as a high school basketball player and through my many interactions with coaches throughout the state of Indiana.
First I will talk about my emphasis as a coach. My emphasis as far as winning and losing actually depends on the level that I am coaching. As a middle school coach, I feel that my job as their coach is to help the players develop the skills that are needed in order to play at the next level (high school). In middle school if we are not winning, but I am seeing improvement in the fundamental skills of the players, then I still consider it a positive winning experience for the players. I definitely go into every game wanting and expecting to win, but I also understand that for these players at the middle school age there is more than winning that is involved. As a high school coach, I feel that my job as there coach is to help them be as successful as they possibly can and to help the players reach they’re full potential. In middle school I feel that playing time should be as fair as possible. Every player should get every opportunity to play. In high school, I believe that the players that work hard, give effort and listen are the players that should get the opportunity to play. High school players must understand that at that level, athletics are not fair. Playing time is not guaranteed in high school, it must be earned. Players missing or being late to practice in middle school, I see it as different than high school also. Every situation is up to the decision making of the coach. Many times when middle school players are late to practice it is not necessarily their fault due to the fact that they do not drive to practice and that their parents bring them to practice. In high school, the dedication to the sport must be higher than in middle school. High school players should be expected to be at every practice and on time. Missed practices simply depends on if the player contacts me or another coach as to why and when they will miss the practice. In the past I have had players sit out half of a game up to a full game due to unexcused absences from practice. This policy is the same for both middle school and high school players. I believe that the ideal number of players to have on a team is between 15 and 20 players. More than 20 players are too many to conduct productive practices that all the players will benefit from. Less than 15 players are not enough to practice with, especially if some players get sick or injured.
In my organization of practices, I will be in control of the practice. With each practice I will have a plan of what I would like to accomplish with that particular practice. At some points during each season I will give some control to the players to establish some leadership from team members. I would like the players to show responsibility and leadership when I give them some degree of control over practice. I plan to have managers within my athletic program. The managers will be responsible for supplying water to the players during practice and helping organize equipment for the practice. Organization of equipment will involve the coaches, players, and managers. As far as setting up equipment, the managers are expected to help, but players and coaches may also be involved in helping set up for practice. Practices in high school will be closed to the parents and public in order to limit distractions. I believe in order to keep the focus of a practice; distractions must be kept to a minimum. Practice in middle school is open to the parents. I have no problem with parents sitting in a middle school practice, but I explain to the parents that they should make sure that their son/daughter does not mind first before attending practices. Also by allowing parents to be at practice, I expect the parents to not interrupt practice by talking to their son/daughter or other teammates.
Game day procedures will also be well documented and understood by the players. Players on the bench are expected to encourage and support the players currently playing. The players should also show good sportsmanship to the opposing team. During time-outs, all players are expected to pay attention and listen to all the coaches. Players currently in the game are to sit on the bench with the bench players huddled around listening. Players will dress-up or wear team outfits before and after games. The players are to understand that they are representing a school or organization and must be on their best behavior. The team will have a set warm-up procedure before each game. They are expected to be focused during warm-ups before every game. The head coach and assistant coaches are to communicate stats and game reports to the local newspapers and television stations.
In my athletic program, I will try to help the players more than just in athletics. I hope to help them build character and to be a better person. I believe as a coach I am in an ideal position to help influence players to be better people in society. Players participating in my athletic program will develop self-discipline, trust, teamwork, good manners, respect, better time management, and improved priorities. The players will develop self-discipline through taking responsibility for their own actions during practice, during games and during school. Players will develop good teamwork and trust skills. They will understand that there is no “I” in team and the only way to be successful is to trust your teammates and be team players. The players must understand and accept their role on each team. The players will learn to manage their time better by being able to balance and manage schoolwork and athletics. Finally the most important point of developing character through athletics is establishing priorities. I believe that priorities should be in the order of faith, family, academics, and then athletics. Each player should understand how their priorities should be ordered, but I expect family and academics to come before athletics. A student athlete must first be a student before the athlete.
After each season there will be an awards banquet where players will be recognized. Every player will receive an award of some kind. Players and coaches will both do the voting. Players’ votes will count toward 50% of each award and the coaches’ votes will count toward 50% of each award. In case of a tie, the head coach will break all ties. Awards are simply meant as individual recognition for season accomplishments. Team accomplishments will also be recognized during this banquet. As a coach, I will do everything possible to enable players to play in summer programs such as AAU and summer basketball camps. Also I will also do everything possible in order to get my senior players collegiate athletic scholarships.
Another important aspect of my athletic program will include a “feeder” program, off-season conditioning, and open-gyms. The feeder program is simply meant to give young students the opportunity to play sports. The feeder program will not be meant to overwhelm and push students (2nd-5th grades), but to simply give them the opportunity to play organized through the school corporation. The feeder program with 6th – 8th graders will push the sport a little more in order to try to prepare students for high school athletics. Summer camps will also be provided for younger students to participate in. The off-season program will consist of conditioning, weight training, and open gyms. The off-season workouts are not mandatory, but are encouraged. Participation in other sports will not be discouraged. Students are free to participate in any sport they would like, but if they are not participating in a sport they are strongly encouraged to participate in off-season workouts.
Overall this is my coaching philosophy. It is subject to change as a adapt and change as a coach. My overall objective as a coach is to allow student athletes to become a better people through athletics. The experiences that a student athlete can obtain through competition are immeasurable. I hope to be a positive influence with each and every student athlete that I encounter as a coach.