Coaches Role

Coaches have a very big impact on athletes, they have a special relationship with student-athletes and they become like a friend, mentor, parent, they are role models, they are leaders and they are often times the teachers of life’s lessons. Coaches have the power to motivate and positively influence young people and most times being a coach is the most underappreciated task but yet is held as a position of important capability and leaned on by athletic directors to make an organization successful. For a new coach to be successful the list of priorities is endless. However the first priority to address when starting with a new team is establishing relationships. Building positive relationships is the glue that binds a team together and cements

As the new coach one would ask what kind of example is being set each day with his or her actions and words. Players are always watching and as a person the athletes look up to its all about how adversity is handled, how the refs are being talked to, not contradicting oneself, and most of all showing respect to all people. Coaches have the ability to teach players about life, teach them how to be happy and successful and also how to be a good friend a teammate (Haefner 2009). As a new coach take the time to think about the example one is setting and how to be a better leader and role model, remembering daily ones coaching philosophy and priorities. John Wooden is hands down the best coach and most influential man in the history of basketball and his highest goal was person integrity. A player on Wooden’s team, Bill Walton, once stated “"To play for John Wooden was the greatest thrill of my life. In four years, Wooden taught us everything we'd ever need to know. Not about basketball, about life” (Haefner 2009). As a coach that has got to be the highest compliment and the indication of a great coach and what all coaches should strive