Here are our Top 5 Tips to make your season a successful one this year, whether you are a first time coach or a seasoned flag football coach. Your kids will have their best season ever if you follow these simple tips. All it takes is a little preparation.
The importance of good sportsmanship:
Help your kids learn to love the game by teaching them to have fun and play safely. Teach that teamwork and a good attitude are more important than winning. These are traits every coach should drive home to their team.
Practice what you preach. Set the example by not being the coach that gets in the refs face and yells after a bad call. Instead calmly approach the ref to discuss and if he doesnt agree with you, drop it and move on.
Make sure to plan:
Dont waste precious practice time on conditioning. Always be prepared for practice so youll coach your team from one drill or play to the next to minimize standing around time. Keeping them moving from drill to drill will take care of conditioning better than laps around the field and calisthenics.
It is best to always have a few extra drills on standby in case what you had planned on teaching them is not working. If the players do not understand the concept or drill, you are the one explaining it wrong. Try explaining it different way, or move on to the next drill and save it for another day.
Let them play!:
Dont just talk about the plays, run them to give kids hands on experience and boost their confidence. It is time to move on to more complex plays when the kids have mastered the simple ones. Once they have the fundamentals under their belts, theyll be able to learn the more complex plays much quicker.
Practice in all kinds of weather:
Keep in mind not every game will be played in 65 and sunny weather, so dont cancel practices if it is raining. Practicing in not so perfect weather means theyll be used to working harder on a muddy field come game day. Tell parents your plan at the beginning of the season so they are not surprised when you dont call off practice at the first hint of rain drops.
Find help:
To ensure you will not waste time arguing over the correct approach to coaching your team, find someone who has a similar coaching philosophy and personality as you. A great flag football coach is not necessarily someone who played flag football in college or the local intramural league so keep that in mind when a selecting an assistant. Never coach with a random volunteer parent, you will have a greater chance at coaching success if you ask a close friend, co-worker or relative.