The perfect mix of passion and compassion make for a great youth sports coach. If you just have one, everyone misses out on what could be a special experience and the building of powerful relationships.
Passion is contagious; it’s what helps a young person to fall in love with a sport. Passion is crucial to coaching because if you love it, the people around you are going to love it. If the leader truly believes in and loves what is being done, the followers (team) are going to see that passion and be influenced by it.
When I was a kid my parents used to ask the school who was their most compassionate teachers and request that myself and siblings be in those classes. I knew it happened, but didn’t understand why at the time. As I’ve grown I’ve realized just how important compassion is when dealing with children and I think my parents were really onto something!
Compassion is what allows a coach to see kids as kids and not as positions on a team, stat-sheet fillers, or minutes that have to be played. But as fascinating little humans that have a variety of needs.
If you want to have success as a youth sports coach, then you need a healthy dose of both passion and compassion.
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