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I am so excited about this.

I start my new gymnastics coaching job tomorrow! I will be helping out the preteam every Saturday and Wednesday, and coaching intermediate 1 and 2 rec Sunday and Fridays! I have been wanting to coach for a while (my dream :D), and I applied for it and took the courses and got approved. I have just been waiting until we started up our preteam and I will start rec too! I'll be at the gym everyday, multiple times, but its worth it to coach gymnastics, have a job, and do gymnastics at the same time.

Anyway, any advice as I start out my coaching journey? If it helps, for now I will just be working with younger kids ;)
 
If you are just starting fresh, I recommend trying to come up with a lesson plan beforehand! Stations, conditioning games/ideas, etc.
 
I am so excited about this.

I start my new gymnastics coaching job tomorrow! I will be helping out the preteam every Saturday and Wednesday, and coaching intermediate 1 and 2 rec Sunday and Fridays! I have been wanting to coach for a while (my dream :D), and I applied for it and took the courses and got approved. I have just been waiting until we started up our preteam and I will start rec too! I'll be at the gym everyday, multiple times, but its worth it to coach gymnastics, have a job, and do gymnastics at the same time.

Anyway, any advice as I start out my coaching journey? If it helps, for now I will just be working with younger kids ;)

Congrats and welcome to the nuthouse!

Several pieces of advice:

1) Be like Simone: take care of your own physical and mental health, and refuse to compromise in doing so. Coaching can take a hefty toll on both.

2) Coaching is, before all else, theater. Before you can teach kids anything, you have to engage them as an audience. Be big and loud and energetic and larger than life.

3) Be confident, but be humble. You will screw up sometimes. You will get things wrong. When this happens, don't let it destroy your confidence; accept your mistakes and learn from them.

4) Keep perspective. Your students are not GYMNASTS: they are PEOPLE (who do gymnastics). Your job is first and foremost to build them into stronger, happier, healthier people. Gymnastics is the tool, not the goal.

5) Take no crap from your employers and other coaches. Young employees who are passionate about what they do are very easy to exploit, and business owners know this. It's up to you to look out for your interests, because nobody else will.
Insist on being treated with respect by your employers and fellow coaches. Don't be afraid to bail and look for opportunities at other gyms if you aren't treated well. As an enthusiastic young coach who has experience in the sport, you can walk into any gym in the country and they'll hire you on the spot.

6) Don't let coaching be all-consuming. Keep spending time with your non-coaching friends, keep up with your non-gymnastics hobbies, and keep developing non-gymnastics skills.

EDIT TO ADD: 7) If you ever get the chance, spend at least a week on staff or junior staff at Woodward, or something equivalent. You'll have a blast, and probably learn more in a week than you otherwise would in a year.

Most of this, by the way, applies to any job, not just coaching

IF YOU PLAN ON COACHING AS A LONG TERM CAREER:
1) Reconsider. Coaching as a full time job is physically and emotionally grueling, and will never pay enough to be worth what you pour into it.

2) If you ignore that first one, have a backup plan in case of burnout. Because you will, at some point, want to step back and take a break. And that's fine! Nothing wrong with stopping temporarily and getting back into after some down time! But you'll still need to pay the bills during your downtime.

3) Grab a copy of Championship Gymnastics by Gerald George. It's a bit pricey, but is 100% worth it. (If you're lucky, you might be able to talk your gym into buying it for you).
 
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Congrats and welcome to the nuthouse!

Several pieces of advice:

1) Be like Simone: take care of your own physical and mental health, and refuse to compromise in doing so. Coaching can take a hefty toll on both.

2) Coaching is, before all else, theater. Before you can teach kids anything, you have to engage them as an audience. Be big and loud and energetic and larger than life.

3) Be confident, but be humble. You will screw up sometimes. You will get things wrong. When this happens, don't let it destroy your confidence; accept your mistakes and learn from them.

4) Keep perspective. Your students are not GYMNASTS: they are PEOPLE (who do gymnastics). Your job is first and foremost to build them into stronger, happier, healthier people. Gymnastics is the tool, not the goal.

5) Take no crap from your employers and other coaches. Young employees who are passionate about what they do are very easy to exploit, and business owners know this. It's up to you to look out for your interests, because nobody else will.
Insist on being treated with respect by your employers and fellow coaches. Don't be afraid to bail and look for opportunities at other gyms if you aren't treated well. As an enthusiastic young coach who has experience in the sport, you can walk into any gym in the country and they'll hire you on the spot.

6) Don't let coaching be all-consuming. Keep spending time with your non-coaching friends, keep up with your non-gymnastics hobbies, and keep developing non-gymnastics skills.

EDIT TO ADD: 7) If you ever get the chance, spend at least a week on staff or junior staff at Woodward, or something equivalent. You'll have a blast, and probably learn more in a week than you otherwise would in a year.

Most of this, by the way, applies to any job, not just coaching

IF YOU PLAN ON COACHING AS A LONG TERM CAREER:
1) Reconsider. Coaching as a full time job is physically and emotionally grueling, and will never pay enough to be worth what you pour into it.

2) If you ignore that first one, have a backup plan in case of burnout. Because you will, at some point, want to step back and take a break. And that's fine! Nothing wrong with stopping temporarily and getting back into after some down time! But you'll still need to pay the bills during your downtime.

3) Grab a copy of Championship Gymnastics by Gerald George. It's a bit pricey, but is 100% worth it. (If you're lucky, you might be able to talk your gym into buying it for you).
Wow thank you so much for taking the time to write that, there is so many good points! Funny enough, I had a family-friend gymnastics coach/gym owner actually offer to lend me that book after it was passed around their gym, after the current borrower finishes reading it. I think I will take his offer!
 
A few tips I wanna share with you:
  1. Active listening.
  2. Feedback.
  3. Trust.
  4. Value them.
  5. Ask questions.
  6. Be approachable.
  7. Be compassionate.
  8. Lead them.

I am a professional college coach of football and these tips are working quite well for me.
 
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@ProudGymnast How's it been going... we'd love to hear?
Quite good actually, thanks for asking. I really do enjoy coaching, bringing out the best in these kids! To my surprise, the biggest problem is not the kids, but the parents. I think some of the parents are more interested in their kids gymnastics careers then the kids themselves, which can lead to bad attitudes during practice. The age range is mostly 5-7 though, so I understand and give grace. Did not expect that because they are only preteam, but I am sure the parents are just being involved and trying to learn as much as possible about gymnastics. I did not prepare for parents asking me questions through their six year olds during practice however haha.

So, I try my best to help make it a fun, light atmosphere even though at preteam it's mostly conditioning and shaping which the girls can get bored of. The practices are short though and the girls seem to stay engaged so I take that as a good sign!

We have a mock meet (no judges) coming up December 2nd for the team girls and preteam will be joining us that day for fun, and to show their parents everything they have learned. We will see how that goes, as I am participating and not able to coach.
 
Quite good actually, thanks for asking.
This is awesome to hear! Keep working hard.

Answering the parents questions is an important part of the job... definitely the part that is most like work though.
 

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