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
), 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).
