Bobbie Schultz, 32 year Varsity Coach at Shawnee High School, Medford NJ gives coaches some pointers of things she learned along the way.
These are things I learned over the years. They did not come naturally. I made many mistakes in the process…Hopefully, you, a young coach can benefit from my mistakes.
1. Develop a written contract with all your “expectations written out.” Include subjects such as “attendance, bus departure, attire, drug and alcohol use, work ethic, and consequences for failure to fulfill expectations. ” Have the athlete and her parent sign it. Keep it on file. We all like to know what is expected of us. We all desire boundaries. This clearly establishes them. You will find your administrators will be much more likely to support you in a conflict when you use one.
2. Set your player performance and team goals high. You will get what you expect. I remember commenting to a coach of a team in my conference who was having an exceptional year. I said, “Your girls are doing so well I am sure you are proud.” She responded. “They will blow it…I know they will…” I was not surprised when they did blow it the next week. Our faces, voices, bodies, all reflect our belief in our athletes. If they can look at us and see fear in our eyes, what will they think, “She doesn’t think we can do this…I guess we can’t.” On the other hand, when they see a smile and confidence in our eyes they know they have the potential to excel. I recently met up with a young girl I coached in the early 80’s. She said, “Ms. Schultz, I want to thank you. You were the first person to get me to believe in myself and my own potential.” Can a coach ask for a better mission?
3. Be consistent. Consequences for rule infractions must be the same for starters as non-starters. No question. This is not flexible. Non-starters will be watching you and starters might challenge you. There is never to be anyone person on the team that is more important than anyone else. Especially when coaching women.
4. Have a daily skill circuit designed at practice that everyone participates in, non-starters as well as starters. Give each athlete at least an hour each day with hands on stick ball time necessary to improve her skills.
You will be questioned by parents and athletes at times as to why they or their daughter is not getting playing time. If each athlete has an opportunity to work on her skill every day and you are observing this, you can with confidence, say, “There are other players who are stronger in the areas we need right now.” On the other hand, if she hardly gets a chance to practice how can she ever improve?
5. Be the first person on the field and last person to leave the field or facility every day. You are the person ultimately responsible to anything that happens. Things will happen over the season: things will get lost, and broken. Girls will arrive home later than expected. Fights or arguments can break out. You never want to say to your superior, “I wasn’t there when it happened. I was already in the building. I had already left for home.”
6. Never require silence in the first fifteen minutes of practice. Some coaches require silence during warm up time. They think this is good for the girls to transition from the school day to practice. This is a mistake for girls. A byproduct of estrogen is the need to bond and consensus build. The girls need to talk to their friends and share experiences they had that day. Give them that 15 minutes and you will find they will be more productive at practice.
7. Watch the JV and the freshman teams play, they are your future. Because there are not many field hockey officials, the JV game is sometimes played after the varsity game. Meet with our varsity players for a few minutes after the game but then give your attention to the JV game. You not watching is hurtful to the JV players as well as the JV players parents. Remember, their goal is for you to see them as a vital part of the system. You must watch and pay attention and watch the girls grow.
8. Do your coaching at practice not during the games. Be aware of your sideline demeanor. It is the side of you that everyone will see. Wear it proudly. I learned this through some very difficult lessons. First of all, if you talk and yell constantly, the girls will tune you out. In order for them to stay focused on their play they must tune you out. You will be a distraction. On the other hand, if you only speak once in a while, they will hear you and listen.
I once saw a video of me coaching, in the mid 70’s. I saw this “out of control woman,” pacing the side of the field, ranting and raving, arm gesturing, waving her hands, yelling constantly.” I am so grateful that I saw it. I was embarrassed. The same week I went to an Ursinus/West Chester Field Hockey National Championship game. I had three Shawnee Alumni playing for Ursinus in that game so I was focusing on the Ursinus Coach. I saw Adele Boyde, the coach of Ursinus, with her arms folded, quietly and gracefully watching her girls play. I said to myself, “I want to look like that.” For the most part, after that I did.
9. Make corrections in positive manner. Never use sarcasms. Think of how you would like to be addressed yourself by a teacher or superior. If you are offensive or embarrassing you will get nothing. You will only embarrass the athlete. As a young coach in my early years, I had an athlete turn to me during play and say, “You will get a lot more out of me if your were positive.” I was so embarrassed and knew very quickly that she was right. Thank you Karen for teaching me that very important lesson. That was the end of sarcasm.
10. Remember at all times, your job is to teach young people to do the right thing. You are teaching life skills. Although the outcome of the game is very important to you, nothing means more than modeling good ethical behavior to your athletes. I stayed quiet in my latter years of coaching. I would say a prayer before each game asking that I not get so wrapped up in the outcome of the game and remember at all times that my goal was to guide young people and make good decisions to facilitate that during the game.
Bobbie Schultz, 32 year Varsity Coach at Shawnee High School, Medford NJ,
compiling a 478- 65-74 record, including 16 league championships, 14 South Jersey Group IV sectional championships, and 10 state championships.) Thirty five year owner/administrator of Holly Shores Field Hockey Academy.
