My 1st Coaching Clinic!

I held my first Hustle & Attitude coaching clinic last week and from all indications, it went very well!

My church – Beavercreek Church of the Nazarene – has a fantastic youth recreational basketball league.  I have been eager to hold a clinic and the league coordinator thought there was value for the coaches.  So, on December 10th at 6:30, 40 or so coaches gathered to see what this “hustle and attitude” thing was all about.

Being a basketball clinic, I organized it into four quarters.  The first quarter dealt with organizing and running practices; the second quarter was managing games (predominantly line-ups and playing time); the third quarter was working with parents; and the fourth quarter involved working with the kids.  The audience was right in my sweet spot – predominantly first-time coaches; not just first-time in this league…first time coaches.  We talked about the tenets of ‘Hustle & Attitude’; that hustling and having a positive attitude are the two things all children can do in youth sports regardless of athletic ability or skill level.  I tried to impress upon the coaches the important role they play in helping the children’s experience to be positive.  Particularly pointing out that practices that help achieve the league’s objectives and games where everyone has an equal opportunity to play don’t happen by accident – it takes planning and effort on their part.  I provided a 20+ page handout guide that included sample drills and worksheets for the coaches to use.  The audience reaction was positive during the clinic; particularly after the half-time popcorn snack!

In terms of feedback, I provided a survey for the coaches to fill out following the clinic.  I have posted some of the comments from the participants on the Testimonials page.  For each quarter, I asked them to rate the usefulness of the information from 1-Not Useful through 3-Useful and up to 5-Incredibly Useful.  The average scores for each quarter were 4.16…or Very Useful.

My goals for the clinic were to, first and foremost, educate coaches in best practices in coaching youth recreational sports; but also to find out the viability of holding these clinics in the future.  Given the reaction of the coaches and the feedback, I believe there is interest.  I made a couple of contacts that I hope pan out in terms of further clinics.

All in all, a very successful first time out.