5 Ways to Prevent Coach Burnout

Chris Duplex is probably the last guy you’d imagine succumbing to burnout. As coach of his then 9-year-old son Kasra’s flag football team, he led his players to consecutive championships in fall 2021 and winter 2022. He’d spent four years with the Matt Leinart Flag Football League in Southern California — and he loved it.

But success, and loving the game, doesn’t prevent burnout, and Duplex decided to call the winter season his last.

Burnout — defined by the American Psychological Association as “physical, emotional or mental exhaustion, accompanied by decreased motivation, lowered performance and negative attitudes towards oneself and others” — plagues professionals and parents alike. And volunteer parent-coaches are no exception. In fact, with day jobs and families, it’s easy to see how they’re even more susceptible.

Here are five tips that can help prevent coach burnout, from coaches who have been there.

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