Sep 15, 2022 • 4 min read
As a club and or league organizer it’s important to keep your coaches engaged and feeling appreciated. Coaches are integral to the success of a program, so in order to retain your coaching staff and continue hiring and staffing your team with impressive coaches, it’s vital that you make those within your organization feel seen, heard and overall good!
Here are 5 ways you can show you coaches within your club or league you care.
Approach #1: Show appreciation of specific coaches or entire coaching staff through a company-wide meeting or shoutout. Public appreciation is a great way to make your staff feel part of something bigger than themselves. Think about the best way to showcase the coaches efforts; maybe it’s a social media shoutout, an announcement in the newsletter or website, or maybe even an end-of-the-season celebration. Whatever you decide, showing you appreciate the coaching staffs efforts will help build camaraderie as well as overall pride within the organization.
Approach #2: Fairly compensate them. Coaches are the ones out at the fields early, communicating with players and developing the players so they should be fairly paid for their work. You could offer bonuses throughout the year as an added incentive for your staff or even celebrate the end-of-the-year with a little extra money as a way to thank them for bringing in new players, retaining families, and being part of the organization. Most clubs & leagues have their own compensation structure, so look within and see if there is any wiggle room to add bonuses or commission for the coaches that go above and beyond.
Approach #3: Offer continuing education opportunities. Coaches want to be become the best version of themselves as possible and as a club or league supporting them, it’s important you offer ways for them to grow. If your club offers coaching courses let the staff enter for free and if you don’t recommend courses and either offer a discount or reimburse your staff for continuing their studies. Continuing education opportunities are a way to show you care and also support the coach growing and perfecting their craft to better benefit the entire organization.
Approach #4: Offer feedback, but let them stretch. For most coaches, there’s a balance between wanting structure and guidance, but also wanting the freedom to figure out their own unique coaching style. One way you can show your clubs & leagues coaches you care is to let them carve their own pathway. Encourage them finding their voice, but also offer resources within your organization to best support them. If there’s a Director of Coaching within your clubs or league, they should be heavily involved with shaping the staff of coaches.
Approach #5: Promotion and extra coaching opportunities. You can show your coaching staff you care by taking note of their successes and growth as a coach. At the end of the season think about who has been shining and reward them fairly. That could be by way of a promotion within the club, a premier team, or even a chance to establish another role on the admin side. Be open with what promotions look like within your organization and the pathway for coaches. Keep track of who’s exceeding their role and who’s falling behind. Encourage the ones shining by promoting them or offering more opportunities to coach and be open and helpful with the coaches who are having a harder time.
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