Coach (sport)
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In sports, a coach or manager is an individual involved in the direction, instruction and training of the operations of a sports team or of individual sportspeople.
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[edit] Term
The term coach is sometimes equivalent in U.S. usage to the term manager in other English-speaking countries in reference to the director of a sporting team, particularly with regard to Association Football. Additionally, the director of the operation of a team in baseball, a sport far more popular in the U.S. than in any other English-speaking country, is also properly referred to as a "manager", particularly in the context of a team of adults, as opposed to youths or even college players.
The title "Coach" is also one of respect or affection, often replacing the first name much like "Doctor" to become "Coach Smith". Some former players will still address their instructor as "Coach", even if both the player and coach him/herself have long retired or graduated on.
The term "coach" has been expanded greatly in American English usage[citation needed], especially in recent years, to include such non-sports-related concepts; see the article on coaching for more information.
[edit] In Game
Coaching entails the application of sport tactics and strategies during the game or contest itself, and usually entails substitution of players and other such actions as needed. Most coaches are former participants in the sports in which they are involved, and those who are not have usually had extensive training in the sport.
[edit] Managing
In some professional sports operations the head coach also serves as general manager, the team executive responsible for acquiring the rights to players and negotiating their contracts, generally in recent years with their agents, and for trading or dismissing players, but these roles have been increasingly likely to be seen as separate functions fulfilled by separate persons in more recent years, although many coach/general managers still exist.
[edit] Training
Many coaches, usually those of school-sponsored sports teams, also bear the responsibility of teaching the skills, rules and tactics involved in a particular sport to its players. This can be accomplished individually, by team, by division (ex. Defensive Coaching, Offensive Coaching, etc.) or by position (ex. receiver coach, quarterback coach, etc.) where applicable.
Under this system in which duties are divided, there is necessarily a head coach who oversees all other coaches as a supervisor.
Some groups focus on the training of coaches like the National Alliance for Youth Sports (NAYS). NAYS is the nation's leading youth sports educator and advocate with national programs that educate administrators, coaches, officials and parents about their roles and responsibilities in youth sports, in addition to offering youth development programs for children.
NAYS programs are provided at the local level through dynamic partnerships with more than 3,000 community-based organizations, which include parks and recreation departments, Boys and Girls Clubs, Police Athletic leagues, YMCA/YWCAs, Catholic Youth Organizations and other independent youth service groups throughout the country. NAYS also has a strong presence on military installations worldwide.
[edit] Staff
A coach, particularly in a major operation, is traditionally aided in his efforts by one or more assistant coaches known as the assistant coaching staff.
Many times, in major team sports the principal coach (usually referred to as the head coach) has little to do with the development of details such as techniques of play or placement of players on the playing surface, leaving this to assistants while concentrating on larger issues.
[edit] Seniority
A head coach is a professional at training and developing sports men and women. He is typically paid more than other coaches. Other coaches are often subordinate to the head coach, often in offensive positions or defensive positions, and occasionally proceeding down into individualized position coaches. In baseball, the head coach is often called a manager.
[edit] High School Football Head Coaching
In high school, head coaches are often teachers who coach. Often they are compensated by a small increase in pay, but the time and effort given up for the job requires that the coach be eager to invest a lot of their time into the project and be passionate about the sport.
Because high school coaching positions are often hard to fill, the head coach has a much more complete hold on the intricacies of the team. He may have to perform the duties of a defensive or offensive coordinator.
[edit] College Football Head Coaching
One of the major features of college head coaching is the high turnover rate for jobs. With few exceptions (notable exception: Joe Paterno, Frank Beamer and Bobby Bowden) college coaches often routinely change jobs, rarely staying at a school for more than a decade. They have a very well-paid staff and as such are more free to concentrate on the overall aspect of the team rather than dealing with the nuances of training regimens and such.
A college coach acts as the face of a team, at an age when many young players do not wish to be hounded by media. They are often called upon to discuss off-the-field incidents such as rule infractions or player antics. Sometimes, the coach becomes a celebrity in his own right, e.g., Steve Spurrier at University of South Carolina.
[edit] NFL Head Coaching
At the professional level, coaches may work for millions of dollars a year. They are less in the media than their college counterparts as their players are often more than willing to talk to the media, and more than outrageous enough to attract the attention. The head coach at the pro level thus has much more time to devote to tactics and playbooks, which are combed over by staff paid even higher than at the college level. Head coaching, due to the extensive time on the road and long hours, is a very stressful job. Since the money is good at high levels, many coaches retire in their early fifties.
[edit] Compensation
All major US collegiate sports have associations for their coaches to engage in professional development activities, but professional coaches tend to have less formal associations, and have never developed into a group resembling a union in the way that athletic players in many leagues have. Most coaching contracts allow the termination of the coach with little notice and without specific cause, usually in the case of high-profile coaches with the payment of a financial settlement. U.S. collegiate coaching contracts require termination without the payment of a settlement if the coach is found to be in serious violation of named rules, usually with regard to the recruiting or retention of players in violation of amateur status.
Coaching is a very fickle profession, and a reversal of the team's fortune often finds last year's "Coach of the Year" to be seeking employment in the next.
Many coaches are former players of the sport themselves, and coaches of professional sports teams are sometimes retired players.
Successful coaches often become as well or even better-known than the athletes they coach, and in recent years have come to command high salaries and have agents of their own to negotiate their contracts with the teams. Often the head coach of a well-known team has his or her own radio and television programs and becomes the primary "face" associated with the team.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Coaching Certification.
- National Standards for Athletic Coaches.
- Tania G Cassidy, Robyn L Jones, Paul Potrac Understanding Sports Coaching: The Social, Cultural and Pedagogical Foundations of Coaching Practice, Routledge, London, 2008
