Bjcorbin's Blog

As the youngest of three brothers and the father of four kids, I have spent countless hours of my life on ball fields and in bleachers. Over the years, I have experienced sports as a player, a spectator, a parent, a coach and even as part of an officiating crew. And while I don’t fancy myself as an expert on the subject, there are some significant patterns that I have noticed in regard to coaches and coaching styles. I have also found that recognizing these patterns in a coach can be a useful tool in predicting what kind of season you’re in for. While that wasn’t a big concern for me as player, it has become a far greater issue for me as a parent. Given some of the coaching scandals in recent years (e.g. Rutgers basketball, Penn State Football…), it would seem to be prudent to evaluate what motivates a coach prior to making a significant commitment to them. Though the five incentives I’ve listed below are by no means all-inclusive, I do believe that they represent a good starting point.

• Love & respect for the game: Though this would seem to be an essential part of any coach’s motivation, I have actually found it to be extremely rare. For most, the game is simply a tool used to meet some other deeply held need. When a player is fortunate enough to find a mentor who is truly passionate about the sport, they tend to learn, not only what to do, but why to do it that way. The upside of this approach is that enthusiasm for the game is often times contagious and frequently produces players that later go on to become coaches. The downside is that “playing the game right” doesn’t necessarily translate into wins and in our culture, that has become the ultimate measuring stick for any coach.
• Love of teaching: One of the “deeply held need(s)”, which I mentioned in the previous item, is the need to teach. In my experience, most of the folks who spend an appreciable amount of time in the coaching business are quite naturally “teachers”. For them, the court, or field, or arena… is simply the classroom where they ply their trade and all of the tests are open book. Coaches like this are a vital part of developing younger players and tend to be most effective at the amateur level. The struggle for them is that while they value growth and improvement, fans often care more about the final score.
• Love of working with young people: Just as people who love babies are apt to volunteer to work in the nursery, those who enjoy young people are often drawn to the fields of play. This type of coach places a premium on relationship, with their teams often becoming like an extended family. That kind of atmosphere can have a powerful effect on players, especially those who come from broken or dysfunctional homes. Yet, despite the clear virtue of such an arrangement, it only seems to be protected when the winning percentage stays high enough
• Love of competition: Like those who have the impulse to teach, competitiveness is something that seems to be innate within many people. For them, coaching can become an avenue to exercise that natural inclination. Those who are motivated in this way tend to be very conscious of the bottom line and many are viewed as successful because of that. Unfortunately, when this is the primary driver for a coach, the players and even the game itself, can become nothing more than a means to an end. This type of coach can flourish in a system where they are able to recruit, draft and/or trade players; but often struggle within a program where they have no control over who comes out for their team. While playing for this kind of coach can be difficult, having one of your kids play for them is even worse.
• Sports as an analogy for life: A step beyond those who simply love to teach, are those who view sports as an analogy for life. Their vision extends well beyond developing the player, to cultivating the whole person; and the lessons they teach are meant to transcend the game itself. Finding a coach with the necessary understanding of both the sport and the challenges that life presents; and who has the ability to tie the two together, is a rare and precious thing. Playing for such a coach has the potential to be life changing.