A definition of coaching is “to help a person change in the way they wish and helping them go in the direction they want to go.”
Did you notice something? It says, “to help a person change in the way they wish and helping them go in the direction they want to go.” It does not say you, so as coaches we need to remember this. Coaching isn’t about what you want and where you want to go, it’s about what the athlete wants and where they want to go.
Now, I get it, your athletes probably don’t know what they want or where they want to go, so that’s where you come in. You help them by creating a vision for the team that they can follow and believe in. This is where coaching becomes so much more than a sport. It is helping them see the future they want on the track or field, which then they can apply to their lives in other ways.
The lack of purpose is an epidemic in our modern society. Help your athletes find a purpose on the track or field and be ready when they ask for your help to find that purpose in their life. A successful track and field coach, who has won multiple NCAA National Championships, once told me that his job is “90% psychology and 10% track and field.”
Now that’s something coaches don’t expect when they sign up for the job.
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