The High School Coach, A Dying Breed

Caught up in the politics of the ongoing labor dispute between the BCTF and the Provincial Liberals is the sad and slow death of the High School Coach. And this isn't simply a local phenomenon in BC, it's happening nationally as well.

Coaching Not Worth It

The latest teacher's labour strife has pushed many veteran teacher-coaches to quit coaching and discouraged many new teachers from getting into coaching. Aside from the onging pressure of winning, the most significant reasons are,

- too much parental interference. Parents complain about playing time, Div1 scholarships, threats to transfer. Oftentimes Parents complain to the Principal directly adding more pressure for coaches.

- lack of assistant coaches. Finding any assistants let alone qualified assistants is a struggle to say the least.

- lack of training. There are plenty of coaching clinics available out there that teach the X's and O's of each sport, but very little in regards to sports psychology, counselling, and change management. The sports themselves haven't changed in decades, but expectations, attitudes, and the social environment surrounding prep sports has changed and will continue to evolve.

- isolation. Especially without good assistants and supportive administration, most coaches are alone in their quest without a support structure. Most coaches don't have anywhere to turn to for their struggles.

How Do We Fix it?

I hear all that time that all our problems would be solved if we simply paid all coaches like in the US. But if you consider that most coaches nowadays work long hours year-round, there isn't a monetary number that you can put to adequately value a coach's contribution. Clearly, a stipend would help, but by no means will it fix the situation by itself.

One of the things that would add immediate value would be to create National and Local support networks for coaches. The support networks would:

- grow the coaching profession and attract new coaches
- provide ongoing coaching education and mentorships

Closing Thoughts

There was a time when it was not uncommon for teacher-coaches to stay in one program for 25+ years. That kind of longevity and consistency is but a distant memory. They say that the average head coach nowadays only stays in it about seven years.

Sometimes we focus so much on Athlete development that we forget about what allows them to be so successful. The high school coach is the single most important factor in creating a program that is consistently competitive and creates athletes that move on to the next level. More focus needs to be put on growing the coaching profession which has unfortunately become a dying breed.

Post your thoughts or email them to BCSportsFanatic@yahoo.ca.