Think Next Year, Next Coach

One thing that I was kind of amazed by is that there was no record of what other coaches had done with players.  As a new coach, I had no record of what kinds of conditioning previous coaches had done, what kinds of drills, what set plays, etc.  A coach would come, do his thing, he would go and then it's up to the next guy to figure it out.  This isn't good for the long term viability of the program.  This creates inconsistency with the players and later coaches can't learn from what works or doesn't work.  When our program first started, we were just focused on one year at a time.  Before I knew it, I was an old timer in the program at 6 years!  At that point I had more kids to get into the program and wanted it to succeed.  10 years can go by pretty quickly!

Ask for previous work out plans.  Lot's of coaches tend to have this 'I got it covered' attitude.  Listen: no one has it all covered.  This is a humility issue.  You can always learn something from someone else.  I've seen beginner coaches refuse input and watch the season crash and burn.  I've seen experienced coaches miss things that would have helped them.  Be teachable.

Write down you work out plans.  It's helpful to know what drill did you do and how long did you take to do it.  Also include what day of practice in the season - was it day 1, day 10 or day 20?  This sequence can give you and someone else a sense of how the drills build and timing.  I use a simple table: start time, duration, drill, and notes.  So at 6:00, for 15min, we'll have a warm up, and I'll have a note on something to talk to the players about.  Next would be 6:15, 20min, box drill.  And so on.

Give workout plans to club secretary.  Don't have a secretary?  You should have one!  They should have a file to keep stuff like this in.  Recommend printed copy - digital copies tend to get lost in transitions between technologies and people.

Bottom line: this program is more than about you on a particular day.  This years kids will benefit from previous years and what you do this year will impact boys and girls 5 or 10 years down the road.