MassXC wrote:
Anyone know how to become a graduate assistant coach? How do you find the positions and do you need to be enrolled in grad school beforehand?
Situations vary, but you typically do not need to be enrolled in grad school beforehand. In fact, if you *are* enrolled in grad school at a particular institution, the track/xc coach(es) may welcome your help, but it would almost certainly be on a volunteer basis--which doesn't sound like what you're after.
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Otherwise, you basically scan the listings. BITD there were (I think?) listings for grad assistants in the NCAA News and Chronicle of Higher Education; I have no idea where the listings are now, but perhaps other posters can help.
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But even if you find a lot of attractive opportunities, the way you *get* one is either by being a "name" athlete or--more usually--by having someone with clout who goes to bat for you. If you have a good relationship with your own college coach, s/he can strongly recommend you--and s/he is also likely to hear about GA openings that never actually get posted.
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If you've got someone like that pulling for you, you can still help yourself by making clear a) that you're willing to go *anywhere* for that GA opportunity, b) that you'll be attending grad school for the coaching, not academics, and c) that you're serious about coaching as a profession.
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Further to b) and c) above:
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b) When I went to my own GAship, my mentor (coach of undergrad) told me, "Just get the letters after your name." I started grad school very gung-ho about the academics as well as the coaching, but found after the first semester that I had to make a choice: Give the team the focus it needed, and just skate by academically; or the reverse. I was there for the coaching so I let the academics slide.
This was particularly salient for me because my GAship was not actually in coaching, but working for the dean of the school of education (where I was getting an M.S. in phys ed). Full-time student, working ~20 hours/wk for the dean, coaching 40-60 hours--something had to give, and did: my classes (and my health, some).
Others have different priorities and if you're thinking of moving on to a doctorate and later teaching/coaching at the college level, you'll have to give your academics much more attention than I did.
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c) Prior to a GAship you can show seriousness about coaching as a profession by volunteering as a coach at the college or high school level. I did this for several years before going to grad school, and it impressed my UG coach that I was serious about coaching as a career. And I had been a terrible athlete, so this helped.
For *most* people, though, I would advise maybe just a couple years of the volunteering at most (IF you're having trouble landing a GAship right out of undergrad)--otherwise you can get pegged as a volunteer forever. If you've already got a respected coach working on your behalf to get you a GA position, and especially if you're a terrific athlete, you can probably skip this stage entirely. (Though it can be useful in helping you decide whether you *really* want a coaching career or not.)
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TL, DR: To get a graduate assistantship, be a great athlete and/or have a great coach pulling for you--and hustle.