First-time XC coach starting in a few weeks… what do I need to know?

CPAHELP wrote:

Thank you all for the help and tips! This is all good to know. I'm excited to be coaching at a relatively small school with like 10-20 runners, so hopefully shouldn’t be too hard to actually learn everyone’s names. I’ve been good family friends with the head coach my whole life and don’t envision any issues popping up with following his lead on everything!

He will be coaching both the boys and girls teams for the first time this fall, but I’ll just be focusing on the boys side, so hopefully that’ll give plenty of opportunities to learn.

Really appreciate all the helpful insights.

If the boys team has 10-20 runners and your head coach is also the girls head coach you will absolutely be coaching the girls as well, just not as much.

It sounds to me like you're in a great position in terms of your relationship with the head coach and your general demeanor on this thread. However, things can go wrong in a hurry when a guy your age is coaching high school girls. There will be girls on the team that are attracted to you. 100%. This is not up for debate. A lot of girls tend to like guys a little older than them at that age.

Nothing will happen at practice, of course, but if you start getting too close it can turn into a real issue. This is the main reason you don't want to be texting or exchanging personal emails with the students. They will likely want to be your friend on instagram, snapchat, and whatever else kids are using these days. Don't do it. Not with the boys or the girls. Draw a line in the sand that when practice is over you are not available.

Luv2Run wrote:

eye no wrote:

How old are you? Are you male or female? Are you coaching the boys, girls or both? What type of shape are you in right now? Do you have another job? Get back to me and I'll let you know.

I can see where this might help with specific advice, but I would say 90% of the things I would tell a coach are independent of this. The what kind of shape question is particularly bothersome. I mean this guy seems like he might be a pretty good coach

https://people.com/sports/espys-2019-rob-mendez-jimmy-v-perseverance-award/

You read into the question completely wrong. My point of asking is because many assistant coaches that are on the faster side, like this guy is, end up giving all their attention to the faster kids and use coaching as a way to get their own workout in, which again means they are gravitating towards the faster kids only. It ends up causing issues with team culture unless there are also coaches that gravitate towards the other kids primarily.

Hounddogharrier wrote:

Read the post right above this one ☝?, that’s some “propper professional knowledge “. Your post was so whiny I actually threw up in my mouth . Thanks ?.

Luckily for both of us I have no intention to keep replying for here on since my objective of showing that your attitude towards coaching is subpar was more than emphasized by me and many others here.

Some more input: My first race was 24:40, never broke 20 freshman year, now I'm under 17 and a top varsity scorer, with another season left.

Hounddog is horribly wrong.

Ben There wrote:

Do whatever the head coach tells you to do. And don’t touch any of the kids.

Probably the best advice anyone could offer...

What B S I am sure you get faster as you get older . By the time you are 65 you will have been a sub 4 minute miler and found a cure for cancer .

When I started coaching you could slap some sense into kids like you who lie all the time . Now I’ve got to give them an award for creative writing ???

Never ever say "you are beautiful, " to any of the runners whether they be male or female.

Yep, the above is common in substitute teaching as well. High school boys do not know how to approach great looking girls so any older guy looks good.

That’s awesome! Keep going. Your perseverance will serve you well in ways far beyond running.

Hounddogharrier wrote:

What B S I am sure you get faster as you get older . By the time you are 65 you will have been a sub 4 minute miler and found a cure for cancer .

When I started coaching you could slap some sense into kids like you who lie all the time . Now I’ve got to give them an award for creative writing ???

Pay no attention to the highlighted area in this article that references Steve Sell:

Not going to take the time to dig through the internet to try and find high school race results from 25-30 years ago.

Your disingenuous reply proves my point regarding your demeanor.

CPAHELP wrote:

Just accepted assistant coaching position at local powerhouse HS. Whats your advice?

Assistant? Do what the head coach tells you to do.

You Couldn’t Be More Wrong wrote:

Hounddogharrier wrote:

What B S I am sure you get faster as you get older . By the time you are 65 you will have been a sub 4 minute miler and found a cure for cancer .

When I started coaching you could slap some sense into kids like you who lie all the time . Now I’ve got to give them an award for creative writing ???

Pay no attention to the highlighted area in this article that references Steve Sell:

https://www.kansas.com/sports/high-school/article1031981.html

Not going to take the time to dig through the internet to try and find high school race results from 25-30 years ago.

Your disingenuous reply proves my point regarding your demeanor.

So you were on the team with Jim Ryan, Big deal.

My model for good coaching is the man who coached my kids when they were in high school- legendary coach, the late Joe Newton. What you need to do is work with every kid on the team; they all need to feel they are part of something bigger than they are (pay no attention to the troll who keeps posting). One of the main things you need to do is not learn how to manage the kids; that's the easy part. It is learning how to manage the parents. That is much harder. In many districts, the parents do not understand how much of a meritocracy XC or track is. They want their kid running in the invitationals, because college scholarship, y'know- but the kid might be 11th fastest or less. They want their child treated special. What Newton did was ensure that that never happened- you earned the right to run invitationals, and you did not get special treatment in any way. Ever.

You need to follow the rules set by the head coach. And then fairly enforce them. Lead by example. Keep learning your craft- get to coaching clinics when you can. As an assistant you can expect to do your share of grunt work- do it and do it well.

Get a copy of Coaching Cross-Country Successfully, either the original Newton version or the later Pat Tyson version (York HS for Newton, Mead for Tyson- both powerhouse schools). There is tons of information on the logistics of running meets, running practices, etc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmD4gN08SMc

This is obviously a sarcastic/joke post except that number 4 is something coaches should be doing and we need to remove the stigma around it.

Hounddogharrier wrote:

You Couldn’t Be More Wrong wrote:

Pay no attention to the highlighted area in this article that references Steve Sell:

https://www.kansas.com/sports/high-school/article1031981.html

Not going to take the time to dig through the internet to try and find high school race results from 25-30 years ago.

Your disingenuous reply proves my point regarding your demeanor.

So you were on the team with Jim Ryan, Big deal.

You’re wrong again. I said the first coach was.

Not going to hijack this thread any longer with you. It’s disrespectful to the OP and all the other posters with great replies. Have a good day.

Hounddogharrier wrote:

There are winners and losers . I teach kids to be winners .

FYI my squad has won the league 3 of the last 8 years .

Sounds like a losing record to me.

He made Kym Carter an Olympian, multiple team championships, and in the hall of fame . Sounds like the old coach did all right for himself without you . Maybe you didn’t get what he had to say ?

Some good advice in here already. I've been an assistant XC coach for three years.

The most important thing is to protect the kids and protect yourself. Don't run in the middle of a thunderstorm. Make sure they look both ways before crossing the street (you wouldn't think you'd have to remind high schoolers of that, but you do). And as for protecting yourself, there's already been a lot of people who have spoken about that. Don't ever be alone with a kid--if you have to have a one-on-one chat, make sure it's in an area where people can see you, leave a door open if you're in a room, etc. IMO there should be no reason for you to text or call a kid--I realize a head coach might have to, but you as the assistant probably shouldn't. Ideally I think it's best if all communication goes from the coach to the captains, and then the captains notify everyone else via GroupMe, text message, etc. If you have to communicate with kids, I would ask for a school-provided email account (if they haven't already given you one).

Learn the rules of your state association--what affects eligibility, when you can practice, what you can do in the offseason, what the rules about recruiting are, etc. Obviously the HC is mostly responsible for all of that, but you don't want to inadvertently break a rule and get your school fined or your team suspended. A school in my state got in huge trouble for stuff that was pretty much just paperwork issues. You probably won't deal too much with paperwork, but there may be things such as concussion education you need to do based upon your state association's rules and your state's laws.

Do what your HC tells you to do. If there is an issue, discuss it with him privately.

As a fairly young guy you have a bit of a balancing act. You have to build relationships with the kids without being too informal or casual. You have to have boundaries and the kids need to realize that you are their coach, not their peer.

Not sure anyone has mentioned this but...

Don't ever allow yourself to be in the situation where you are alone with any of the HS kids.. ever.

Don't text or instagram them or anything.. if you are in your early 20's those girls are 17-18 and they will think you're a rock star. Don't take the bait. You can go to jail for a VERY long time. Being fired or asked to leave the program is the BEST case scenario.

I know a guy that was a Resource Officer at a school and got involved with a girl. He spent 15 years in prison. That's 15 years for having "consensual" sex with a 17.5 year old. No p#ssy is worth that.