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Hi, I'm on my last or 2nd the last year of finishing my degree in Computer Science. I could get a decent job as a programmer. It's like my 'financial career'. It's not 'what-i-want-to-do career'. I want to be sports team coach or manager.
I play a lot of basketball and football (goalkeeper). Im just decent on those sports and i just know the fundamentals but no where good. In terms of football, i really cant dribble the ball, i can't even do a proper goal kick (I let my defenders do it) but im very reactive, good reflexes, positioning and IQ. I also play Ultimate Frisbee as my main sport and this is the sport where I'm good at.
I want to be a sports coach of any of the three sports preferably basketball and football. The problem is that I'm not really good at those sports. I tried coaching my high school frisbee team but only part-time and it really makes me happy.
My questions are:
What does it take to be a coach?
Can you make a living out of it?
Where do you start?
Do you need to be good at the sport?
If you're not good at the sport, would it affect on how the players (who are better than you skill-wise) look at you?
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you do need to be somewhat good to be a "good" coach, otherwise, people will prob just fire you after a couple of session. However, it depends on the level you're coaching ofc. If you're coaching elementary kids, then nah, prob not, if you're coaching semi-serious high school level and up, you'll def need to be good at it.
If you're not good at the sport, people can def tell whether you'll know what you're talking about or not. I play football (american soccer) and I did have a few bad coach in the past, and I could def tell whether they're good or bad. They simple don't know the basics drill to teach you.
So my advice to you is try to actually get serious, by that I mean get into competitive football for a while and see how you go.
Also if you're good enough, you can def make a living out of it. I used to have a ex-professional player coach our U-15 team. He was a professional player in MSL then he got a very serious knee injury that prevent him from playing football professionally. He also was coaching the U-9 Barcelona's indoor team. Yes, he was a full-time coach
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thank you for your insights.
would starting as a scout or assistant be of help in the long run in becoming a coach? because i believe its too late to develop some skills to play competitively
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In terms of NBA many people who get into coaching played at some level before. However, to be a good coach it's really about nailing down the Xs and Os, understanding the tactical nature of the game, and then managing players.
Starting small is always the best path. Even if it's just signing with a team trying to be a scout or video guy once you're in you'll learn a lot. Developing your communication skills even if you have to start with youngsters is a major plus. Even in the NBA what ends up ruining many coaches is that their interpersonal communication skills are terrible.
I'm not really into coaching but check out Hubie Brown's youtube coaching videos for some good stuff, and one of the guys who I think is one of the best coaches that also writes is Coach Thorpe who posts on ESPN. Many coaches, especially Assistant coaches are extremely valuable in player development. Just start learning the Xs and Os and the basic drills to condition your players.
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thanks ace
but is starting small enough for a living? i mean can the wage of being a coach enough for a family (when i have one)?
what actually hinders me in really following my dream job is that it might bite me in the ass financially
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I think that the idea is to do what you can for money until you've saved up enough until you can afford to take the risk of doing only what you want to do for money.
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On May 08 2012 18:26 icystorage wrote:
thank you for your insights.
would starting as a scout or assistant be of help in the long run in becoming a coach? because i believe its too late to develop some skills to play competitively
It's never too late to learn something, as long as you're interested. It's only too late if you want to be a professional player since the requirement is simply too strict. I recommend you to try to join some of your local/uni football club, and work your way up from there.
Also if you follow the professional scene, you should know that two of the best managers in the history, one used to be a no-name translator, one used to be a crappy no-name player. Since I've never been in a position of an assistant before, i can't tell you whether it'll help you in the long run, but I think it mainly has to do with how much you think you'll learn in that position.
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Hi, just my 2 cents here. I think that what's important is having both passion and a rational mind for what you are trying to achieve.
Coaching, unless done at a high professional level doesn't really pay much, I mean I think you can make a living out of it but it really depends on how much you are willing to settle with comfortably. There are also a thousand and one coaches out there and having to make a name for yourself above others is going to be very difficult, what I feel that you have to do here is never stop innovating and learning and separating yourself from the 'normal' coaches. It would take time and dedication, but I think if you can keep going at it, there really is no reason that you should succeed.
On May 08 2012 19:44 rkffhk wrote:
I think that the idea is to do what you can for money until you've saved up enough until you can afford to take the risk of doing only what you want to do for money.
That's the safe way to go about doing it and I fully agree with it. Personally, I've coached my junior college swimming team part time for the past 4 years and I really enjoy it. I share the same sentiments as you, that it is really one of my dream jobs because I really enjoy working with athletes. What I can say is that I know that just jumping into it might come abck to haunt me someday and I think that if the passion is there, I see no reason why I can't come back after a few years of working and saving some money to take a dive into coaching. I mean it's not as if you are leaving the sport forever, maybe during these few years you can start reading up and honing your skills and knowledge in the sport during your free time which will help you when you do eventually decide to go about with coaching.
Just think things through before you decide to jump into something 
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yeah, ive been thinking what you guys said. im planning to be a part-time youth coach while im working so that when i've saved enough moeny, i got some experience too
thank you very much for the replies guys, its the encouragement i really need coz i really dont have someone to ask
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EPT
