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Youth sport organizations often rely on parent volunteers to coach the league’s teams. Despite the lack of experience many of these volunteers have, without their generosity of time and spirit kids would not have the opportunity to learn and play a sport. If you are in this position, avoid overwhelm and instead focus on the 11 tips found in this document for first-time coaches. These may be the difference maker for you to enjoy the experience!

Tips include pre-season advice like letting your child know you’re considering coaching and being clear on your own goals. Putting some thought in before the season begins will help direct your strategy for practice and game planning.

Little League Hockey Teams

This list also includes tricks of the trade like welcoming all kids to practice by name to make them feel important, and facing the sun when you talk in team huddles. These may seem like small adjustments, but they make a big difference when you’re dealing with young impressionable players, with short attention spans. Finally, don’t forget that this can be hard! First-time coaches are often confronted with a harder-than-expected experience.

Don’t get discouraged, give yourself a break and remain positive with yourself. Find other coaches and workshops to learn from, and remember how important a role you’re playing in the lives of young athletes. For the full list of 11 tips, download the article below.

Emotional abuse IS abuse Was what the Fogliettas say happened at the rink that Saturday morning in January 'borderline child abuse'? It clearly involved a child, so the only real question is whether it constituted abuse.

American Hockey Coaches

Experts in the field agree that a child is abused when someone uses his or her power or position to harm them emotionally, physically or sexually. Emotional abuse is a verbal attack on a child's self-esteem by a person in a position of power, authority, or trust, such as a parent or a coach. It occurs even if the attack is not intended by the adult to cause harm, and can take many forms, including insults, criticism or ridicule, or yelling at a child for losing or not playing up to expectations. If Coach Norcross did at the rink that day what the Foglietta twins say he did, his conduct clearly constituted emotional abuse: as a coach, he was a person in a position of power, authority of trust. By criticizing Austin in front of his teammates by characterizing his asking for the puck as 'ridiculous' and the most selfish thing' he had ever seen, and by directly assaulting the fragile self-esteem of a nine-year-old boy, telling him he wasn't even the best player on the team and naming several players who he said had probably scored more goals, Norcross could be viewed as being guilty of emotional abuse. The LYH board, the coach, and his supporters say none of this happened, of course, but that conclusion is undercut by several telling bits of evidence. To begin with it is difficult to understand how both the LYH Board and the discipline panel could conclude that the allegations 'could not be substantiated' and that there was 'no corroborating evidence from other coaches, parents or players.'

First, to reach such a conclusion it had to decide that the boys and their father were making the story up out of whole cloth. Second, at least one brave mom came forward to corroborate at least part of the Fogliettas' story, and, if Holly is to believed, other parents would have done so but for fear of retaliation. Third, another parent, while he said he didn't hear or see the coach say anything to Austin, confirmed another part of the Fogliettas' story - that the coach had been yelling at the referees about calls during the game. And, fourth, and perhaps most significantly, one of Norcross' assistant coaches admitted - almost boasted - that the coaches yelled at the players in the locker room for not playing better, because that's what hockey coaches do.

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