Every parent knows that an inactive lifestyle, diet and most of all low levels of physical activity affects the well-being of children’s health and academic performance. Regular participation in physical activity offers young people a confidence boost while it also establishes fulfilling, healthy lifestyles for the future.
Most adults first memory of partaking in sports is whilst at primary school, while their high school sports experiences often coloured their attitude towards sports and staying fit for the rest of their lives. While primary sports coaching, normally offered by volunteers including parents or teachers, start young children’s interest in team sports, specialised physical and sports coaches, understanding the complexities of sports performance, diet, and exercise programs are part of high school sports coaching.
Primary school sport coaches passionate about sports-development are crucial when it comes to increasing participation amongst less active children, which builds the foundation for both an active lifestyle and the wish to compete in high school. Several high schools also benefit from volunteer services offered by professional rugby, tennis, netball or soccer players, parents with a history of sports achievements and local gym instructors.
The shift from Sports Star to High School Coach
The transition professional sports participants to a high school coach are quite a popular proposition, and 50% of sports enthusiasts that have made the shift shared that their decision came even before going to college. The benefits are endless since these coaches participated in high school athletics, which offered them a first-hand opportunity to acquire impressions and informal images about coaching and the change to observe their own coaches.
Irrespective of whether a neophyte started as a head or assistant coach, the collective understanding and technical aspects of coaching are most importantly, required by listening and observing more experienced coaches. It is a combination of sports participation and observing other coaches that offers a collective understanding of the sports coach occupation. For most novice coaches the reality shock come in the form of fully understanding the long hours, the importance of the coaching culture and hard work as well as the realisation that being successful at high school coaching takes an immense amount of time. Once the first season of coaching nearer its ends, both the internalisation and symbolic transformation of the institutional expectations occurs as the novice chaos have a much better understanding of what it is all about.
High school sports coaches play a major role in sports development, their relationships with young athletes influence psychosocial outcomes and skill development of sports participation.