As some of you know I have a passion for coaching youth sports. I have coached soccer, baseball, T-Ball, roller hockey, ice hockey, basketball, and even a little kickball. I started out coaching at the “Y” in Houston and learned a lot about the kids and how to organize great practice plans to let the kids have fun and learn about the game. I have coached over 25 youth teams in 4-5 years. Oh, just in case you cared, I consider baseball the toughest sport to coach.
My coaching philosophy for the kids is:
1. Have fun
2. Learn about the game (skills & game tactics)
3. Win a few
I started coaching now that we have moved to Austin and I am having a great time with the kids. I am assistant coaching Ryan’s hockey team and coaching soccer.
For hockey things are different because we simply do not have as many kids in Austin to do only a league where we practice once a week and then play a game on the weekend. Right now we are spending a few months on skating and stick handling drills and then game tactics. We are doing a few tournaments as well. I have noticed that the power skating drills compared to Houston drills are the pretty close to the same but some are different and much more challenging. I have also noticed that the kids in Austin can shoot the puck in the air a lot more than kids in Houston.
Soccer is very different since Ryan and Krystal are on the same team. That is a pretty big age gap ( 6 and 8 ) on the same team. I had my 1st practice and I was pleasantly surprised with the kids. The field needs quick a bit of work but I think we are going to have a great time.
I plan to continue coaching and am considering a video series on how-to coach youth sports no matter the sport, no matter the experience of the coach. I thought I would just let everyone know that I am still coaching and though things are a little different the kids are still great and I am still loving it.
I will keep you posted on how the kids are doing as the seasons continue.