I usually do not comment on current events, but my thoughts turn to the nightmare scenarios we are hearing concerning the sexual abuse allegations against college coaches. When the victims are kids, any abuse seems worse to me. Intentionally doing lasting physical or mental harm to a child is beyond despicable. We, who deal with youth sports, must look after the kids.
Coaches have a special responsibility to protect the children they work with. Parents trust their most precious possession, their child, to us and we are honor bound to help kids, not take advantage of them. Sometimes, we are lucky enough to be considered “second parents” to our players. That speaks of healthy love and respect. Whatever our relationship is with players, we must behave as most medical professionals are charged: “do no harm.”
When I speak to groups of interscholastic coaches, the administrators always want me to stress the moral and ethical aspects of a coach’s job. Not everyone understands that the personal relationships between coaches and players must remain on a professional level. If you ask a young man why he wants to coach football and his answer is, “to get a chance to date a cheerleader,” the warning siren is activated.

The vast majority of parents involved in youth sports try the best they know how to help their children. They want their kids to have fun, learn good character traits and have a positive experience when playing a sport. In the last few years, sport parents have made the news for the wrong reasons: fighting with other parents, verbally and physically abusing officials, harassing coaches and putting too much pressure on their children.
These people are not the majority. They are ones who have lost perspective about what’s important. They’re teaching some very bad lessons, but the bottom line is that they are damaging their children. The “winning at all costs” mentality carries a very high cost indeed. It’s not the parent’s job to endorse that mentality; but to prevent it.

I won’t enumerate all the facets of a youth coach’s job. It would take an entire book and more. I will argue, however, that a coach’s primary job is to teach. No, it is not to win; it is to teach kids how to win. Most of that teaching goes on at practice, and I’m going to focus on just one part of coaching: teaching a skill. If you are new coach or a parent trying to help your child learn, these techniques will help make the teaching easier and more successful. Coaching is harder than it looks.
It should be obvious, but it is real important to be sure you are teaching the right thing! Techniques may be different from when you learned or from what you see at the college or pro level. You can find all kinds of sources to help with what to teach. Books, videos, and clinics are readily available. Assistants and parents should all be teaching the same skill basics. Head coaches should not assume everyone is on the same page. Teach the adults on your team too.