Coaching Philosophy - 1986 - 1987

In the early 1980s I took a coaching class at New Mexico Junior College. It was "Scientific Foundations of Coaching" and was taught by a the women's basketball coach at the college. One of the first assignments we were given was to write a coaching philosophy. I was reading that philosophy paper as I was researching for this blog and it amazes me how little my philosophy changed throughout my career. Here word for word is that paper:

It has been said by many people in many different ways that, 'there is no better laboratory for the lessons of life than the world of athletics'. Because of this, I think that we as coaches should do all that we can to see that the maximum number of young people are given the opportunity to participate. In order to do this, we must actively recruit athletes by encouraging them to be a part of a program, if not yours, then someone elses. Time and time again, I've heard coaches say, "I'm not begging them to come out, if they don't want to play that's their problem". I don't think it's 'begging', I think that it's a prerequisite of good coaching.

The success or failure of any program depends upon the athletes you have to work with, so obviously the more you have in the program the greater the potential for success. Also, the more athletes in your program, the more opportunities for you to influence the lives of young people. For these reasons, I feel that all coaches are negligent if they do not actively seek to involve as many people as possible.

Once you get the athletes into your program it is essential that they have goals. It is a responsibility of the coach to help each athlete set goals that will help keep the athlete always looking ahead for further progress.

An athlete must have both short range and long range goals. The goals an athlete sets should be challenging and yet realistic. Setting goals that there is no chance of reaching can be self-defeating; therefore goals should follow a step by step progression. As an athlete meets or exceeds goals, new ones should be set. An athlete without goals can be likened to a ship without a rudder, both have nothing controlling their direction.

"Set a goal -- then get rid of those things in your life which keep you from attaining that goal". Joe Newton

I feel that every athlete in a program should have the opportunity to succeed and this is always possible in the sports of track and field and cross country. By using time or distance goals every athlete can be and will be successful regardless of whether they finish first or last in competition.

"Understand that only one runner comes in first, but every runner is a winner if he (she) has done his (her) best". Newton

"Without personal motivation, it is impossible to make the sacrifices and apply the dedication needed to become a champion performer". Newton

It is a responsibility of the coach to be a motivator. With so many things competing for an athlete's time, a coach who cannot motivate will not get the commitment for excellence from his athletes.

There are as many ways to motivate as there are athletes and coaches. It is my opinion that encouragement and emphasis on the positive is the best way. Newsletters, slogans, inspirational readings and talks are all helpful. Knowing each athlete personally and caring about them as a person away from the field, not just on it, is important if you are going to have the type of relationship that allows you to be a successful motivator.

Olympian Carol Lewis signing autographs after talking with our team.

To be truly successful as a motivator, a coach must have a relationship with his athletes that is based on mutual respect. If it is obvious to athletes that the coach cares for and respects them, they will learn to share the same feelings for the coach. This give and take atmosphere promotes a total commitment and dedication to the program from both coach and athlete.

By total commitment, I feel that to be a successful coach you must be willing to give extra time as necessary to help your athletes and your program. I also feel that a successful coach must be very organized so that available time is not wasted. To avoid wasting the time of athletes and coaches, and make the maximum use of available time, a coach should always know well in advance what he hopes to accomplish in practice and how he intends to do it. This does not mean that it cannot be changed, a coach must be flexible enough to know when factors indicate that a change in plans is necessary.

The coach should care enough about the athlete to instill lifetime values into his athletes and reinforce them whenever possible. He should expect his athletes to be good students, by this I mean do their best, and display exemplary conduct at all times. His athletes should understand that they are in the public eye and everything they do will reflect upon not only themselves but their family, their team, their school and their community. 'No price is too high to pay for a good reputation'.

When violations of rules occur, the athlete should know that she will be dealt with fairly and consistently but that unacceptable behavior will not be tolerated. No athlete is bigger than the total program. Rules should be kept to a minimum and be enforceable. A bunch of petty, nitpicking rules will only serve as a wedge between the coach and his team.

A factor which a coach has no control over which will have a great deal of control over him and his program is luck, both good and bad. The successful coach will be prepared to take advantage of good luck and flexible enough to deal with bad luck if it occurs. As a general rule where luck is concerned  however, the coach would be wise to remember the old saying, 'the harder I work, the luckier I get'.

Some other sayings about luck that I feel are significant are: "Good luck is a lazy man's estimate of a worker's success", Anon. "Behind bad luck comes good luck" Gypsy Proverb. And finally, "Luck is when preparation meets opportunity".

Winning, in many people's eyes is the bottom line in sports. Whether you believe that or not, if you get athletes into your program, help them set goals and be successful, motivate them, show them respect and teach them values they can use throughout life, and be prepared to deal with 'luck' good or bad, the winning will take care of itself.

Looking back 36 years later I'm amazed at how the philosophy that I initially wrote to fulfill a class assignment stayed with me through my entire coaching career. Hopefully that will be evident as I continue looking at my twenty years of coaching in Colorado.

For the 1986 fall season I was still coaching cross country at UCCS because there was still no opening at either of our district high schools. While I enjoyed coaching there college coaching was not something I wanted to do long term. 

'86 was also the first time I attended a high school meet in the Springs because I wanted to support the Sierra team since I was coaching track there and one of Sierra's runners was a young man I had taught in middle school who I had encouraged to run cross country in high school. He made it clear that he was a soccer player and baseball player and wouldn't run but since their was no fall soccer in the district at that time his mother told him that he had to do a sport and he chose cross country. He is still a top masters runner in Colorado today. I came away from the meet more determined than ever to someday coach cross country at Sierra. The most respectful thing I can say is that the team was not competitive. 

For the 1987 spring season I was hired as a paid assistant for the girl's team after only one year as a volunteer. That made me even more determined to eventually get into the high school as a teacher as well as a coach. Two things that stand out to me as I look through handouts from that '87 season are the importance of having depth in a program as opposed to having just one or two 'superstars' and the importance of getting athletes into events where they can be successful.

Three athletes in particular come to mind. The first was a good sprinter who we converted to a very good hurdler so she was winning events in hurdles and relays when she wouldn't have even beaten her own teammates in open sprint events. The second was a girl who as a freshman insisted that she was a sprinter and we were able to convince her to become a thrower where she was very successful particularly in the discus where she through her personal best at the District Championship. The final girl was a decent sprinter who very seldom placed unless it was in junior varsity meets but we kept finding places for her to run and she ran her personal best in the 100 meters at District. While she didn't make the finals the fact that she was able to be involved was enough to make her feel like part of the team.

We were once again beaten by Rampart in the District meet higher and closer than our prior performances indicated we would. The actual District scores were Rampart 101, Sierra 89, Coronado 60, Widefield 52, Wasson 48, Doherty 48, Harrison 42, Mitchell 39, Cheyenne Mountain 24, Air Academy 20 and Palmer 4.

Based on everyone's season bests entering the meet, the score was projected as: Rampart 102, Coronado 70 and Sierra 66. And if the meet had been scored after the prelims it would have been: Rampart 90, Widefield 66 and Sierra 62. Our athletes certainly rose to the challenge when the finals were contested.