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PostPosted: 31 Aug 2017, 11:34 

Posts: 19
Looking for some help regarding assistant coaches for our team. I coach a 4th grade travel team. we will be playing in a fall and winter league and probably a tournament too.

I have one dedicated assistant coach, but also have 2 other parents who would like to help assist. I'd like to have all of them help in some way, but also realize have 4 coaches might be overkill for a 4th grade team.

How do you handle assistant coaches? Do they just do as the name says and assist you as you run practices and coach in games? Do you give them specific roles/duties? Is there a good way to break up roles so all 4 of us can work together? Trying to figure out the best way to do this. Thanks in advance for your help.


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PostPosted: 31 Aug 2017, 16:09 

Posts: 900
What worked best for me at the younger ages was to have a solid assistant I could count on that had a similar coaching philosophy. Sounds like you have that.

In terms of who does what, sometimes that depends upon the relationship you have together and the skill set of your assistant. As a head coach, I don't want to become a control freak, but I want the kids and parents to have one point of contact. I like to organize practices, decide what we'll be working on and explain the more technical concepts during a practice. If my assistant seems to be well versed in a certain area, I definitely let them take that part of the practice. If there's an area of communication they can help with, I certainly would encourage that.

On the court, I want to be the one deciding which chess pieces go in and which combo's seem to be working. Which offenses and defenses to run along with communicating with the kids on the floor. Having 2-3 people trying to communicate with the kids on the floor never works out. Same during timeouts, I want to be communicating and not have others piping in since the time is limited.

The best thing a good assistant can do is support you. They can be a great sounding board during games and practices and after games and practices. It helps a lot to have someone you can bounce things off of to make sure you're on the right track. Talking over strategy is also something that can be helpful.

My assistant helped a lot with keeping the kids in line and listening while I was talking. He also encouraged them a lot during practice and when they came off the court during games.

Regarding the other parents that want to help, I've found that using them to help with drills during practice works well. Could be setting up cones, rebounding or working at a station with a simple concept. If one of the parents is good with video, you could ask if they'd be willing to tape the games. It's a great way for you to see what needs to be worked on and also a great way for the kids to see themselves playing and use it as a teaching opportunity.

Admin stuff could be handled by the assist or one of those parents. This could be communication regarding practices, scrimmages, games, tourneys. Things like when, where, parking, etc.

Hope this helps.

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PostPosted: 02 Sep 2017, 05:21 
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I have handled several different ways and it depends on the assistants availability, knowledge, and understanding of my system. Couple examples:

- I ran everything. Had 2-4 parents assisting. They just jumped in and helped with drills as they felt comfortable. They might take stats during games, make sure we have score keeper, etc. Just used common sense to figure out what they should or shouldn't do.

- Co-coaching. Had instance where the assistant had high school coaching experience and same philosophies of me. I was in charge but in practices we shared duties. He might handle defense and I run the offense part of practice. Then we assisted each other.

It really depends on the season and the situation. Rob also has lots of good thoughts in his post. Good luck!

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http://www.BreakthroughBasketball.com


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