First I would like to say your site has been very helpful for me over the
years. I have been coaching a Junior Boys (ages12-15) team at my church for
8 years now. I love working with the kids and seeing them succeed. In the
last 4 years we've won our State Tournament twice and made the semi-finals
the other 2 years including this past weekend.

The reason I am emailing you is I've known it for years but haven't listened
to myself. I love coaching and working with the kids. Right now what I do at
the church is a volunteer thing, but I would love to transition it into a
career. I'm realizing that whatever job I've had though I might be good at
it, and might get paid well, I never get the satisfaction from the job that
I get from working with the kids.

My question is what route should I take to transition into a career? I don't
have a college degree so I know that makes it harder for me getting in with
some schools. I am 36 years old, married and have been in management
postions for most of my work life.

I'm just tired of the dead end jobs and want to do something I love, whether
it's coaching, scouting, or whatever else there might be out there with the
game of basketball.

Thanks for taking the time to read my email. Any advice you could offer
would be great.

Thanks again for the great resources you provide with this site.

mdd-

This is a tough situation.... you are marrited and have someone to support.

I tried several things before I finally got enough courage to go to college and none of them made me happy.

I didn't go to college until I was 32, graduated at 36 with a teaching degree and it was finally something I loved. Teaching and coaching. I know the feeling, I knew when I was 21 or 22 but didn't have enough courage to try..... I finally decided to get it done...... I don't know if that would fit into your goals and plans... OR if it was something that you could do.
Would your wife be willing to go along with this?

You could take a coaching accreditation course and become a certified coach.... then find a school where you could get a start at. I know I have that somewhere on my computer but I cant find it... maybe Jeff or Joe - or one of the other coaches here could help you out on that.

Good luck in whichever way you decide to go.

Unless you teach or get started at a young age in a college, it's tough to make it a career. It usually comes down to knowing the right people.

All I know is that I have this website, do clinics, player development, and coach to make a living. My coaching doesn't really make me any money (high school and youth stuff). So the other things have to pay the bills. It worked out for me but it was a ridiculous amount of work I was also lucky that we were able to start the business before my brother was married, so he had time to do the extra work needed to start something like this. I had a family when we started and couldn't really just quit my job or work 80 hours a week to kick start things.

Sorry I can't really provide much help because frankly "coaching" itself doesn't make me much of anything from a monetary standpoint. If you can teach and coach, that would work. Not sure you want to go back to school though. Keep searching for something out there and follow your passion.

I found these items and sites -


http://www.coachforthem.com/youth_basketball.cfm

http://www.fitour.com/coach_certifications.cfm


http://www.livestrong.com/article/363302-basketball-coaching-certification/

You don't have to be a teacher but it helps.... you do need to be certified and have a background check.

Here is another site with a lot of questions and answers -

http://zamayouthsports.org/FAQ.htm