Coaching Advice Column

At TASL, we are interviewing and asking young veteran coaches: What advice do you have to give to rookie coaches?

So far, we have talked with two young veterans: Coach Jamie Fisher Wilhite and Coach Andrea Bernardini. Each currently coaches different sports: Wilhite coaches lacrosse and soccer. Bernardini coaches basketball.

While it is not surprising that some of their advice to rookies is similar, based as it is on skill levels and program type, we thought that it would be interesting to ask our listeners whether there is also sport-specific advice that coaches should be thinking about.

Is basketball coaching different than coaching soccer in any relevant way, other than that they have different rules?

Do traditions matter for coaching a specific sport?

A sport's history? Its culture?

What have you found in your own sport-specific coaching experience?

The Academy is talking to several younger veteran coaches from around the country. We want to know what advice they have for coaches just starting out in the profession.

So, if you are a veteran coach: what would you add to Coach Jamie Fisher Wilhite's advice to rookie coaches?

And what did you wish you knew when you were a rookie coach, that you know now?

Please contribute your ideas. And if you are in your 20s or 30s, and are a veteran coach and want to do a podcast interview with us offering your own advice, please contact us for more information.

The Academy's inaugural podcast highlights some of the new programs schools are introducing to deal with the nation's obesity epidemic.

To be sure, athletic coaches do not usually have obese athletes and kids with health problems as a result of their inactivity. Coaches themselves are sometimes responsible for encouraging their athletes to be too active. This practice can lead to injury as well, from overuse injuries to burnout. Likewise, coaches are more likely to encounter disordered eating practices leading to underweight among their athletes. The most widely researched are the eating disorders of bulimia and anorexia, most commonly associated with female swimmers, gymnasts and cross country runners, not to mention the "making weight" rituals of wrestlers.

So, why then, are we offering advice to coaches on obesity in our first podcast?

First, the issue of childhood obesity is incredibly important. According to most reports, the percentage of American children, ages 10 to 17, who are obese today is 18%. Further, childhood obesity experts have found that when children are obese in adolescence, there is a 70% chance, they will be obese adults. For Michigan, the statistic is equally as staggering: as many as 16% of our children are obese. We all know the health problems this can cause later in life, the most prevalent being heart disease and diabetes.   

Second, coaches have a major influence in the schools where they teach. The "only the few get to be on the team"approach we rely on to organize our school sports means that many kids are left on the sidelines. The main consequence? Lack of physical activity at a time when kids are establishing lifelong exercise practices. This lack of activity contributes to obesity.