Good day everyone! Coach Paul here, with some sober truths about this topic. Let us start off with some hypothetical observations of your youth coaching career thus far: You’ve gotten a good handful of seasons of coaching under your belt. You feel confident and comfortable with your skills to lead a team in one or more sports. The teams that you’ve coached, have been very competitive and maybe have won some championships under your coaching ideologies and techniques. You believe that all the pieces are now in place for you to “up your game”, as it were, and become a traveling youth coach.
Well, before you go gleefully skipping down the magical “Yellow Brick Road” of destiny here, there are a few things that you MUST consider, before you make that final decision to become a traveling sports coach. Being involved in any youth traveling sport (at any level), is something that should not be taken lightly.
Time Commitment
This, by far, is of huge consideration. With your current schedule, is this something that you can undertake? Traveling youth sports coaching often requires a significant amount of time away from home and work. How do you balance your responsibilities at home and your duties at work?
Are there aspects of your personal and/or professional life, that you would seriously consider sacrificing, to pursue your desire to become a traveling youth coach? Consider how many hours per week and per month you will need to devote to travel and coaching. Would you be able to mentally, physically and emotionally take it upon yourself, to deal with the challenges and complications that come with the job, as it were?
When mulling over these considerations, you MUST ask yourself, “Is it worth it?”. Now that may seem like a flippant question to ask of yourself, but it is an important one nonetheless.
There is absolutely nothing embarrassing or untoward about answering “No” to that question. You are simply being honest with yourself, by understanding that you may not possess the necessary bandwidth or commitment level to effectively serve as a traveling coach.
If your answer is “Yes”, then it is imperative that you begin to earnestly prioritize and scrutinize facets of your life, to accommodate this obligation. It is no small feat, but it is quite essential.
Travel Expenses
So you have been able to resolve any time commitment barriers and you are confident that you can move forward. But wait! What about money?? Yes, that pesky little bugger called “money”. The object of attention, that many of us obsess over day in and day out.
Traveling sports teams require a substantial financial investment. When you think about all the expenditures required, it can be very overwhelming, to say the least. As a youth coach, you may be responsible for providing transportation, lodging, meals and in some instances, fun & entertainment for your team.
You must keenly review your balance sheet consistently and ruminate on whether you have the financial resources to cover these expenses throughout the season. Try to plan ahead and build yourself a financial war chest if you can, before diving in. If parents wish to financially contribute, then by all means, accept it graciously.
That being said, you must spend that money wisely and be frugal when you can get away with it. If you end up going under budget at the end of the season, then that is a win for everyone!
Communication Skills
As with any feature of travel, complications and problems can and do arise, which can truly place a damper on your team’s focus and morale. Missed car rental reservations, hotels overbooked, tournaments/games being postponed/delayed, etc.
As the coach, you must be prepared to handle these types of conflicts and challenges that may arise during travel and competition. There must be a plan in place for effective communication to help you navigate these situations. You will need to communicate effectively with your team, parents, and league officials, should any part of your team’s arrangements go awry, regardless of who is at fault.
If need be, create a solid itinerary of events, that compliments any itinerary of events for said tournaments/games. Confirm and re-confirm any and all reservations and communicate that information to your parents; preferably via email, so that a paper trail is created.
Save any and all receipts, specifically related to lodging, transportation and tournament/game information. Forward that information to all parents. The overall key is to be transparent, in order that all parties be on the same page at the same time.
Parental Involvement
Will parents be accompanying their children on the trips abroad? If not, how will you communicate with parents and keep them informed of their child’s progress? Phone calls? Emails? Zoom calls? Texts? Be sure to make that determination with the parent, before you and the team head out.
In my opinion, I would prefer that parents DO accompany their children on any trip; especially those trips that require a 1+ night stay at a hotel. The parents can act as a de facto chaperone and help keep their child focused. This is pure conjecture, of course, as some parents may pose as a distraction instead. You must be mindful of this, if you see it becoming an issue.
Safety and Liability
This tends to be easily overlooked, but you must make inquiries about it. With any given venue wherein your team will be playing/practicing, are there certain safety protocols that are in place? Do these safety protocols affect the particular sport as well?
Attempt to obtain any documentation ahead of time, that outlines the protocols that are in place? Make your team and parents aware of these protocols as well.
You need to also determine what insurance and liability coverage (if any) that you need, to protect yourself and your athletes while they are competing. Bring parents into the loop as early as possible as well.They may desire to contact their health insurance organization, to see if any modifications need to be added to their child’s policy, to keep them and you, covered.
In Conclusion: Should I be a traveling coach?
The safe answer from ME would be, “Only YOU can decide that.”. Though that may be true, you must obtain feedback and guidance from your loved ones, on the best decision for you AND for them. Weigh all of your options and make the best choice for you and your family. Good Luck!
Please feel free to leave a comment below, about this discussion! If not, you can simply say “Hi!”. I like it when people say “Hi!”. And as always…thanks for reading!