Coach wil

I met with the director of one of the largest local youth soccer clubs this week. He is in desperate need of additional coaches for the coming year. A buddy mentioned my name and gave him my contact information so we’ve been chatting over email, and met to discuss things this past Wednesday evening.

I wanted to start out as an assistant coach, but the director is in need of head coaches right now more than anything. He is offering me a head coaching position with a second team of U13 (under 13 years of age) players. The pressure won’t be as bad as a first team, but it’s still my first time coaching. I’m a bit nervous about coaching a team on my own for the first time and the expectations parents, and even the players, may have. The director assures me that he will be more directly involved with teams run by new coaches and that with my background I should do fine. He said that I had to get my USSF D license over the summer for him to hire me, but that the club will pay for it. I liked that because I was already planning to do it, but out-of-pocket. He also said the club will provide a lot of the equipment I’ll need and money to defer costs of coaching. It all sounds good and maybe coaching with a large club is a good idea for beginning because of the support I can be offered (versus a small club). Another bonus is that the days of the week I would want to do practices are less desirable overall, so I shouldn’t have any scheduling conflicts for the fields. Still, it doesn’t change the fact that I have no experience. At least I’m good at organizing events – that should come in handy.

I’ve had a couple of my teammates from Winter League express interest in assisting with coaching some, so that may be a huge help too. I’m planning to do it at this point, if for no other reason than to stay on track with my coaching license progression. I really want to move forward with that and go even beyond the D level. I need to do it now, while I’m still in relatively decent shape because it won’t get any easier as I get older. It’s going to take a significant time commitment on my part to do all this, but I’m ready. If I can do calculus and work full time, I can do this. Besides, I’m bound to enjoy this more than calculus homework. I just hope this doesn’t cut too much into the fun I have playing.