What Makes a Great Coach?

A Parent’s Primer on Finding a Sports Mentor with the Right Stuff

By Tom Moroney

The quality of coaching can make or break a child’s early experience with organized sports. By being proactive in choosing a coach who will put the kids’ needs first, parents can ensure that fun and learning are kept front-and-center for kids under 12. This starts with parents understanding how to evaluate coaches and spot the ones who will help kids truly enjoy the game.

It’s All About Fun

For children from ages 5 to 12, the operative word is fun. Few have embodied that notion better than soccer coach Tucker Reynolds, a self-described country lawyer. Reynolds, whose soccer-playing sons have now grown, brought a refreshing mix of coaching and joking around to his days as coach of 5- and 6-year-old soccer players in his community, highlighted by something he called “library soccer.’’

The major rule in library soccer was that every parent had to behave on the sidelines as if they were in the library – no talking, no cheering, no jeering, no nothing. The players on the field could yell and scream. But to make sure the adults were obeying the silence rule, Reynolds prowled the sidelines with a roll of duct tape, threatening to tape any adult motormouths who felt compelled to backseat coach at high decibels.

Reynolds never used the duct tape on anyone but himself, making the whole stunt seem even funnier. The liberal use of humor is always a good sign that your child has a good coach.

Reynolds’ other claim to small-town fame was “Hawaii Day,” a game for which he showed up with a boom box, Don Ho CDs and a pile of colorful leis for the children to wear around their necks as they played.