What To Expect From Yourself As The Coach

Part III: What To Expect From Yourself As The Coach

The role of the Special Olympics coach is much the same as any other volunteer coach in the community. There is an expectation that the coach will know something about the sport and how to teach it. This expectation varies with the skill level of the athletes and the environments in which the coaching takes place. If you have attended a Special Olympics Coaches Certification Workshop, you have the basics. If you haven’t been to one — go.

There are a few aspects of Special Olympics coaching that are unique to the Program. As a Special Olympics coach, there is an expectation that you will:

Help athletes select appropriate sport(s) and levels of participation
Many of our athletes come to their first practice with very little knowledge of various sports. Because of this, you will need to help them become familiar with their options. If an athlete shows up for summer track practice and is clearly not interested in any aspect of running, jumping or throwing (or going to the meets with his/her friends), talk to the athlete to determine if there are other sports in which he/she might be interested (for example, bowling or swimming).

Another challenge is to help athletes select events within a sport. What level of gymnastics will provide a challenge as well as success? Which athletics events will they enjoy the most and thus learn more quickly? The challenge here is a balance between pushing athletes to grow while not setting them up for frustration.

Offer a range of activities/events for all ability levels
When most people think of coaching Special Olympics athletes, they assume that all athletes will have the same, lower ability level. This is not usually the case. The average Special Olympics team will include athletes who have very limited exposure to a sport and athletes who have been playing for years, perhaps even in integrated sports programs in the community. Setting up practices will be much easier once you know the ability of each athlete. Then you can build workouts to meet everyone’s needs.

Examples of dealing with different ability levels

Ask more experienced athletes to help teach skills to new athletes.
Split the athletes into two groups: an independent group and one that you work more closely with.
Set up stations at practice but set individual goals depending on the skill level of each athlete (for example, dribbling drill where a number of athletes simply go through the course, others do it for time, while still others do it with specific techniques for time, etc.)

Provide safe training and competition opportunities
This is no different from any other coaching situation, but it is important to always remember. This population is more than twice as likely as their peers to experience abuse (physical, sexual or emotional). Keeping a protective eye out for signs of abuse or potential for becoming a victim is a sign of a good coach. Special Olympics provides Protective Behaviors Training for coaches, volunteers and athletes. If you have not seen these materials, request them from your local or area director.

Conduct High Quality Training and Competition
Another misconception is that because this is Special Olympics, the expectation of quality is less. This is not true. We intend for Special Olympics athletes to experience the highest quality training and competition possible. To achieve this, we continually revamp training workshops and materials to support our volunteers and coaches. Special Olympics strives to be a resource to every community, both in the programs we offer to people with intellectual disabilities and in the sport training resources available to our volunteers and coaches.

Involve families and/or other support groups
Anything worth doing is worth getting help in doing. Families come to Special Olympics with a wide range of expectations and interests. Some look to Special Olympics as a respite opportunity. Others would like to only be involved by coming to the competitions and cheering. Still others seek more active roles as assistants or coaches themselves. All of these are acceptable and a part of the "team experience."

The more effectively you find ways to include families in the team experience, the easier the season will become. Families are like athletes; each is unique. You shouldn’t try to make assumptions about their potential for support based on anything but personal experience with each.

Assist athletes to becoming integrated into the overall community
While some athletes will already be active in many aspects of their communities, others may turn to Special Olympics to provide a safe place to learn sports and social skills that will assist them in more inclusive settings. You won't have to work hard at this part of your coaching experience. It frequently just happens, or happens with family support. As a cautionary note: not every athlete sees community integration as a desirable goal. Some athletes view Special Olympics as their "safe place," where they don't have the same concerns about "being different" as they have in some integrated settings. Other athletes enjoy the freedom of going back and forth between Special Olympics and community or school sports programs because they have different friends or goals in each group. Still others see Special Olympics as a place to learn skills so they can make the leap to integrated sports programs. Regardless of the goals, you will want to honor the athletes' goals first!

Ways to support athletes in attaining their goals related to integration:

Help them register for community sports competitions during your season.
Talk with them about what their goals are and how you might help.
Set up some Unified Sports experiences to determine if that might be a logical next step.