Developing Your Coaching Objectives
When you ask coaches what they want out of coaching, the answers usually include winning, fun and athlete development. All three are important, but which is most important to you? In Special Olympics, we want our coaches to place athlete development at the top of their coaching objectives, followed by fun and winning. We do not de-emphasize winning in Special Olympics. We know that our athletes train hard and long to win the gold. However, as we mentioned previously, coaching a Special Olympics athlete is like coaching any other athlete. Coaches that are most successful place athlete development first. By placing athlete development first, athletes are more likely to produce better performances with greater consistency and athletes and coaches derive more satisfaction than by emphasizing winning at all costs.
We will talk more about winning later. Now, take time to think what your objectives will be. Start by writing them down both for yourself and your athlete and team. The following exercise will assist you in assessing your coaching objectives.
