The Guide to Coaching

Who Am I? 8-time Little League or local rec baseball manager/coach 7-time youth soccer coach 5-time flag football coach Twice assistant youth basketball coach

A youth recreational sports philosophy Hustle & Attitude A youth recreational sports philosophy

H&A Coach’s Have Different Goals Not Necessarily Flag Football Fanatics Mini Division Champs

Clinic Goals Provide you practical tools to have successful season Planning & running practices Managing games Positive interactions with parents & kids

Coaches Clinic Pregame: the Equipment 1st Quarter: Dealing with the Kids 2nd Quarter: Practice Planning & Management 3rd Quarter: Making Line-Ups & Managing Games 4th Quarter: Dealing with Parents & Referees

Pregame – the Equipment

Remember, these are not adults – or even high shoolers 1st Quarter - Kids Fundamentals of dealing with children Work hard to learn all their names Address them at their level (physically & emotionally) Be simple and brief Try to come up with rhymes as direction Remember, these are not adults – or even high shoolers

1st Quarter – Kids Coaching Your Own

1st Quarter - Kids Have fun awards Offensive and Defensive MVPs “Hustle & Attitude” Awards

2nd Quarter - Practice Good practices don’t happen on accident What are the goals? Start with the fundamentals and then build on them What drills will you run to meet team goals? During practice Run multiple drills at the same time Make contests out of the drills

Practice Example 1000: Welcome team 1005: Stretch and Warm Up 1010: Shotgun Snap Relay 1020: Route Tree and Spin Move Drills Switch / Rotate & Water Break 1030: Rush & Break Down and Zone Break Drills Switch / Rotate 1040: Offense Run Plays while Defense Practices Zone 1050: Quarterback Obstacle Course Challenge

3rd Quarter - Games Making Line-Ups – playing time Substitutions are made each quarter Ensure each child plays equal amount of quarters Making Line-Ups – positions Give players opportunities to play different positions

3rd Quarter - Games On the Flag Football Fanatics web-site, on the Coaches page: https://ohioflagfootball.com/coaches; select ‘Playing Time Patterns’ When you start, you can go alphabetically or any other way you want to set up the 1st quarter. This is up to you – it sets up the rotation for the rest of the game, though.

3rd Quarter - Games Players Quarters Billy 3 Tommy Cameron 2 Jason James Brandon Justin Drew Timmy Notice two players played 3 quarters and six played 2…next game, you would make sure Billy & Tommy only play 2 quarters and so on throughout the season to even out the playing time

3rd Quarter - Games During the game After the game Be encouraging; keep track of things to work on at next practice After the game Go over goals No “beat deeps” At least 1 ‘3 & out’ series At least 3 first downs

The only person who questions the referee is you 4th Quarter - Referees The only person who questions the referee is you And you do it very respectfully (the kids are watching)

4th Quarter – Parents It’s all about expectation management Welcome letter Parents Meeting

Ask for help – parent volunteers 4th Quarter – Parents Items to emphasize to parents Introduce yourself (profession, experience, etc.) Practice and game schedule Age-specific rules (see next chart) Parents drop kids off – then you have them Only adults coaching the kids are coaches “You’re switching quarterbacks?! And going to the smallest kid with the weakest arm?!” Ask for help – parent volunteers

Age-Specific Rules

Hustle & Attitude is a philosophy that can help Post Game This league is for the kids You play a crucial role in making their experience a positive one A successful season doesn’t happen by accident Hustle & Attitude is a philosophy that can help

Additional Resources The Flag Football Fanatics website: www.ohioflagfootball.com Coaches page has playbook, rules, practice tips Resources tab also has valuable information