Mentoring Assistant Coaches

I recently came across a nice article by Dina Gentile regarding the mentoring of assistant coaches in youth soccer programs.   Dr. Gentile is a Professor of Sport Management at Endicott College.  A volunteer youth coach herself, Dr. Gentile understands from both practical and theoretical experience what happens on the soccer field.  

Mentoring of sport coaches has been a long time topic of serious interest here at the Institute.  We have a page dedicated to gathering information about coaching mentor programs and provide a few good resources on the topic too.  You can check it out here online. 

Basically, mentoring is a very effective means of keeping coaches involved in sport long-term. Mentoring today is best defined as a developmental, caring, sharing and helping relationship where one person invests time, know-how and effort in enhancing another person’s growth, knowledge and skills, and responds to critical needs in the life of the protégé in ways that prepare that individual for greater productivity or achievement in the future. In short, mentors help coaches to recognize and maximize learning opportunities.