Elitetrack: Sport Training & Conditioning

This is the makeup of the coaches coaching our Olympic teams in Beijing - 22 are foreign born and 26 are US born. Nothing against foreign born coaches, but does this signify a crisis in coaching in the US? I think it does? Where are our coaches being trained? Where are they coming from? What is the career path to become a coach? We had better start training coaches and PE teachers or we will be in
 
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100% agreed.

I am Canadian and from what I can see there continues to be difficulty in viewing coaching as a profession when talking about any sport that is not considered “mainstream”.  So in the U.S. I would imagine that includes football, basketball and baseball to start, with more sports being added at the college level.  Here the opportunities in those sports are far less but with hockey added to the top of the list.  I would say many of our college coaches, nation wide, have teaching obligations in addition to their PAID coaching position; “PAID” as I also know in the case of Athletics the bulk of most Canadian Inter University (CIS) staff members may receive an honorarium but the work is seen as volunteer. 

To take a profession seriously there needs to be an educational background.  I know what is required here to attain various levels of certification but I have also had the good fortune to work with a coach who was born, educated and began coaching in another non-North American nation and the hours involved before beginning to coach were many hundred fold.  It is only within the last decade or so, for example, that a college degree with a “minor” in coaching has become available.

In Holland we have a pretty good mix atm. I have a bachelor in physical education but after finishing it most of the students didnt get a job in the sport simply because it doesnt pay well plus we dont have a big sport culture like the US have (like high school, college sports). Most head coaches are people out of the sport (old professionals), a student dont get much chance to learn it because of that. Its a bit unfair imo

JeffreyXL - 30 July 2008 11:23 PM

In Holland we have a pretty good mix atm. I have a bachelor in physical education but after finishing it most of the students didnt get a job in the sport simply because it doesnt pay well plus we dont have a big sport culture like the US have (like high school, college sports). Most head coaches are people out of the sport (old professionals), a student dont get much chance to learn it because of that. Its a bit unfair imo

It seems in many European and Asian countries, the coach is a highly regarded (and usually highly educated) professional. In the U.S. the opposite is true…coaches are often paid and thought of as lower level professions.

I wonder what Vern thinks about the United States Sports Academy.  They offer online degrees in sports science.  What do coaches on this board think of the United States Sports Academy?  Is it a waste of time?  Is it a school that one should look into if deciding to be a coach?

I’ve heard mixed things about the USSA. I know several grads who swear by it but then again it might be in there best interest to do so. I know some people who’ve worked there and they said that it was quite low level.

agentwinburn8604 - 01 August 2008 10:50 AM

I wonder what Vern thinks about the United States Sports Academy.  They offer online degrees in sports science.  What do coaches on this board think of the United States Sports Academy?  Is it a waste of time?  Is it a school that one should look into if deciding to be a coach?

USSA?  Never heard of it.

Random rant.  My experience has been that those with the power to hire coaches don’t really give a flying f*** about coaching education.  One of my associates has a PhD under Zatsiorsky and seems to have a diminishing coaching role at his school over the years.  [I’m speaking for the USA here]

mortac8 - 01 August 2008 04:57 PM

Random rant.  My experience has been that those with the power to hire coaches don’t really give a flying f*** about coaching education.  One of my associates has a PhD under Zatsiorsky and seems to have a diminishing coaching role at his school over the years.  [I’m speaking for the USA here]

Totally agreed. I still think the cream eventually rises to the top but now it’s only if they have the patience and diligence to stick with it long enough to get there.