This past year I came into the track and field program at The University of Mount Olive in Mount Olive NC. As a new young coach, I knew one of the things I would need in order to be successful was my athletes respect and trust. They had been competing and training under a different coach and comfortable with a certain system. I understood that for them to buy in to my program the first thing I had to earn was their trust and respect. Respect can be gained in many ways, being relatable, being accomplished, listening/communication, and, if they have questions, being able to explain things in a way they can understand. The main things I chose to focus on were communication and giving proper explanation of my background and training program. Kids/athletes want to be able to trust the person they are training under. By being able to listen to athletes concerns and goals you are building a very important base for your coach athlete relationship. You are showing the athlete respect by listening to them and showing them, they have a voice that you will listen to and care about their goals.

Now when it comes to your athletes and explaining your methods and approach some coaches get caught using big scientific words and comparing their program/methods with those of other schools for their athletes. Most of the time they do this in hopes of convincing athletes that they as coaches know what they’re doing and can be trusted. On the college level, this is not a good idea. Athletes don’t care about what other programs are doing because they’re in your program. For the most part they chose you for a reason. Can you help them succeed? Can you help them improve? Can you apply your knowledge? Unless an athlete comes asking for the scientific reasoning behind certain workouts or drills there is no reason to flex your knowledge for them. Keep it simple and coach!