You can count
on very few fingers and toes the number of the 2800
swim clubs in this country that have had coaches for
a long time. In my own experience, the Kansas City
Blazers have had the same head coach/CEO since it’s
inception in 1975. The Mission Viejo Nadadores have
had three head coaches since it’s inception in 1968.
As we listened to the descriptions of successful
clubs at the Summits this was the single most common
factor.
Many of these teams are also either owned or
directed by the coach. The head coach is the
chauffeur with full autonomy in speed, direction,
and mode of travel. This allows the head coach time
and the freedom to train the coaching staff and the
parents. The trend in the past few years seems to be
moving more and more towards coach owned clubs.
When an existing club is rebuilding, the rebuilding
is going to be done by an inexperienced coach. A
rebuilding club is not going to hire a top notch
coach. They are going to hire the least expensive
experienced coach they can find. Successful clubs to
lock in their head coach for as long a term as
possible.
As an age group coach, I always tried to get a
commitment for two age group cycles. That is, I’d
like to be able to take my 10-year-olds and get them
through the 11 and 12 cycle, then get them through
the 13 and 14 age group cycle. That gives you 4
years to really start instilling your own ideas and
establish them as habits and traditions. Then you
can examine the progress of the swimmers as they
move up the ladder and see if you are effective.
As a head coach, I worked for a 3 cycle contract.
This gave me the opportunity to establish a training
philosophy for my coaches as well as an expectation
for the athletes to live up to in their daily
training. With this in place you can evaluate the
skill level of swimmers moving into your group and
effect changes in the next cycle as needed. None of
this can be done in a year or two.
Taken
from an edited transcript of a presentation that
Mike Lewellyn gave at the National Age Group Coaches
Conference in April 1999.
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