How to Gain & Retain Volunteer Coaches for your Rec Sports League

It can be a challenge to recruit and retain great volunteer coaches for rec sports leagues. These volunteer coaches are often parents or active community members and have many other responsibilities pulling at their time and attention. Another challenge that may prevent one from volunteering is that they perhaps don’t feel confident in their knowledge of the sport or ability to coach a team.

A 2018 Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA) survey found that fewer than 4 in 10 youth coaches believe they are knowledgeable in any of the following areas: sports skills and tactics, effective motivational technique, or safety needs. These coaches have the heart for community involvement, safe and universal access to sports teams, and childhood skill development, but they may lack the technical know-how to make those a reality — or simply don’t feel confident in their ability to do so

This is one of the reasons we felt compelled to create TYS. We hate seeing great mentors lack the confidence and training knowledge necessary to be a great sports coach.

Below are 3 of our top ways to recruit and retain great volunteer coaches for your league:

  • Provide coaches with the resources to properly evaluate and draft players. Having proven and unbiased ways to evaluate and draft players helps coaches set up a team for the highest level of success (and fun) for every athlete.
  • Be committed to ongoing coaches education on how to properly run practices and drills — afterall, there is no need to be a basketball expert to be an expert coach! In the same way that you want your young athletes to be given the proper skills and teaching to be successful, coaches need that, too. When a coach feels confident that they have the training and tools to be successful, the team will be successful too. Our TYS mobile app is a great resource for volunteer coaches, making it effortless to create practice plans and guide young athletes.
  • Provide coaches with resources they can share with their players for skill work at home. Many teams practice just once per week, and that’s just not enough time to learn all of the fundamentals. Working on their skills on a regular basis off the court or field will take them even further in their game — and take the pressure off of your volunteer coaches to fit it all in during their limited practice sessions each week.

If you are struggling with finding and keeping great coaches, TYS can help! Our in-depth, user-friendly programs give coaches the confidence, knowledge, and organization they need to succeed. Learn more about our resources for coaches and leagues here