How to Coach

Stream(s):

C NCCP NCCP Competition

Working to improve long-term athlete performance, a coach that takes this two-day workshop will learn to prepare their athletes (youth ages 10 + or adults) for provincial, national, or international competitions. In this 14-to 16-hour course, the role of the coach will be covered, and participants will deepen their knowledge of planning and positions while learning technical softball skills and drills.

The Softball Competition – Introduction Clinic is comprised of two weekends of training. Weekend #1 sets the stage by teaching you the ‘What’ of coaching softball, while Weekend #2 teaches you the “How”.

Weekend #1 (What) will help you:

Understand the needs of the players you are coaching (typically ages 11-16 but also includes players that are 16 years old);
Plan effective practices and lead your team in safe, age appropriate activities that improve performance in games;
To properly teach and consolidate fundamental softball skills (throwing/receiving, fielding, hitting, bunting, baserunning, sliding, pitching);
Apply a six-step ethical decision-making process;
Prepare your team for game situations using pre-game warm-ups, basic defensive and offensive strategies, signaling, and the proper application of the rules of the game.

Weekend #2 (How) will help you:

To properly teach and consolidate position-specific skills;
Prepare your team for game situations using basic defensive and offensive tactics and strategies;
Learn how to make coaching interventions that promote learning;
Detect and correct common errors in the performance of technical skills and position-specific skills of your players.

WHO SHOULD TAKE THIS COURSE?

This clinic is for coaches preparing players in the Learn to Train and Train to Train stages of softball’s Long-term Player Development (LTPD) model to improve performance, often in preparation for local, provincial, regional, and/or national competitions. Coaches usually have previous coaching experience or are former softball players.

PREREQUISITES AND OTHER REQUIREMENTS:

No prerequisites, but a coach must attend Weekend #1 before being allowed to attend Weekend #2.

The Competition – Introduction Clinic can be an entry point for coach education and training in softball’s NCCP or it can build on the training from the Community Softball Coach Clinic.

To achieve Trained status in Competition – Introduction, a coach must complete Weekend #1 and Weekend #2 of the Competition – Introduction Clinic. To achieve Certified status in Competition – Introduction, a coach must submit a Coaching Portfolio, complete and pass the on-field Softball Competition – Introduction evaluation (including Analyze Performance task) and pass the Competition – Introduction Make Ethical Decisions online evaluation.

Note: Please check with your Provincial/Territorial Softball Association to find out if the Respect in Sport online training is also required.