I have recently been working with my daughter's high school AD and Principal in putting together a triathlon team at our high school. While triathlon is not an interscholastic sport in Massachusetts, we had 24 kids sign up, about double what I expected. I think that we'll lose about half the kids to other Spring sports, which would leave us with a group of 10-12 kids, which would be ideal. A local bike store is donating the bike equipment, and a friend and I will be donating our time as coaches. Many items to sort out, including training schedule, finding races for the team to do, liability issues (we will be open-water swimming and riding bikes on busy public roads), etc.
Triathlon and coaching in general I've got covered. But, as I was telling the AD and Principal last week, I have zero experience coaching high school kids. I have no idea what to expect from them. Triathlon training is really intense, as am I, and I'm not sure how hard I should push. I want them to do well, I want them to learn and have fun, but this is a tough sport. Triathlon generally attracts pretty motivated people, but I have no sense of what I will be able to ask them to do and have them respond positively.
So, I turn to the infinite wisdom of SoSH to ask if there are any coaches with experience with sports like track, cross-country, swimming, or other endurance-based sports for high school athletes. Any tips, advice, or general wisdom in working with kids in sports like this would be greatly appreciated.
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High School Triathlon
Started by
Kremlin Watcher
, Mar 04 2012 07:07 PM
3 replies to this topic
#2
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- 5,132 posts
SoSH Member
Posted 04 March 2012 - 09:32 PM
Never coached HS either, so I can't help you, but it might help if you say what your coaching experiance is.
#3
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- 603 posts
Posted 05 March 2012 - 03:46 PM
Interesting challenge. While I haven't coached in a high school program, I coached high school aged kids for two seasons a year for 5 years, 3 years 16-18, 2 years 14-15. This is rec baseball so maybe it's different when they are more serious on a high school team. I have to assume kids who think they want to be in triathalons are a bit more committed.
Every year I had several kids on each team would be so disrespectful of authority as to be uncoachable. It actually seemed to get worse each year. They were especially disdainful to any voice raising or anything which restricted socializing - no cell phones in the dugout during games, for example. To understand the reason some of these kids are like this, all you have to do is meet the parents. In my experience your intensity won't serve you well. The high school baseball coach here is also intense. I have never heard anyone associated with baseball in this town say they liked him. He's been the head coach for something like 15 years and hasn't won much of anything. General disdain and lack of respect for authority got so bad this past year, I am sitting this season out. Of course, I never had the hammer of throwing them off the team short of fighting or assulting an umpire. All I had was the bench and even that was ineffective with some kids.
I'm actually a bit surprised at the support you're getting from the AD and principal. I would think it's a liability nightmare. I envy you for being willing to do it given the potential personal liability as a volunteer. I'm assuming the school won't indemnify you. You may want to think about it a little more and double check if your umbrella liability policy would cover you, either way.
Every year I had several kids on each team would be so disrespectful of authority as to be uncoachable. It actually seemed to get worse each year. They were especially disdainful to any voice raising or anything which restricted socializing - no cell phones in the dugout during games, for example. To understand the reason some of these kids are like this, all you have to do is meet the parents. In my experience your intensity won't serve you well. The high school baseball coach here is also intense. I have never heard anyone associated with baseball in this town say they liked him. He's been the head coach for something like 15 years and hasn't won much of anything. General disdain and lack of respect for authority got so bad this past year, I am sitting this season out. Of course, I never had the hammer of throwing them off the team short of fighting or assulting an umpire. All I had was the bench and even that was ineffective with some kids.
I'm actually a bit surprised at the support you're getting from the AD and principal. I would think it's a liability nightmare. I envy you for being willing to do it given the potential personal liability as a volunteer. I'm assuming the school won't indemnify you. You may want to think about it a little more and double check if your umbrella liability policy would cover you, either way.
#4
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- 2,093 posts
Posted 10 May 2012 - 06:37 PM
We ended up getting the high school triathlon program up and running. Got three kids signed up (have to start somewhere, I guess), and they love it so far. Signed us all up for a short sprint triathlon in Hyannis in June, so the training volumes don't have to be too high, which allows me to do my own training in the morning so I can focus on the kids in the afternoon. Not pushing them too hard, but have decided that I will do all the workouts with them, which seems to work well. And I really enjoy working with them. Very enthusiastic, listen well, trying to learn and get better. First time I've ever really worked with kids in this kind of setting, and I am enjoying myself quite a bit.
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