Coach Centred Approach

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Athlete Centered Coaching and Empowerment Current coaching practices often see coaches use the power of their position to enforce a particular leadership style. Traditionally this means making decisions based on their opinions and implementing these, often without acknowledging their athletes, and is known as a coach centred approach. In the basic sense, the coach coaches simply for the benefit of themselves and to meet their personal goals, rather than the goals of their athlete. This coaching strategy often disregards the reasons why athletes participate in sport in the first place. In order to better benefit youth athletes, their coaches and youth sport as a whole, we need to shift to athlete centred coaching environments. This can be achieved…show more content…
Therefore an athlete centred approach to coaching is vital in youth sports. A youth coach has the ability to shape an athlete's involvement in sport not only as a young person but throughout their life, empowering them to be their best. By putting the athletes needs first, a coach can enable athletes to grow and learn as well as have control of their involvement in sport. This has several benefits to both the coach and the athlete. Athletes become motivated to learn and can more easily retain new knowledge and skills. It also encourages athletes to be self sufficient and self aware, allowing them to grow as individuals. It is vital for coaches to gain trust and respect from their athletes, promoting a shared power relationship and committed partnership. They should work towards common goals and allow an athlete to focus on their growth in both sport and…show more content…
This would shift the decision making to those who utilise an organisation's programmes. For example instead of a national body making decisions about funding use for smaller regions, those regions are able to choose how that money is spent to better suit their needs. At a local level, rather than a sports club choosing to start up a youth academy program based on their need for higher performing players, they might ask local young people what their needs are and decide to establish a social sports night. This gives young people and their communities the opportunity for greater autonomy, allowing them to create unique and specialised programs that are organised and controlled by locals. This approach is supported by the Maori health promotion model, Te Pae Mahutonga. The element Te Mana Whakahaere or autonomy, suggests that no matter how excellent a health promotion program is, it is unlikely to succeed if it is imposed without the support or engagement of a local community. A ‘bottom up’ approach reflects the aspirations and needs of a particular community and is likely to have a greater positive impact on youth sport than a program that is dependent on the decisions of a ruling organisational body. As with the coaching strategies explored earlier, this brings the youth athlete to the
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