The important “first coach”

The important “first coach” in the path of athletes
Research at the global level is looking for factors that sometimes have a positive and sometimes negative effect on the development and evolution of athletes. The effects of the family environment, the social data related to sports and the other factors that appear both in the introduction and in the course of the athlete are studied.
In the same context, the influence of coaches throughout the sports career is studied. Research focuses largely on the first coach the child will meet in his introduction to sports, thus highlighting his defining role.
The first coach is “responsible” to present the first image to the young athlete about the content of sports. It shows him how pleasant the sports environment can be (or the opposite), builds a framework that develops pleasant feelings, which will determine whether the child will stay both immediately and in the long term in the sports environment. If the first coach has a positive effect on the athlete, it is very likely that he will continue and stay in sports. The more positive the coach’s image, the more profound an effect it will have on the child’s emotional dimension.
A coach who presents himself as friendly and positive, with mobility and attitude, which shows his appetite to work with children (this element is strongly appreciated by children), inclined to help any child who needs it, with an interest in the child as a person and then as a future athlete, declaring acceptance for each child (avoiding to investigate “having it” or “not having it”), an element that will contribute to the development of the child’s self-esteem.
The behavior of the first coach seems decisive in basic concepts with which the child will structure the sports environment. He will cultivate respect, cooperation, consistency, the willingness to try, trust as he will identify with a role model who exhibits similar behavior. If he trusts the first coach, he is more likely to stay in the sport and at the same time the child himself will develop confidence in himself in the future.
If the athlete in the future continues in sports, if he receives useful information from sports, if he develops into a high-level athlete and if he finally exercises as an adult adopting exercise in his daily life, the first coach will have a decisive role. To develop one needs motivation and desire and the first coach is the one who shapes the environment to develop children’s desire for sports at an early age. If the athlete stars, he will owe a lot to the first coach. It helped him develop as a child a second very important quality, that of an athlete!

Yannis Zarotis
Psychologist-Sports Psychologist