How to Select a Coach

Trust comes into play whenever you put your children under the guidance of a coach. But there are certain elements that you can use to help you make a good choice. Your prime concern, of course, has to be the safety of your child, followed closely by whether or not she is going to get good, quality instruction.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. Find out the credentials of the coach and any assistants who will be in contact with your child. For example, if it is a swimming program, check if each instructor has life guarding certification and whether the director of the waterfront area is a certified Water Safety Instructor.
2. Introduce your child to the coach and observe their interaction. See how your child responds when the coach speaks. You can tell much in the first 5 or 10 minutes of a conversation about how the coach will behave around the children under her care. Choose a coach that interacts naturally with your child.
3. Ask the coach about his approach to physical fitness and his philosophy of coaching. Talk with him until you're satisfied those aspects that are important to you are also important to him, and that your child will learn good sportsmanship while building her body and mind. If the coach strikes you as gung-ho, win-at-all-costs type, you might want to find a different coach.