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Q & A With A Trusted Coaches Administrator

Q & A With A Trusted Coaches Administrator

Member Spotlight With Susan Stang

Q.  What youth sports organizations are you involved with?

A.  Osseo Maple Grove Basketball Association (OMGBA)

 

Q.  What are your roles with those associations?

A.  My volunteer responsibilities include webmaster and Trusted Coaches administrator.

 

Q.  How many years have you been involved in coaching administration? 

A.  I have been a member of the OMGBA board for 5 years.

 

Q.  What are the reasons your association decided to use the Trusted Coaches program?  

A. OMGBA decided to use the Trusted Coaches program because it is a user friendly online administrative tool and educational resource for our coaches.  The association is very pleased to have added educational requirements for our coaches in regards to first aid training and concepts from the Positive Coaching Alliance.  The TC program online tool allows the administrator to see a coaches progress in all four areas of training.  It is a great tool for an administrator to follow individual coaches progress in the program.

 

OMGBA requires all coaches to complete the online training before they can participate in any practice time or basketball games.  This year alone, the association had over 160 coaches take this online training.  The association serves a very large number of teams in both the house and travel program for grades K-12.  The Trusted Coaches program is a great organizational tool to use to track this large number of coaches, especially when it comes down to concussion training and background screening. OMGBA also has many different registration sessions with different ending and start dates of our programs. We have many coaches that coach for more than one OMGBA team or program. The TC site was great to search for existing coaches that completed the program earlier in the season.   Purchasing codes to reflect this number of coaches throughout the season was also a simple process with the TC program.

 

Q.  What tools from the Trusted Coaches program are you most excited to see your coaches use once they have been through the program?

A.   OMGBA is very pleased with all four tools or concepts provided in the program.  Since this is our first basketball season using the program, as a board, we are going to continue to discuss how to bring some more PCA concepts to our coaches and OMGBA members.

 

Q.  What advice would you give first-time parents about getting into coaching?

A.    I would encourage all parents to get involved at some level in activities their children participate in.  OMGBA is a volunteer organization and is always searching for parents to step up to coach since we are serving such a large number of youth in the Osseo-Maple Grove area.   As a coach, first time or seasoned, I think it is important for coaches to develop the skills of all players on the team.  While some players may have stronger skills in one position, it is still important to develop them in other positions on the basketball court.  It is important to develop well rounded players on the court, they will then be able to bring more skilled characteristics to the team both offensively and defensively in the sport of basketball.

 

Q.  What advice would you give associations that are considering sending their coaches through the Trusted Coaches program?

A. I would encourage any association to strongly look into the TC program.  OMGBA decided to use the program because it is a great organizational tool and brought both first aid training and PCA training to our organization.  OMGBA was encouraged to use the program since it is strongly supported by Minnesota Youth Athletic Services (MYAS).  The concept of having concussion training, background screening, first aid training and PCA training all tracked for our coaches on one site is beneficial to OMGBA and any youth sports organization.

 

Q.  The involvement of parents in coaching their children has changed since we were kids.  It has become much more formal, with many more parents coaching through Youth Sports Organizations.  Do you feel that this change is a positive or a negative change?  If negative, how can associations, such as yours, turn this into a positive? 

A.   OMGBA is a volunteer organization, so the idea of having parents coach and be involved is a positive necessity for the youth and the basketball program.  It is important for those volunteering to coach to recognize the importance of skill development for all players on the team.  OMGBA is very thankful for all it’s volunteers!

 

Q.  Do you have any advice for parents/coaches that might be interested in getting into administration? 

A.  I find it very important for parents to get involved.  There are many non-coaching opportunities for parents to be involved in with the Osseo-Maple Grove Basketball Association.  At this time we have many coaches involved in administrative aspects of the program as well. I would encourage any interested parents to reach out to board members or coaches if they are interested in sharing their time and talents, it helps lead to the success of any youth organization.