How to get your foot in the door for a coaching position?
One of the many questions that people considering a career as a coach is, How do I get my foot in the door? The answer to that question is deciding the sport that you would like to coach. After you have come up with what type of sport that you would like to coach is what steps would I have to gaining the proper knowledge of the sport. Many coaching jobs require you have a degree or a resume that describes you as a winner, teacher, role model and teacher. You don’t have to be a former All-American to become a great coach, the key is knowledge of the game and the use of basic fundamentals. Training can be obtained by doing research on the sport and attending coaching clinics. This training will also look good on your professional resume and shows that you took the necessary steps to learn the sport that are attempting to coach.
Although with community leagues you will not have to take these necessary steps just being supportive of your players and creating plays which is the start of a person gaining coaching experience. Coaching on a high school level requires training and attending coaching clinics and you must be able to be a parent figure on and off the court to your players. Many high school coaches not only teach basketball to their players they also problem solving techniques that their players can use on and off the court and a lot of support. Some high school athletic directors do an interview as if you were applying for a job, actually this will be your job if you are considering coaching as a career path.
Getting your foot in the door at the college level it requires a resume that will impress the athletic director. You must be able to prove to the athletic director that you can change the direction of the athletic program and bring championships to the school. If you can convince the athletic director that by hiring you as the new coach you can fill the stands as well as bring all american high school prospects and championships you are on you way as an collegiate coach. Once you have suceeded as a well known coach that has knowledge and experience that has championships on his resume there is a chance that you may be on your way to the professional level. Many coaches that have mastered the sport have passed up opportunities to move up to the pro level and still earn the same pay that professional level coaches receive. Some on the other hand were not ready for the professional level and eventually returned to the collegiate level. So training, knowledge and experience are the keys to getting your foot in the door to becoming a coach.
Online there are several basketball job vacancies posted on some good job hunter websites
- NCAA Career Center – The first place you should look for a job in the NCAA
- Athletic Link – Many basketball jobs listed daily- (Mostly Womens Basketball)
- Sport Jobs –
- Monster.com – General job search website and some good sport jobs if you dig deep
- Craigslist – Everything is listed but not so many and often.
- Yahoo! Jobs – Job bank similar to Monster.com
Leave a Reply