Assistant Coaches

Every year, when my assistant coach is assigned to me, I always warn them that they could be embarking on the most dull coaching experience of their lives. I'm known for running my practices very directly, and so often my assistant winds up doing a lot of sitting and watching. 


Let me say that sitting and watching has proven to be a boost for several coaches. I've had numerous assistants go on to be head coaches themselves, so it's not necessarily a wasted experience. I do try to teach and mentor them, so they learn the basic elements of good coaching.


My assistants have a few standard responsibilities. In games, I need someone who can operate my Excel scoresheet accurately and efficiently. I also like to have someone who is empathetic and compassionate, to balance my somewhat brash and direct nature. In practices, my assistant usually will listen to quizzers check off chapters, run specific drills, and handle some of the administrative stuff for me.

For Bible Quiz, my assistant this year is Heidi Graves. She was on my team a couple years ago (I love using my former quizzers to assist--they already know my style and system, and they have totally bought in to what we do), and is a Freshman in college. Given that assisting for me doesn't require a great deal of outside responsibility, this is ideal for her. I want her to focus on school first, and she knows that. She occasionally will help me pull together study materials, but most of the time her work is done in practices and at competitions.


In JBQ, I actually have three assistants. This may seem like overkill, but I am using it as a chance to develop some leadership skills in young people. I'm also farming out a lot more of the responsibility than I have in the past. Victoriah and Linsey are both 6th graders who were on my Nationals JBQ team a year ago. They wanted to help out, and so I've let them do a lot of the day-to-day practice stuff. This year's team is a first-year group of boys, and you'd be amazed at watching the girls direct them. Linsey can run drills with an iron fist, and Victoriah's caring and compassion show through and make a big difference to the boys. Add that my third assistant, Jillian from my BQ team this year, and you've got a great combination. I supervise, run some of the drills, and teach the strategic side. The girls understand how to teach some of the basic interruption skills, so I'm letting them spread their leadership wings.


Our main task as coaches is to prepare our quizzers. We also have a responsibility to raise up leaders as coaches. This means sometimes giving up control of every little detail (a difficult task for me), in order to give someone else a chance to learn and grow. Most importantly, it follows the model of Jesus, who raised up leaders around Him that He sent to change the world. That worked out pretty well.


Have you started to develop your "coaching family tree" yet?