The below list was partly inspired by our webinar last week on Recruiting & Training Coaches. I know every sports minister sees recruiting and training coaches as a challenge. The below ideas may or may not be new to you. Some may work great in your context, others…not so much. At the very least, hopefully this will list will challenge you to think outside the box and improve your recruiting of coaches.
1. Have Established Coaches Ask Others to Coach – If you’re like me, that doesn’t sound like it will help that much. However, about twice as many people are willing to volunteer if a peer invites them. Can’t argue with that.
2. Cast a High Vision – Don’t minimize the responsibilities of coaching. We think this will help recruit more coaches but the fact is, it doesn’t. Challenge people, cast vision. Need + vision = Inspiration. Need – Vision = Desperation.
3. Recruit Assistant Coaches Just as Hard as Head Coaches – Seems like a lot of work, right? Finding head coaches is difficult enough, why am I advocating more work? The answer: It’s an investment in the future. To go from no coaching experience to being a head coach is a huge leap for a person to make. Yet, we ask and expect that frequently in our ministries. The assistant coach position allows for some transition and the ability to grow into a head coach. It’s hard work but I bet it will pay off in the future.
4. Create a Chaplains Program – M.L. Woodruff mentioned this on the webinar as something he does at his church. Perhaps pairing a chaplain with a head coach who is not a believer not only fills a need for another team but provides a great ministry opportunity.
5. Create a Co-Coach Model – Scott Tyson mentioned this in the webinar. Rather than having a typical head/assistant coach model, Scott moved to a co-coach model. This seems to have encouraged more people to coach, especially those with a busy schedule knowing that they would miss some practices/games.
6. Recruit the Youth in Your Church – High school students may be great Assistant coaches or perhaps could even be Head coaches under the right circumstances. This is a great opportunity for them to be discipled as well as for you to fill a need. Win-win!
7. Create a Referral Program – Have established coaches recommend to you people who they think would be good coaches. People love to be referred (unless you’re selling them something). I find people are flattered when I tell them they have been referred for a position. Everyone wants to be wanted.
8. Form Strategic Relationships – Look at the demographics of your church. Determine, what type of person is most likely to coach? Find where those people are in the church and build community there. It may not yield a reward immediately but over time, I bet you’ll see that it was worth the time.
9. Enlist the Women in Your Church – Particularly in soccer, there seems to be a lot of women coaches. Outside of soccer though, they are scarce. Some are just waiting to be asked. Others don’t feel competent enough in the sport to coach (not a sexist comment, can be a true of a guy as well). I’ve seen in the past where the partnership of two moms as coaches has worked great. They are certainly the untapped resource in most sports ministries (unfortunately).
