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Why do you want to coach?

After my last collegiate tennis match is when I realized that I wanted to start coaching collegiate

athletes. Not only did I grow up playing tennis, but I grew up coaching through out high school,

although I was only coaching beginners and middle school aged athletes. I have always loved coaching,

but I never thought that I would want to make a career out of it until my senior year in college. I want

to be a coach because I want to be able to influence individuals to play something that they love to

play. I want to be able to say that I was able to make a difference in an athlete by helping them improve

in any way shape or form. I want to be able to have a positive impact on not only my athletes, but other

coaches around me. Finally, I want to be able to share my love for the game and pass on my

knowledge that my coaches have taught me. All of the above of why I want to coach is true. This has

not changed. I will always love the game of tennis and I want nothing more than to be a college tennis

coach. To be able to come in and help athletes grow their game and then being able to see them

perform and succeed is such an amazing feeling,

Research and athlete-centered coaching philosophy, and discuss your findings. What is your

position on an athlete-centered philosophy?

After researching about an athlete-centered coaching philosophies, I feel like my mentor hit the nail

straight on the head. Adam Henning states that an athlete-centered coaching is putting the athlete first

and that it is an approach to coaching from their point of view. It is all about how the athlete is going to

react to everything and if they are reaching their full potential from the knowledge that they are

receiving. An athlete-centered coaching philosophy is all about the specific need of the athlete;

whether it be their physical or personal needs. This philosophy should be able to support the athletes

and focus attention on meeting their needs. I actually really love this philosophy because as a coach we

should always be focusing on what is going to help to athlete improve and what is going to help them
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in reaching their full potential.

What are you going to do on a daily basis to make student-athletes want to continue

participating?

My mentor, Adam Henning, stated that he loves to provide a fun environment for his athletes. I agree

with this as well. I want to keep practices fun to where my athletes love to be able to come out to

practice and play the sport that they love, but I also want my athletes to have a great work ethic. I

believe that sports should be fun at any level. Also, I think respect is a huge part of wanting to continue

participating in athletics. I want to deal with my athletes the way that I would want to be dealt with. I

believe that if I respect my athletes, they will respect me too, which will make them more likely to

come to practice with a great attitude and have more willingness to perform well. I still agree with this

as well. Keeping practicies fun and light are a great way to always keep your athletes excited about

coming to practice everyday. I do want to add that I do not want to make my practices feel like a

routine, rather than something they look forward to. I think that if drills and conditioning aspects are

the same thing over and over, practicies can get boring and will drag on. I want to always keep my

athletes on their toes and be open to trying new things that could potentially help us improve as a team.

What do you want your athletes to see you in you as the head coach?

I want my athletes to see that I am fully committed to them. Just like I mentioned for the respect

aspect, if they see that I am fully committed to them as a coach, chances are they are more likely going

to be fully committed to me as an athlete. My mentor Adam Henning stated I want my athletes to see

me as a trusting person that truly has their best interest in mind. I think that trust goes hand in hand

with commitment. If my players trust me as a coach, they are going to stay fully committed to being a
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part of my team. I believe that commitment is still a huge part of being a head coach, or any coach. On

top of commitment and trust, I also want to add that I think having your athletes respect you is an

amazing quality to have. The more that my athletes respect me, the more success we are going to have.

What is your main goal for your program?

The main goal that I have for the program is to able to provide a fun experience for the athletes, while

also being able to help them improve. I believe that there is always room for improvement and I

constantly preach that practice makes perfect. Not only do I want to help them succeed on the court,

but I want to see them succeed academically. I want my athletes to be able to receive a great education,

while being provided a great experience on the court. I still full-heartedly agree with this. I want to see

me athletes succeed not only on the court, but off the court as well. I think that is say a lot about you as

a coach to have high expectations for your athletes in the classroom because it shows that you care

about their future and their education.

Discuss which philosophy, from the first six chapters in the textbook, you believe in the most.

I firmly believe in the Kantian approach philosophy that states that athletes should not not be used as a

mere means to a goal (Simon, p.45). This approach goes right along with everything that I believe in as

a person and a coach by focusing on treating others the way we want to be treated. Everyone deserves

to be treated with some type of respect no matter who they are. We should not be exploited or taken

advantage of (Simon, p.46). Coaches should not be treating their athletes as a way to achieve victory,

but more so respect them as a person. Once again, I still firmly believe in this philosophy. Everything

always comes down to respect and treating others the way that they would want to be treated.

What do you want your student-athletes to say about you or learn from you when their eligibility
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is over?

I want my athletes to be able to say that they enjoyed being a student-athlete because they loved having

me as their coach. I want them to be able to look up to me and want them to want to stay in contact

with me for a future reference. I want them to be able to leave and say that they were able to learn

something from me and take that knowledge to pass onto others. As my mentor stated, I want to be

able to provide them with a positive experience that they remember forever.

In my philosophy, I was able to quote many statements in which my mentor Adam Henning believes

what it is to be a great coach and what his coaching philosophy is. I truly see eye to eye with him on

everything he believes and that is why I chose him as my mentor. As a graduate assistant, I want to be

able to follow is Adam Henning's footsteps because he is such a respectable coach and person in

general. This assignment was very easy for me for the fact that I really did not have to change much

from my original philosophies. I stand pretty firm on these beliefs and that these are what it takes to be

a grea coach and to have a successful team.

References

Adam Henning
Simon, R. (2013).The ethics of coaching sports moral,social, and legal issues (pg. 45-46).
Boulder, CO: Westview Press.