Coaching high school tennis

[raiden031]

I was wondering if someone can answer questions about coaching high school tennis. I wanted to start getting involved in giving instruction, but I'm not good enough yet to give private lessons where I actually charge money. I was thinking of being an assistant coach for a high school where I would help the students improve, but I'm not really the main one giving instruction.

My questions are, how many coaches does it usually take to run a HS team? Do they have assistant coaches, and how good would one typically have to be to be an assistant? How do you find schools that need coaches?

 

[Serve em Up]

My daughter's team has one coach. He's a non-playing coach. He's a former tennis dad, he had a daughter that played Div 1 in college and played some ITF tourneys.

Most of the girls with playing postions on the team take lessons privately. It would be nice if there was a playing coach to hit with some of the incoming freshman that don't access to lessons outside of the team.

 

[bigfoot910]

I am a former high school coach. You can run a team by yourself (did it for several years), but I really suggest having an assistant, everyone can use one. Trust me the coach would be thrilled to have the help if he/she is running the team by themselves right now.

Coaching isn't about how good of a player you are, it is about how good the information your giving is. I am a former DI player and coach, however one of the best coaches I have ever seen played 2 years of high school tennis and that's it.

For example, look at Bolletierre, he had never picked up a tennis racquet before he decided to start his academy, he just did alot of research.
The biggest thing to coaching is being there for the kids playing and trying to mentally help the kids through pretty much everything in their life at the time, in high school coaching only ~60% of the job is actual coaching.

On finding a place that needs a coach, you can try calling personel offices of the local school district. They will have all of the listings for available jobs. Most times they will have a website that shows all jobs (coaching/otherwise) available in the district. You can also just ask around at clubs and find out if anybody is needing some help.

Hopefully this helps and if you decide to help out, good luck and have some fun, if you do, the kids will too.

 

[bdog]

You first need to have a teaching certification and/or a coaching certification. Both can get you a high school coaching job. Many schools hire within the school system to fill the job and these teachers have little, if not any tennis ability. Being able to play tennis is not a requirement for coaching in high school. But it sure does help. Some schools will hire local pros to help out with the team, but there are many conflicts. You're suggestion of 'charging money', can and will be a conflict of interest in most states. Many states have by-laws regarding this. I think it best that you seek out your states high school sports organization and see what they require of coaching. And that would be a good place to start to get your high school coaching certification.

Usually one coach per team, meaning---Varsity, Junior Varsity and Frosh-soph team. Not many schools can afford a second coach or even an assistant. Volunteers will step up and help out on the assistant coach part, like fathers. Each school will be different in that regard, but some do have assistant coaches.

To understand tennis better, I suggest you get certified thru USPTA or USPTR. Both are excellent programs to learn more about teaching. Unfortunately this will not give you a high school teaching certification, but will give you the experience needed to give lessons. I would get both (high school certified and teaching pro certified) if you plan on being truly qualified.

High school athletic directors usually have a web site for job openings. Your states high school sports organization will give it to you.

 

[Tennismastery]

In response to the original poster's question, the best place to go to see if you can be an assistant is your local high school. While some schools will require some kind of screening process, there usually is not any set certification requirements for an assistant. Generally, asking the head coach at any school if you can assist in any way will be met with enthusiasim and appreciation. Unfortunately, there are still way too many schools who hire just about anyone willing to take the job (as head coach) even if they lack any tennis coaching understandings.

You will gain valuable experience in helping out a high school tennis team, including: how to work with a large group of players; see how players respond to various teaching techniques/philosophies; observe how players learn and how they respond to your coaching methods; what works and what doesn't work; etc.

The most valuable element of coaching is learning how to deal with many different personalities and emotions. This is especially true when coaching a girl's team. Yet, every team will come with its own set of hurdles and rewards.

I enjoyed emmensly my 28 seasons of coaching boys and girls high school tennis and I recognize those years as some of the most valuable learning experiences that have helped me become a better teaching professional, tennis director and owner of my academy.

Good luck in your quest!