• Athletic coaches teach young athletes the fundamentals of sports.soccer action 4 image by Jim Parkin from Fotolia.com
  
  Coaches play an important role in the life of student-athletes. Young athletes look up to coaches, who may wear several different hats in their interactions with their students and athletes. Coaches tend to have certain personality characteristics and traits to which athletic and competitive students are naturally drawn. Coaches must be mindful, therefore, of their responsibilities and their influences on students.
  
  

Teaching

• Many coaches work as teachers when they are not on the field or in the gym. Many teach physical education or another subject. In many situations, coaches are primarily teachers and only secondarily serve as athletic coaches. In large cities or areas where competitive sports teams regularly compete for state championships because of their large talent pools, some coaches are hired primarily to coach, but may also serve as full-time substitute teachers or may work in the school in some other teaching capacity.
  
  

Training

• Coaches prepare athletes for competition by conducting regular practice sessions and through conditioning efforts. Conditioning may involve weight training or aerobic training. Coaches in sports such as football, soccer, basketball and track must get their athletes into shape so they can play at a high level throughout a game or competition.
  
  Training also involves coaching the team to perform the sport or task properly. Basketball coaches, for instance, train their players to execute plays and work together as a team. Baseball coaches train players to use proper techniques to hit, field and throw the ball. Football coaches must design plays and teach them to the players through practice and repetition.
  
  

Mentoring

• Coaches also serve as mentors. Their competitive nature and their leadership skills make them natural mentors to both student-athletes and students in the classroom. Leading by example, coaches teach students valuable lessons about life through competition. Coaches have a responsibility to their students and athletes to show them how to compete fairly and to the best of their abilities.
  
  

Planning and Analysis

• Coaches spend a tremendous amount of time between competitions planning for competitions and analyzing past performance. Coaches may spend time watching films of their own team to analyze areas that need improvement, or they may watch films to scout future opponents and design a winning strategy.