How to get coaches?

[coachris]

What is the best way to find coaches for the sport?
I am tring to get 4 coaches for a youth team in southeast MI.
I need a head coach for a 5th/6th grade team and on assistant coach.
I need two assistant coaches for a 7th/8th grade team.
Both teams are boys.
Thank you.

[MrTibs]

Where in MI?

[TheKOB]

I know from experience, having to coach three teams this past season, how thinly spread qualified coaches are.

Some tips...

-if there is a nearby men's team, some players there might want to share their knowledge.

-if you're located near a college there might be some club players or grad students there that might want to coach, and appreciate additional income from doing so.

-there are numerous classified places for lacrosse online, mainly here, laxnation.com, and www.e-lacrosse.com. Also, try subscribing to www.laxjobs.com, which also has a listserv where, once you sign up, you could send out an email about the positions you'd like filled.

[timmy]

Get some HS Varsity players. Most schools require community service now, and since coaches don't get paid, they get there community service out of the way doing something they like.

[coachris]

Warren, mi
I have had some bad experiences with HS players. Some had not played for their senior year. They had commitment problems.

[CTLaxer]

TheKOB: Additional income? I coach high school and don't get a dime! Unfortunately it's even tougher to attract refs to areas like mine where lacrosse is rapidly growing, but the nnumber of coaches and officials stays relatively low. I personally know of 14 coaching positions that need to be filled here in arizona for girls and guys, and there are about 10 other programs that need coaches as well. Finding qualified coaches is even tougher. There was a first year girls team out here that had a bad coach. He didn't even teach them how to cradle properly or to stick check. He didn't teach them how to craddle since he didn't know how to himself and he also didn't teach them how to stick check because he was unsure of what was allowed. That's not really a coach I'd want coaching me. BUT, he helped start a team and get the ball rolling, can't fault that. *sigh* what do to, what to do.

[TheKOB]

TheKOB: Additional income? I coach high school and don't get a dime! Unfortunately it's even tougher to attract refs to areas like mine where lacrosse is rapidly growing, but the nnumber of coaches and officials stays relatively low. I personally know of 14 coaching positions that need to be filled here in arizona for girls and guys, and there are about 10 other programs that need coaches as well. Finding qualified coaches is even tougher. There was a first year girls team out here that had a bad coach. He didn't even teach them how to cradle properly or to stick check. He didn't teach them how to craddle since he didn't know how to himself and he also didn't teach them how to stick check because he was unsure of what was allowed. That's not really a coach I'd want coaching me. BUT, he helped start a team and get the ball rolling, can't fault that. *sigh* what do to, what to do.

He didn't mention if the position was paid or not. I just threw that out there because I've recently been contacted by a k-12 school who will pay for a middle school coach.

I agree with you about the lack of qualified coaches. Last year I spread myself rather thin by helping coach two high school teams, both which their official coach had never played, seen, or heard of lacrosse before that semester.

Hopefully the US Lacrosse coaching education program will have some affect. It's been my experience that those that want to coach rarely have the know how, and those that have the knowhow are the hardest to get to coach. Players aren't always the best canadates either. A good player doesn't always make a good coach, just like a good chemist doesn't always make a good chemistry teacher.

[coachris]

The job pays but very little around $200