Young Veterans' Advice to Rookie Coaches I: Don't Compromise Your Standards


48:22 minutes (44.29 MB)

Jamie Fisher Wilhite, a middle and upper school teacher and coach of three girls' teams at The Rowland Hall School in Salt Lake City, Utah may be a younger veteran. But Coach Wilhite has had several years of training and experience, first as a multisport athlete and then in a variety of coaching positions at all levels, in sports ranging from downhill skiing to basketball.

Jamie was also a rookie coach. And she remembers the challenges she faced. And what she found out about coaching as a first-timer.

In this podcast, Jamie reveals what she believes is essential for rookie coaches to learn, including what acting professionally means and why new coaches should not compromise their standards in the face of pressures from athletes and their families.

Jamie Fisher Wilhite is a young veteran to watch. Her advice, we found out is not just for rookie coaches. She offers wise advice for all coaches.

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Creating a Pathway for the Next Generation of Female Coaches

In 1972, the year Title IX became law, approximately 90% of all women’s sports programs were headed by female coaches.

Since then, interest in women’s athletics has exploded— with more girls and women participating in more sports than ever before.

And yet today, just 42% of women’s sports teams are coached by women, according to the most comprehensive and current study of the issue. (http://www.acostacarpenter.org

The Academy for Sport Leadership (TASL) is a Michigan-based nonprofit organization dedicated to reversing that trend by encouraging and training the next generation of professional female coaches.

Through our Future Coaches Camp, Coach-Mentor Training Workshops, Athletic Administration Internships, Women’s Sport Summit and TASL's web-based education programs, we inspire and educate young women—and prepare them for leadership positions in the world of women’s sports.

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Michigan Coaching Paths Survey: Initial Findings

At this time a year ago, The Academy for Sport Leadership conducted our first survey of the career pathways and satisfaction levels of Michigan high school coaches.

Survey Goals

When we constructed the survey, we had two purposes in mind:

1. To encourage current coaches in Michigan to pool and publish information about their own professional experiences; and

2. To find out from current high school coaches in Michigan the formal and informal pathways as well as the distinctive and shared journeys they take to become satisfied coaches.

Encouraging Response

We are pleased to say that 277 coaches responded to the electronic notice we sent to Michigan high school athletic directors, requesting them to encourage their school coaches to participate in the survey.

Of the total 277 who decided to participate, 99 were women and 178 were men. Among them, 75% currently hold or have held a paid coaching position for four years or more.

We are heartened by this inaugural response. Special thanks, as well, to all the coaches who took time to complete the survey. We appreciate the many thoughtful comments coaches included at the end of the survey. We are still processing all the rich information these coaches have passed on to us.

In the meantime, we want to make sure the survey's findings, particularly the key findings that are statistically meaningful, are published and available for the coaches who participated, and the public, for further review and discussion.

Initial Findings

Here are the survey's findings:

Coaches in the survey had an interest in joining the profession at a young age. Close to 60% responded that they first wanted to be coaches between the ages of 16 and 22.

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