Alyssa Manthos

Coaching Philosophy

Vince Lombardi once stated…“It’s not whether you get knocked down; it’s whether you

get up.”After carefully processing my character and my coaching philosophy I choose to live by,

I realized I identify with the coaching style of an alchemist and individualist. I believe in the

importance of developing individual relationships with each athlete. Teaching character is just as

important as teaching skill. High quality communication, being charismatic, having high moral

standards, and having the ability to multitask are important qualities of a coach.

Program goals and ethical practices are of great importance as a sports coach. For me,

developing athletes both mentally and physically is crucial to their overall success in and out of

sports. My vision for any sports program includes implementing personal and individualized

goals, as no two athletes are the same. This means building connections with my athletes as an

individualist, knowing how they learn and what works best for them. It is important to

understand their strengths and to assist with components that can use improvements to better the

athlete. My focus will always be on the individual and not defining my team based on a single

win. The more I understand my athletes, the more successful we will be as a unified team. As far

as ethical practices, teaching my athletes the importance of accountability by leading by example

is a must. Displaying to my athletes the good character and integrity that I expect, starts with me.

My athletes look up to me as an important figure in their lives, what better way to teach than to

practice what you teach. Thus, I firmly believe in building connections, understanding my

athletes and leading by example through both my program goals and or ethical practices.
 As shown in my program goals and ethical practices statements, relationships play a large

role in my philosophy. When it comes to relationships with my athletes, the most important

factors include trust and communication. As a coach, your athletes must trust you and you must

trust them. This works hand in hand. With lack of trust comes lack of performance from your

athletes. With lack of communication also comes lack of performance, confusion, and injury. I

will build effective relationships by including team building exercises to develop trust and

communication between teammates as well as myself and my athletes. I find that this makes the

athletes more comfortable with one another and allows them to perform as one. In regards to

creating a safe and positive sport environment, I feel it is necessary to instill safety procedures

during practices, games or competitions, and outside of sports. This means informing students

that some skills performed during practice are not to be performed outside of practice and games

or competitions. As a coach being certified in CPR, AED, and First Aid is important incase of an

emergency. Being able to recognize concussion symptoms is also crucial. To add, it is also

important to inform students that bullying of any kind is not tolerated and will have

consequences. Setting rules against this behavior along with consequences will ensure a more

positive environment for athletes. By implementing trust exercises, safety procedures, behavioral

policies, and being trained for emergencies, I will be able to provide a safe and positive sport

environment for athletes.

When it comes to conducting practices, preparing for competition, and striving for

improvements; organization, observation, and reflection are key. I know that conducting

practices must be organized and planned accordingly in order for myself and my athletes to get

the most out of their training. With organization and observation together, this allows me to
understand where my athletes stand, what we need improvements on, what we excel at, and so

on. This helps to build a better foundation for next practice upon reflection of the observation.

Informing my athletes of what I observed via feedback so they understand how that practice will

be constructed is beneficial as well. This makes them more involved, as well as, mentally and

physically aware throughout practice. Practices will vary based on what our focus is. During the

season, practices will feel more like second nature and building on skill rather than developing

brand new skills each practice. I feel that is where the most improvements are made. Striving for

improvements is where accountability falls into play again. This allows for my athletes to be

extremely involved, attentive, honest, and motivated. These qualities will allow for vast

improvements. I also feel that having regular evaluations, taking notes, and giving both written

and verbal feedback to my athletes will ultimately lead to more success.

To conclude, applying my characteristics as an alchemist and individualist style coach

will allow me to impact athletes greatly. Program goals, ethical practices, relationships and

environment, practices, competition, and improvement are categories and pieces needed to form

a successful sports team. High quality communication, being charismatic, having high moral

standards, and having the ability to multitask are important qualities of a coach that will benefit

the team when applied to all categories.