4 Reasons to Coach a Summer League Swim Team
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By Cathleen Pruden, Swimming World College Intern
During the summer, I live for Tuesday nights. At 6 p.m. for six consecutive weeks, the 10,000 swimmers in the Tarheel Swimming Association in greater Raleigh, North Carolina take to the blocks to battle for chlorinated glory. The 86 teams in the league are coached by current and former club, high school and college swimmers. Leagues like this one exist all over the country and provide employment opportunities for thousands.
Here are four reasons why coaching one of these summer league swim teams is the best summer job ever…
1. Personal Growth
Every job teaches you something. While few of us will go on to become professional coaches, we all develop skills to apply in countless areas of our lives. Any amount of time spent playing sports teaches teamwork, but a coach gains a different perspective on the process of building a cohesive unit.
Communication is key. Parents want to understand your goals and plans and will likely have opinions they want to share. Establishing and maintaining an open line of communication is important to your team’s success, and will matter later on in your relationships, education, and employment. Whether a team has 50 or 300 swimmers, from keeping swimmers safe and occupied in the water to creating meet lineups there are numerous responsibilities for a coach. Every coach faces challenges, but the entire season can become a learning process as we figure out how to overcome them.
2. Swimming as a Life Skill
Learning how to swim is a matter of safety, and coaches get to teach this potentially life-saving skill. Living on a planet which is 71 percent water, you never know when somebody could fall off a boat, get pushed into a pool, or find themselves in some type of aquatic trouble.
Some of the youngest swimmers arrive to a summer league team afraid to put their face in, and clinging to their coaches. With consistency, and the support of some of their more adventurous teammates, swimmers learn to push themselves, eventually jumping off the blocks like the “big kids.” At first, that streamline jump (which only dreams of being a dive) is into an older swimmer’s arms, but eventually a child dives in and swims the full length of the pool.
These swimmers become not just water safe, but gain a new form of exercise they can carry with them into old age. A coach gives a swimmer confidence in their new abilities and lends parents some peace of mind. The skills taught by a swim coach truly make an impact.
3. Community
Some summer swim teams are based around a club, others a neighborhood, and some a YMCA or city pool. The pool is central to summer interactions and it is where kids and parents make and maintain friendships. Community is flourishing on summer swim teams, and coaches are fortunate to be a part of that.
Coaching for my team has given me deeper roots in my neighborhood. Coaches are connected to these families, and swimming gives children and families a base to discover what we have in common. When I am at the pool to teach private lessons, the swim team kids are always excited to see (and try to distract) me. A coach becomes a part of something so much bigger than their team. Coaches play a unique role in strengthening their community.
4. Giving Back
Summer league was where I fell in love with the sport. I idolized my first coaches, and they were a large part of the reason I wanted to go to practice every day. I watch these kids I now coach and I see little me.
Little me who missed instructions because she was doing handstands. Little me who snuck cupcakes and pixie sticks between races. Little me who climbed on the blocks with two ears sticking out of her cap. Little me who dove in swimming the wrong stroke but climbed out smiling anyway. I am the swimmer I am today because of those experiences, and now I am honored to be a part of these young swimmers’ lives.
Every swimmer gets their start somewhere, and for so many swimmers, that is on a summer swim league. As we move through the ranks from age grouper, to high schooler to collegiate swimmer, the sport is fun for different reasons, but we remember the magic of these young, incredibly carefree summers.
We value these moments and we do our best as coaches to replicate them for this next generation, knowing that something we say or do could inspire one of these children as they take the beginning steps of what we hope will become a lifelong swimming journey. What other summer job offers such magical possibilities?
I could not agree more! I LOVE coaching my summer league team; it is the best job ever!!!
Cathleen, you make me laugh and cry with all of your posts. Thanks for everything you do for the sport of swimming. You’re headed big places, and you are a mentor to so many of those around you. Keep these posts coming! I love them! Best of luck with everything!
Well said, Cathleen! I didn’t know you were a talented writer on top of all of your other talents. Thank you for all that you are doing for our swim team and for being an incredible person to know!