The Squeeze on Kids' Sports: Are Edmonton's Well-Meaning Volunteers Helping or Hurting Young Athletes?
Part 4 of a four-part series on the state of minor sports in Edmonton. We romanticize volunteers in minor sports, but really, isn't coaching something that should be a paid job?
Fabian Ellis, president of South Jasper Place Baseball, coaches an 18-and-under team at Edmonton's west indoor soccer centre on April 15. Photo by Shaughn Butts /Postmedia
My daughter loves soccer. And after a couple of seasons of community league play, she wanted to try club soccer.
So, she tried out for one of the big clubs in the city — Edmonton Scottish United. She was happy to make the Tier 2 team. The technical director of the club asked me if I'd be interested in volunteering with the group. I said I would.
The day of the first practice was the day I found out I'd actually be coaching the team. My wife was aghast. We were spending almost $1,000 for my daughter to be at Scottish, and her coach would be the same person who kicked the ball around with her in the backyard.
I had coached baseball and basketball before. I had taken courses to be certified as a baseball coach. In the case of Northwest basketball, I was asked simply because my name was familiar to people in Edmonton sport circles. I took a few online courses and away I went — and ended up coaching for two seasons.
My story isn't unusual. Volunteers provide coaching, manage team budgets, arrange team trips. They sit on the boards and make big financial decisions. The spirit of volunteerism is celebrated in feel-good Tim Hortons ads. You lose count of the times amateur coaches and dedicated parents are feted on Hockey Night in Canada.
Some will receive a bit of training, either online or in person, before the whistle chains are placed around their necks. Some will be sent to run their first practice with little more than a "good luck" email.
The Coaching Association of Canada's latest annual report showed that 77 per cent of coaches involved in amateur sport have day jobs. More than half said they had multiple coaching roles with their clubs or teams.
The Squeeze on Kids' Sports
- Part One: As more kids sign up to play, Edmonton facilities struggle to meet demand
- Part Two: Costs rising quickly, options limited for Edmonton parents
- Part Three: Edmonton's little athletes face big-time pressure
Imagine you are dropping off your child at school. The teacher waits by the school doors. It's Pat, your neighbour. She works nights, so she has time to volunteer during the day to teach the local Grade 2 class. To prepare for the start of the school year, Pat went online and passed a two-hour course on "teaching fundamentals." There was also another online course on what to do if she suspects one of her students is having problems at home.
When Pat got to school, the principal assigned her a classroom. She requested to teach Grade 2, because her daughter is in the class.
It's outlandish, right, the idea of having volunteers teach in our schools, rather than accredited professionals?
Yet, when it comes to minor sports and the important lessons of teamwork, physical struggle and social development, we have no issue turning our kids over to volunteer coaches who mean well, but have very little training to do the jobs they're being asked to do.
Millwoods Bruins co-head coach Aron Alberda goes over strategy with his minor hockey team prior to a game at the Meadows Community Recreation Centre in Edmonton in January 2019. Photo by David Bloom /Postmedia
'Environment for Mediocrity'
Tomasz Janas has coached for more than three decades at various levels of soccer, including as a goaltending coach at the University of Alberta and at the now-defunct FC Edmonton. He's grown tired of working in what he calls a broken soccer development system.
