American Express marketed its high-level credit card in the 1990s with the slogan, “Membership has its privileges.” That statement holds true in a variety of settings but perhaps nowhere with more weight than in the high school and middle school coaching ranks.
Coaches today are more susceptible to irate parents, frivolous lawsuits, and irrational acts made against them by out-of-control fans.
While membership in the Wyoming Coaches Association can’t prevent all these distractions, the $2 million in liability coverage offered with a membership is a positive benefit and if for no other reason, a good choice to make if you’re going to be guiding teenagers through drills and taking them on the road for games.
While this offers fiscal protection in the event of litigation, the other benefits of joining the Wyoming Coaches Association are more intangible.
As a member, you’re eligible to attend coaching clinics and all-star games and vote for coach-of-the-year and player-of-the-year awards. Clinics are a great way to meet other coaches, and in our modern world of “networking” in the business place, the connections with other coaches are invaluable.
For a low cost (an expense covered by many wise school districts that recognize the valuable benefits offered at a very low price) you can gain all these byproducts of membership.
Coaching has never been easy, and today it often borders on the ludicrous with the unreal expectations many place on a local athletic team, and by default, the coaching staff.
The common belief is that kids win games, and coaches lose games. With this mindset firmly entrenched it’s difficult for the men and women coaching your local sub-varsity and varsity squads to remain focused on the objective.
That objective is to improve the players they work with, to get them for steps A to B, and beyond if the youngsters have the interest, talent, and determination to do so.
Protecting yourself, learning from others and the camaraderie you’ll get with other coaches working in identical settings at different schools is invaluable.
As a final incentive, you’ll be eligible for coach-of-the-year recognition, a possible future admittance into the Hall of Fame, and possibly coaching all-star games during the summer.