As a coach, your list of responsibilities is rather extensive. Running practice, coming up with a game plan, and managing your athletes are just a couple aspects. You may find that you have limited time to keep up to date on coaching techniques and advice. Maybe you can sneak in reading an article here or there, or the occasional book, but balancing coaching with the other parts of your life is challenging. Time might not always allow for reading an article, but fitting in some podcasts isn’t as difficult. You can play them in the car, while you’re working out, cooking, etc. Podcasts can be amazing resources for a coach.
Not sure which ones to start listening to? Here are five of the best podcasts for coaches.
Winning Youth Coaching
Host and founder of the Winning Youth Coaching Podcast Craig Haworth knows a thing or two about youth sports. Aside from being a dedicated coach, he’s a husband and father of three athletes. He began podcasting to provide other coaches and parents with a resource to depend on.
In each episode, Craig brings in a different expert guest and has a discussion with them. The topics addressed cover a myriad of categories. From college recruitment dos and don’ts to developing a growth mindset and minimizing performance anxiety, Winning Youth Coaching is one of the best podcasts out there for coaches.
The experience and passion for youth sports shines through both the host and guest. The conversations are captivating and relevant for any coach. One unique thing that Craig does that I find really helpful is that he summarizes the highlights from each podcast and puts them below the episode link.
TeamSnap Youth Sports
You might have heard of or even use TeamSnap. This sports team management app is designed to make coaches’ lives easier. It’s an organizational tool that’s free to use and includes plenty of useful features. Sync team calendars, track which players are coming to games and practice, send messages to the team, and more.
Besides developing an app, TeamSnap has also gotten into the podcast business. TeamSnap Youth Sports is hosted by veteran youth sports mom Emily Cohen. Emily asks excellent questions that allow her guests to reflect and demonstrate their expertise on the subject. She has discussed topics ranging from using technology to improve athlete fitness and performance to what it takes to be a great coach. The TeamSnap Youth Sports podcast has 57 episodes in total. It isn’t being updated currently, but the archive TeamSnap and Emily have created is a valuable resource for coaches. The thorough episodes and pertinent subjects make it one of the best podcasts out there for coaches of all levels.
Sports Motivation Podcast by I’m Not You
Football fans are going to love this next one. Hosted by former All American and NFL running back Olaniyi Sobomehin, Sports Motivation Podcast by I’m Not You is an awesome podcast for coaches, athletes, or really anyone. Olaniyi discusses various subject matters that affect not only athletes and coaches, but all people. He incorporates his experiences from college and the NFL when it’s applicable. The strengths of this podcast lie in the legitimacy of Olaniyi. He lived the life of an athlete at the highest level. His wisdom and experience flow through his dialogue, whether he’s hosting by himself or discussing a topic with another professional athlete or expert.
He has episodes dedicated to overcoming being a perfectionist, how to avoid a mindset that leads to stagnate, average performance, and even one on how to do well in school. Olaniyi’s commitment to his podcast is evident in every episode. His devotion to helping coaches, athletes, and people in general is why Sports Motivation Podcast is one of the best podcasts around.
For the list of the most frequently updated episodes, click here.
Sports Coach Radio
Similar to the Sports Motivation Podcast, Sports Coach Radio brings in accomplished, knowledgeable guests that all coaches would want to get insight from. For example, one of the notable guests that sat down for an episode was Notre Dame Women’s Basketball coach Muffet McGraw. McGraw talks about a wide range of topics, including the impact social media has on her athletes. Track star Michael Johnson has also been a guest of the podcast. During his visit, he discussed strength and conditioning and mental focus. Sports Coach Radio strives to have guests from as many sports as possible. Along with podcast episodes, the site has short articles on similar topics.
Top Coach Podcast
While the Top Coach Podcast is centered around baseball, the messages pertain to coaches of any sport. Popular subjects addressed include coaching as a career, what it takes to run a successful team, and tips in managing a team effectively. A different baseball coach appears every episode to talk about these kinds of topics and share their stories.
These five podcasts are a great introduction. They are some of the best podcasts on the internet for any coach. There are plenty more coaching podcasts out there to be found as well.