The coaches in our program, just like the young people that they coach, respond to stress at different points along the stress continuum. Those differences exist because of differences in living situation, assets, personality type, and much much more. Where coaches fall on that spectrum during this time of COVID-19-induced uncertainty will tell us what kind of help or intervention they may need from us. Because some of these events may have triggered trauma-based responses from our coaches just like with the young people they coach, we can use our trauma-sensitive coaching skills to help give them what they need, and also structurally teach and encourage them to do the same thing for the young people in their programs.

Look/Listen with Maslow

• Coaches who are struggling to fulfill basic physiological or safety needs will not be able to or be interested in benefiting from advice about building their remote coaching toolkit. They need help with those needs FIRST, and should be directed to some of the self-care resources we have put together.

• Going up this hierarchy, coaches also need to have access to pro-social connections/relationship development opportunities during COVID-19.

Some coaches could be ready for some extra support from you in this time, and some may be ready to fully jump in and just need a catalyst. How could you know?

• A coach who isn’t responding to email might just need me to reach out via text or phone.

• A coach who is kind of ready to jump in but needs some ways to manage all of the social media or the lack of regular routines or change in home life could use some self care ideas and tools and that's the next tier of participation.

• A coach may ask for ways to get more involved, or their social media may suggest something like that.

We can also learn more about what our coaches need by just asking Questions. We don’t have to spend all of our time developing resources and options for coaches when their knowledge and experience is our greatest resource. Some of the best questions we can ask are:

• What do you need from me?

• How can I support what you’re doing right now?

• What questions do you have about what’s going on?

• What makes you feel confident right now? What are you worried about?

• What experiences in sport have helped you build skills that you are using right now?

It’s no accident that Esteem is a big part of this pyramid, right before we get to the fullest expression of ourselves. That shows us that our coaches need Praise to get to the top of their pyramid. We can use TLC Praise to show them that they belong in our network of coaches who do more. Praise also helps as a calming strategy, and sometimes coaches may need praise just for showing up, which, in difficult times like this is both heroic and maybe all we can do.

In order to provide the best service for your coaches, make sure that you know where they are in their arc with all of your trauma sensitive coaching skills and combining that with attention to what the hierarchy of needs may be saying about what kind of support they could benefit from. 

To get more trauma sensitive distance coaching tips and view the rest of our distance coaching portal, visit www.up2ussports.org/up2ussportsathome.