Athletes want a coach who believes in them before they are successful, teaches the game well, and treats them as people first — not as a means to winning. Bruce Brown framed it as five commitments in Be the Coach You Would Have Liked to Play For: be professional, be a master teacher, be an example, be a confidence builder, and be a team builder. They want a climate that is safe — safe to take healthy risks, safe from ridicule — and standards they can rise to rather than rules they will test. And they want to be asked. Brown's advice is simple: don't guess what your athletes want. Ask them specific questions all season long.
How do I find out what my athletes actually want?
Ask them directly, three times a year. Bruce Brown's Athlete Questions article gives coaches preseason, midseason, and postseason questions. Preseason: list three reasons why you play. Midseason: do you know where you stand on the team? What can the coaching staff do better? Their answers tell you how to coach each athlete.
Do athletes want a demanding coach?
Yes — when the demands come from love and respect. Brown distinguishes positive-demanding coaches from demeaning ones. A coach who is demanding out of love and respect gets a full response; once words turn demeaning, trust breaks and learning stops. Be a confidence builder, not a confidence cutter — correct mistakes honestly while stressing what athletes can do.
What kind of team culture do athletes want?
A safe one. Brown teaches coaches to create a climate that is physically safe, safe to take healthy risks, safe from ridicule, and safe from unnecessary outside pressure. Build your team on standards athletes will rise to, not rules they will test. Being part of something bigger than themselves is the lesson they keep.
That is the what — for the how, Bruce Brown's Athlete Questions article and the rest of the Proactive Coaching library are open with a 7-day free trial of membership — $180/year.
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