Coach Education Department 2024
NICA’s Coach Education team exists to support a network of thousands of volunteer coaches across the country in their work […]
PART 3: ADAPTING GAMES
Coaches work in a dynamic environment, and your games will often need to be revised or adapted. Making a change doesn’t mean that you did something wrong, or that it was a bad game. It is essential to adapt activities to ensure that athletes are having fun and experiencing the right level of challenge.
As a coach, there are three areas of game play that you can adapt: the task, the athlete, and the environment. Asking yourself a series of questions can help drill down into what can be adapted, changed, or revised to help enhance the desired outcome of any game.
Games have structure and rules, however, many of the games we use as NICA coaches are easy to adapt/can flex to the needs of the moment.
Examples of adapting the task:
You do not have control over the way your athletes come to practice, but you do have control over the way you respond and adapt.
Examples of adapting to your athlete:
Making a change doesn’t mean that you did something wrong, or that it was a bad game. It is essential to adapt activities to ensure that athletes are having fun and experiencing the right level of challenge.
Where your athletes play and with whom they play are key variables in adapting the design of an activity. Ensure that you are best utilizing your practice space to effectively play games to meet the desired outcomes. Be ready to respond to social factors that influence the efficacy of the activity and make adjustments.
Examples of adapting the environment:
Physical adaptations
Social adaptations
This content was authored by NICA's coach education team. NICA’s comprehensive coach education program provides new and existing coaches with the high-quality training and resources they need to be confident, competent, and empowered leaders on their youth mountain bike teams. NICA coaches not only create amazing experiences for student-athletes, they create a foundation for building healthy mountain bike communities. NICA coaches change lives!
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