Standard 6 of the SHAPE America coaching standards focuses on a coach's ability to

“conduct practices and prepare for competition”, which is undeniably one of the most

fundamentally important skills for an effective coach to have. Based on SHAPE’s definition,

effective coaches “draw upon current coaching science, sport-specific knowledge, and best

practices to conduct quality sport practices, prepare athletes for competition, and effectively

manage contests. This practice can be framed around how coaches plan, teach, assess and adapt

in practices and competition”. This broader concept is broken down into a total of 14 individual

standards (24-37) that help to explain the more realistic behaviors associated with this goal.

By analyzing practice plans that I have written in the past (which can be found on my

“sample practice plans” page), I believe that I fulfill all 14 of the standards set forth by SHAPE

America in my work. For example, Standard 24 deals with the creation of long term plans, which

I demonstrate in my season plan document. This document also addresses standard 25, which

asks for progression throughout the season to ensure improvement and adaptation from the

athletes. Standard 26 is addressed in Sample 2 of my practice plan page, which is a variation of a

previous plan that applies the skills learned into a competition environment. Sample 4 addresses

standards 27 and 28, as the practice is focused around mental skills that involve breaking down

overwhelming tasks into smaller, more manageable tasks.

One key point that is secondarily addressed in these standards is the fact that these plans

should be considerate of the varying skills and abilities among diverse groups of athletes. I

believe that I fulfill this in my work by conducting pre-season athlete evaluations that I use to

inform the plans that I create for them as well as basing difficulty in drills based off of each

athlete’s individual skill and strength maxes at that time.

 This overarching coaching standard, which is broken down into the four sections of

“plan, teach, assess, adapt” is noticeably met in my practice planning and application of those

plans in both the short and long term. In other words, I believe that I am skillful in the creation of

long term plans, which I use to inform my daily planning, which I then assess in order to inform

any changes, or adaptations, I may have to make in my long term plans. For these reasons, I feel

as though I am able to “conduct practices and prepare for competition” in an effective manner.