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getting into quizbowl coaching

Discussion of quizbowl topics not related to specific tournaments
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NDbulldogalumni
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Joined: Wed Sep 30, 2015 12:17 am

getting into quizbowl coaching

Post by NDbulldogalumni »

I'd be interested in doing this after college when I return to Missouri at some point. With that in mind, I have the following questions:
1. How much does playing experience help with coaching?
2. Will a lot of schools let you do this on a volunteer basis? I'm not very interested in teaching per se, but I feel I could be helpful to a team due to playing experience, etc.
3. What are the logistics, time investments, etc. involved with being a quizbowl coach like?
4. Is there any methodology that is most effective/useful for coaching a team?
Best wishes,
Mark

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Mickey0R0urke
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Re: getting into quizbowl coaching

Post by Mickey0R0urke »

I'm a volunteer assistant coach at Washington. What the school board is going to want to do is do a background check and have you sign in and out each time you go to practice (that's what I do, at least).

If a school has a full-time coach, it's probably best to let them know your schedule and then ask the coach if you could assist them on a volunteer basis.

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socalcaptain
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Re: getting into quizbowl coaching

Post by socalcaptain »

NDbulldogalumni wrote: 1. How much does playing experience help with coaching?
I think it's a useful, but not necessary, part of understanding how the game works. It helps to know what it feels like to be in the moment of a game. You can't base everything off your own personal experience as a coach though, since each of your players would learn and process information differently. To me, the best part of coaching as a former player is getting to take the knowledge and strategies you learned and share them with others.
NDbulldogalumni wrote: 2. Will a lot of schools let you do this on a volunteer basis? I'm not very interested in teaching per se, but I feel I could be helpful to a team due to playing experience, etc.
Jacob already addressed part of this question. I'll just add one thing: it's possible, though unlikely, that if a school had funding for an assistant coaching position that they were having trouble filling that they would actually hire (read: pay) you to be an assistant coach, such as some schools do for football or baseball, for instance. Missouri's rules on non-faculty assistant coaches are pretty lax compared to non-faculty head coaches.
NDbulldogalumni wrote: 3. What are the logistics, time investments, etc. involved with being a quizbowl coach like?
I'll answer your question as if you had asked about what is involved with being a *good* quizbowl coach. The activity is all about how much time, energy and focus you give to it. At a bare minimum as the assistant, you'd be committing yourself to several practices each week (probably a total of 3-4 hours minimum) in addition to a schedule of tournaments. Participating in the community is always a good idea, whether that means checking this board often, helping to staff nearby tournaments when you can, writing questions, etc. If you ever move into head coaching, registering for events obviously occupies just a little of your time, and you're going to want to set aside time to prepare good practice agendas, do administrative/financial paperwork, etc.
NDbulldogalumni wrote: 4. Is there any methodology that is most effective/useful for coaching a team?
This is highly dependent on the makeup of your team, but there are plenty of coaching resources out there to help as you get started. There is no one "right way" to do things. Most good coaches have a number of good ideas to share for specific aspects of coaching.

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dwd50
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Re: getting into quizbowl coaching

Post by dwd50 »

Mickey0R0urke wrote:If a school has a full-time coach, it's probably best to let them know your schedule and then ask the coach if you could assist them on a volunteer basis.
Also, don't feel that it's a requirement that you wait until you get back to Missouri. There may be opportunities near where you are right now. Even if all you can squeeze into your college schedule is an hour or so every other week, I'm sure you can find a coach that could use a hand.

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L-Town Expatriate
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Re: getting into quizbowl coaching

Post by L-Town Expatriate »

dwd50 wrote:
Mickey0R0urke wrote:If a school has a full-time coach, it's probably best to let them know your schedule and then ask the coach if you could assist them on a volunteer basis.
Also, don't feel that it's a requirement that you wait until you get back to Missouri. There may be opportunities near where you are right now. Even if all you can squeeze into your college schedule is an hour or so every other week, I'm sure you can find a coach that could use a hand.
Considering that a HSQuizBowl poster gave Alabama the highest marks on his HSQB report card, there should be plenty of opportunities around Tuscaloosa and thereabouts if you haven't availed yourself of them. Hopefully you won't have to go to "West Georgia"...

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DeckardCain
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Re: getting into quizbowl coaching

Post by DeckardCain »

To add to this: As far as I'm aware, Alabama doesn't have the same restrictions on college players assisting high school teams that Missouri does. There are plenty of good, active high school teams there, and I'm sure some of them would be very interested in having someone to come assist them with practices and such on a part-time, volunteer basis.

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