Evaluating Progress Midseason

  • January 19, 2017

Discussion:

Written by Coach E. & Coach D

How do you evaluate the progress of your athlete’s midseason?

How do you evaluate yourself?

We can sometimes get bogged down in our training maps, yearly training plans, and even with all the planning in the world things still can go array. With any good plan though comes even better evaluation and feedback reporting to track that plan. As we ring in the New Year, now is a great time to evaluate how the season is unfolding for your athletes, parents, and oneself.

1. Your Athletes

I use this opportunity to provide each athlete with a print out of their performance. With numerous competitions completed up to this point, I sit down one-on-one with my athletes and review their performances in relation to their goal set at the beginning of the year. We review practice logs and training habits along with competition performance and determine if the SMART goal needs to be re-set or is on track to be achieved. It is a great opportunity to highlight how far someone has come since the beginning of the year and learn what challenges they are facing.

2. Your Parents

We all know that parents, athletes and coaches make up the triangle of success. The midseason evaluation is just as pertinent to the parents as it is to the athlete.

I make a point to inform the parents in my monthly newsletter that I am having one-on-one meetings with the athletes and providing them with a printout of their progress. It’s as much about evaluating an athlete’s progress as it is providing parents with essential information on their child’s progress. Parents want to know their athlete is being treated fairly and provided with opportunities to succeed. Keeping them in the loop and showing that their child is progressing and has goals for the remainder of the year keeps parents informed as part of the ladder to success.

3. Yourself

It is the learning and growing you do as a coach that can have the biggest positive impact on your athlete’s performance throughout the remainder of the season. I make a point to sit down with my colleagues and discuss not only the progress of the program but for me as an individual. Are there things we could or should be doing differently? Are there things I can be doing differently? What coaching strategies have been successful in training and competition thus far? Remember that as fast as time flies, this time also serves as a reminder to you of just how far your athletes have come.

Although we would love to just sit back and relax and watch those plans come to fruition, unfortunately, our amazing jobs don’t come that easy. But hey it’s true in what they say; if it was easy everyone would be doing it!

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Coach Responses

Do you have a midseason evaluation?

How do you monitor and evaluate your athlete’s midseason? What tips do you have to evaluate yourself?

Share your tips and best practices!

Coach Pierre – Gymnastics – Kingston – 44 Years

“…At our club, we have a mid-year meeting with our pre-comp and competitive athletes and their parents to discuss progress, plans, and any concerns. With athletes who are adults, it is also a good idea to include other supporting staff such as their sports nutritionists, physiotherapist, psychologist, or other treatment specialists in the meeting as well. If the athlete is at a level where they have a financial advisor their involvement in the mid-year review can help ensure that the financial resources will be in place for the remainder of the season to meet the athlete’s needs. This puts everyone on the same page and gives the athlete the peace of mind to focus on their training…”

Coach Joe – Softball – Hamilton

“…I have tried, from time to time, a ridiculously simple technique, around mid-season: Simply ask:

Where are we?

How did we get here?

Where do we want to go?

If we can get the athletes to critically reflect on these questions, and honestly share their thoughts and feelings and hopes for the rest of the season, then maybe, just maybe – together we can make it happen…”

Coach Rob – Swimming – Etobicoke – 4 Years

“…I use this time of year in my sport to re-set expectations for both parents and the athletes. Goals are meant to be broken, and the processes you set back in September need to be monitored and re-examined at this time of year to highlight the positives and areas needed to continue to be worked on. It also is a great time for me as a coach, to re-evaluate my strategies and what has been for the past 5 months is working. What is the feedback from parents, my athletes and colleagues?…”

Coach Lisa – Hockey – Ajax – 7 Years

“…It doesn’t matter just what we think as coaches, but what do your athletes and parents think? This is a perfect time to ask how do they think things have gone so far. What has worked, what hasn’t worked and how are we going to build towards achieving the goals set for the end of the year? What can we change, from not only a coaching side but athlete and parents perspective…”

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