Each off-season, FTSV hosts a training for our Instructors and Volunteer Coaches. These trainings take place the weekend before each new season begins and offer both new and returning coaches and volunteers alike the opportunity to expand their coaching techniques and grow as leaders in our chapter. Thank you to the 24 paid instructors and 65 volunteer coaches who attended these trainings!
FTSV Coaching Philosophy
FTSV is about teaching life skills and positive character through golf, and we bring this same philosophy to our coaches and volunteers. While these trainings cover the four main building blocks of First Tee nationwide (Empowering Youth, Mastery Driven, Activity Based, and Continuous Learning), we dive deeper into those building blocks and give coaches practice with specific coaching techniques that we research, and that we learn from partner organizations like Positive Coaching Alliance and The Search Institute. The knowledge and skills taken from this training will help our coaches and volunteers make a greater impact on the community we serve.
Instructor Training
We started off the day with our Instructor training – most of these coaches have been involved in FTSV for many years and some even started off as participants! Instructors serve as class leaders and empower, offer direction, support and feedback to our volunteer coaches during class. Bringing all our instructors together is a great way to recap our coaching goals from the previous season, look at participant survey results, and turn our focus towards refining our skills for the next season.
Later that afternoon, 65 of our volunteers came out to learn more about our activity-based coaching strategy using the Try-Show-Try-Play technique, how to foster engagement with fun breaks during activities, and how to seamlessly deliver our life skill curriculum using our Focus-Ask-Reward system.
Coaching is an ongoing journey of self-exploration and personal development, which is why we ask our coaches to attend all 4 coach trainings each year. It is also why we consistently identify and incorporate fresh and proven coaching tips that reinforce our coach approach and curriculum into each training.
FTSV coaches are the backbone of our program. They are the mentors that guide our participants and help them feel welcomed. We want them to always be learning and feel empowered to help others. Hopefully our trainings are accomplishing that goal. From everyone in the FTSV office, thank you very much to all our amazing coaches!
To find out more about how to be a FTSV Coach, please click here.
Published: 03-26-25