St. John's Mavericks Coach Young Athletes, Take on Leadership Roles

While many students hit the gym or field after school, not all are training for their own athletic achievement. An increasing number of students coach sports during their free time, channeling their energy and sports knowledge into training younger athletes.

Both sports clubs and school teams utilize student coaches to instruct younger players. Student coaching jobs can be beneficial for both the students and players: they offer job experience for teenagers and a comfortable environment for inexperienced beginners to learn from coaches closer to their own age.

Junior Molly Isaac can be found at St. Lawrence Catholic School in Sugar Land three afternoons a week coaching the middle school cross country team, which won its division championship. Molly attended and ran cross country at St. Lawrence herself until the eighth grade.

The co-ed team is made up of 40 kids, offering a wide range of running abilities.                                                                                       

“We have nationally-ranked triathletes on the team and people we need to pull off at the mile mark because they can't finish the race,” Molly said.

While the stakes for middle school cross country are lower, Isaac’s runners can seem just serious about competing as the runners on St. John’s SPC-winning cross country team.

“It still requires the same kind of effort,” Molly said. “They can really tell when they haven’t prepared correctly. People dismiss it a lot but it's very important to them.”

Molly also coached a middle school basketball team for St. Lawrence last winter.

Other students assist their youth club programs. Junior Bettyann Leonard and sophomore Mary Leonard coach third through eighth grade lacrosse through Swizzle Sticks, the sisters’ former club lacrosse team.

In the spring Bettyann is an attacker and Mary is the goalie for the varsity girls’ lacrosse team, but on Saturday mornings in the fall they can be found on the fields teaching fundamentals of the sport.

“It’s a fun way to connect,” Mary said. “It provides us with an opportunity to bond in a different way that siblings usually do not get to.”

The girls’ responsibilities included setting up cones, leading stretches, performing demos for drills and offering tips for improvement.

While Mary worked with older girls that stay focused, Bettyann wrangled energetic younger players.

“It is definitely hard to coach the third and fourth graders because they only have an attention span of about three minutes,” Bettyann said. “I sometimes have to make the activities into a contest just so they will be motivated.”

Coaching is not only a working experience; it also adds to their own playing skills.  

“It brings a completely different perspective on lacrosse to my eyes,” Mary said.