Character Coaches
Who are Character Coaches?
A wide variety of people can serve the people of sport as Character Coaches. One need not be a sport ministry professional to faithfully serve and to significantly impact the lives of coaches and athletes. Among those who could serve in these roles are:
- Parents of players in youth sports (school based teams or club sports).
- Coaches of youth sports teams, school based teams or coaches at higher levels of sport.
- Community leaders with an interest in developing character.
- Athletic trainers or other support personnel with sports teams.
- Pastors or other ministry professionals.
- Church members who desire to make an impact by serving others.
What Does it take to be a Character Coach?
FCA wants to provide teams with the best-trained, most effective Character Coaches that they can, so we have created a process:
- Completion of the on-line application process called the Ministry Leader Application.
- Initiation of a relationship with an FCA staff member in your area for further training, encouragement, facilitation and accountability.
- Communication with the FCA staff prior to the season for planning, prayer, resources, etc.
- Communication with the FCA staff during the season for encouragement, problem solving and further direction.
- Communication at the end of the season for evaluation, reporting of results, etc.
Where do I start?
As you get started recruiting, training and empowering Character Coaches in your area, it is critically important to follow some FCA guidelines to protect everyone involved.
Keep in mind the differences between a Character Coach and a Team Chaplain. The Character Coach initiative is designed to help get a ‘foot in the door’ with School Administrators, Coaches and athletes by providing an on-going presence with a particular team while passing along strong, character building lessons that are non-religious.
Obviously, our hope and prayer is that these Character Coaches begin to lay a foundation of trust that will eventually open doors for other opportunities such as evangelism and discipleship.
Character Coach vs. Chaplain
When discussing the role of a Character Coach, it is important to know the difference between a Character Coach and a Chaplain. Both roles are critically important but distinctively different. Which role you play with a team is determined by the audience.
Character Coach | Chaplain |
---|---|
Value based | Faith bases |
Goal: teach character/leadership qualities | Goal: foster spiritual growth and provide spiritual guidance and direction |
Coaches can make it mandatory | Coaches must make it optional |
Model + inform | Model + inform + convert |
Below is an in-depth check-list of items to implement as you begin the process of developing a Character Coach strategy - click each tab to view.
Character Coach Essentials Agreement
All prospective Character Coaches must have a signed agreement on file with North Central Florida FCA indicating that you agree to adhere to all statements included within the agreement.