Certainly, effective communication with both your athletics administration and primary employer can reduce a lot of stress. Set personal goals and self-evaluate. Before entering the season, set personal goals. These goals extend beyond what you hope to accomplish as a team and include what you hope to accomplish as an individual. Goals may include the number of alumni correspondences you plan to write and the dates you intend to have them mailed, or they may be more subjective, such as better utilizing huddle time during timeouts.
Goals are meaningless without self-evaluation.
Be certain to regularly review your goals throughout the season and make notes as to your degree of accomplishment. Also, develop a mechanism for improving performance if you feel you have not met your goals. Everyone loves to win. However, winning is only one component of success. These tools and suggestions, while especially important to the part-time coach, can help anyone develop a foundation for a successful program and for a positive and enjoyable coaching experience.