Outdoor Versus Indoor Coaches – Physical Education Update Blog

There are two kinds of coaches. Indoor coaches, and outdoor coaches. I am both. While I do work on the indoor track for a few months in the winter, most of the time I am outdoors, coaching outdoor track and cross-country.

There are many days when I wish I were an indoor coach ALL year round. Our cross-country race this weekend took place on an unprotected plateau, in gale force winds and a drenching downpour so intense that anybody wearing clothing labelled rain-resistant immediately learned the limitations of the term “resistant.”

My runners and their supporters – 20 of them – tried to stay warm and dry before the race by crowding into an 8 x 8 foot tent. It worked: 20 huddled bodies generates of lot of body heat. However, I couldn’t participate in the collective radiator. There wasn’t enough room for coaches, so I remained outside the tent, trying to look impervious to the cold, the water streaming down my ball cap brim, my wind-pants feeling like an overflowing Depend®…and dreaming I was a basketball coach..or volleyball mentor…or, at that moment, a full-time indoor track coach.

It’s not just bad weather that gives me indoor-coach-envy. Indoor coaches also have a better deal when it comes to packing for trips. No portable shelters, no rain gear, no 60-item reminder list, no guessing about footwear or whether the clothing you’ve packed will leave you freezing or dripping sweat. A pair of shorts, sweats and a golf shirt will keep you warm and legally acceptable, and packing them into a tiny travel bag takes only a few minutes.

The tradeoff? Those occasional days when the clouds disappear, the air is fresh, the breeze drops, the sun shines just enough to keep you comfortable, and you know there’s no place better than to be outside, at that place and that time, doing exactly what you love. On those days, the memories of bad weather fade and you know that being an outside coach is the absolute best!