ashley dewitt
Interview Source:
- Name of Person: Ashley DeWitt
- Title: Assistant Throws Coach
- Organization / Company: Indiana Tech
- E-Mail or Phone Number: [email protected]
Personal Information:
- General Responsibilities
- coordinate and instruct strength and conditioning
- Teach technique of the throws, shot, weight, hammer, discus, and javelin
- Recruit potential student athletes
- Schedule meets
- Likes:
- Seeing talent and strength progress with the athletes over time
- Tight knit atmosphere
- Smaller group of athletes which translates into more 1 on 1 time to coach
- Indoor facilities are nice
- Other coaches are friendly and great to work with.
- Dislikes:
- Outdoor facilities is about 10 min drive
- Hours / Attire:
- Normal work day starts at 9am ends at 7pm on weekends starts at about 7am and ends whenever the meet is over sometimes 12-3 in the morning.
- Wearing whatever you want is a plus, to meets is a little but more casual.
- Pay / Benefits / Perks:
- This will vary depending on where you coach. Benefits are normal health dental eye, travel to meets is free along with food.
- Education: Bachelor’s degree and MBA
- Related Experience: Former athletes at the collegiate level, coached high school for 1 year, and this is first year coaching collegiate
Industry Information:
- Salary Range-
- Anywhere from 20,000 annually to 60,000 depending on where you are
- Turnover-
- Turnover is usually low, coaches tend to stick around for some time.
- Opportunity for Advancement:
- There is always opportunity for advancement, becoming a head coach and then a possible athletic director is an option. Or coaching at a bigger school.
Tips for Students Aspiring Towards a Similar Position:
I would say that you have to be extremely patient and understand that you aren’t dealing with robots, but human beings. You will get emotionally attached to your job and there will be times that you take it home with you and stress out but that is part of the job. It is okay to get frustrated and trust me you will, but make sure that you don’t let your athletes see it because it will affect them as well. Know that there is a line when it comes to being social with your athletes. It is okay to be “friends” and joke around but make sure they know that when it is time to work that they do so. They need to respect you enough to not want to disappoint you.
You will have to go through baby steps with a lot of athletes, remember that normally they don’t know much of anything when it comes to their abilities and techniques and you will have to go back to the basics a lot of the times. Being a coach is a very rewarding profession, you get to see athletes in the position that you were once in succeed and become better not only as athletes but as people as well. Part of your job is to be there for them and to shape them into a better adult for the real world.