Kids look to adults for help and guidance.
Photo by Carol Goodrow

Dear Coach Eileen,   Thanks for your column!  I am a soon to begin coach of a middle school co-ed team totaling over 20 kids.  I do not know how many girls vs. boys there are.  Do you have any suggestions or opinion on how the two sexes should be coached together, or how I can best integrate the obvious differences. I have not started, and I am sure some of the boys and girls were on the team together last year, but I want to use the same workout for both but am not sure what would be best as far as team building. At this age I am sure that some of the girls may be faster or just as fast as the boys.  Do you think I should get a volunteer girl assistant, or am I just overly concerned? Thank you, Phil Hodges Dear Phil, Congratulations for taking on the challenge of coaching a coed middle school cross-country team. The high school team I coached for seven years was also coed and it worked well. In fact, I would highly recommend a coed team rather than two separate groups. You definitely can coach them together. Start out with a short warm up, then some stretching and finally the day's workout. We often had groups: fast boys, fast girls, not-as-fast boys and girls, and out-of-shape boys and girls. You can alter the run slightly to suit each group. For instance the fastest boys might be running 3 miles with a few pickups. The faster girls could do that, too. The next two groups might do 2 miles. Don't worry if some girls are faster than some of the boys. This will happen especially at this age level. The support they give each other is crucial to the team's success. But your encouragement is the key. Team building comes from a positive, energetic coach who understands the sport and enjoys working with kids. If you're enthusiastic, your team members will be too. If you take an interest in each one regardless of speed or talent, the kids will benefit and work hard for you. And don't forget to kick in some fun at least once a week. Group relays, frisbee games, scavenger hunts can really bring your coed team together. Afterall, these kids aren't competing for the Olympic gold yet. As far as getting a volunteer women assistant to help out, I think it would be a great idea especially if the team gets much larger. And it probably will when the word gets out how much fun cross-country is at your school. Also, role models are always important and having both sexes represented is a good thing. Good luck with this and have fun with it. In my book, there's nothing more rewarding than coaching kids. Good luck, Coach Eileen Former Cross-Country Coach Eileen Portz-Shovlin