Coaches manual - Chapter 1 - Roles and values - Leadership - Incorporating short-term and long-term goals

Oct 14, 2026

Coaches manual Level 2 outlines leadership practices under Chapter 1, emphasizing how to set and manage short-term and long-term goals for individual athletes and teams. It explains why ambitious targets like professional play must be broken into smaller milestones, enabling measurable progress, motivation, and resilience after setbacks. It also discusses potential conflicts, such as selection, substitution patterns, and structured early play, arguing that coaches should prioritize development-based success and inclusive pathways for non-selected players.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryPresentations

FormatPDF

Pages368

Reading Time2 h 9 min

AccessFree to download

Chapter 1: Roles and values

1.1 Leadership

1.1.1 Incorporating short-term and long-term goals

1.2 Working with officials

1.2.1 Referee responsibilities

coaches manual Level 2 | world association of basketball coaches | | --- | | Coaches manual | level 2 Coaches manual 02 level 2 Coach 1 Roles and values 03 2 Know-how 13 3 Development 63 4 Management 77 player 1 Defensive basketball skills 85 2 Offensive basketball skills 107 3 Physical preparation 157 4 Psychological preparation 211 team 1 Defensive tactics and strategies 225 2 Offensive tactics and strategies 277 3 Management 343 4 Game review and analysis 351 Level 2 coach Chapter 1 Roles and values Coaches manual 03 | Chapter 1 | | | --- | --- | | Roles and values | | | 1.1 Leadership
1.1.1 Incorporating short-term and long-term goals 1.2 working with officials
1.2.1 Referee responsibilities
1.3 Sport integrity compliance
1.3.1 Coaching a clean game Follow-up | 05
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09 | | Coaches manual 04 | | 1. Roles and values 1.1 Leadership 1.1.1 Incorporating short term and long term 1.1 Leadership | 1.1.1 | Incorporating short-term and long-term goals | | --- | --- | | Coaches should encourage athletes to “dream big”and to have ambitious goals (e.g. playing professionally). | | Similarly, the coach should have ambitious goals for the team to achieve, which may extend beyond the time when the coach is with the team (e. g. a coach of a junior team may have agoal that the players all progress to the club’s senior squad) . A limiting factor in regards to ambitious goals is that they may seem unattainable or players may get discouraged when they do not achieve them – in either event, the player is unlikely to continue to strive toward reaching that objective. The coach therefore should help the athlete to “break down” the larger (or longer-term) goal into a series of smaller (or shorter-term) goals that are important to ultimately achieving the larger goal. These smaller (or shorter term) goals have the advantage of: •providing a mechanism to measure progress toward the ultimate goal – this enables the player to experience success as they achieve each goal, which both rewards effort made to date and can motivate the athlete to continue working toward the next goal (and the ultimate goal); •helping the athlete cope with disappointments (e.g. non selection to a team); •enabling the athlete to realise when they reach the point where the ultimate goal may be out of reach but to still have a sense of success for what they achieved along the way; •allowing the athlete to reassess their ambitious goals (e.g. a player that aspires to play at the Olympics may realise that is unlikely and then work toward becoming a coach or official) . There are situations where short-term goals may be contrary to long-term goals, and for coaches these are most likely to occur in regards to teamselection and substitution patterns and style of play. Coaches manual 05 1. Roles and values 1.1 Leadership 1.1.1 Incorporating short term and long term In considering players for selection, a coach will often be presented with a situation where one player may make an immediate impact upon the team, and another has greater potential in the long term but would have little impact immediately. This can happen with senior teams (choosing between“veterans” and “rookies”) but is perhaps more commonplace with junior teams. The decision a coach makes will depend upon both their own philosophy and that of the club. With junior athletes, coaches should certainly consider that“single measures or judgments about someone’s athletic potential, especially before puberty, are likely to be influenced by factors such as physical maturity that could change over time”.1 Players that physically mature earlier (and are taller or stronger) than their teammates at the ages of 10-12 may not have that advantage a few years later and are often not the players that progress the most. With young players, coaches should be as inclusive as possible and should encourage clubs to have other progra

FAQs

Why should coaches encourage athletes to set ambitious goals?

Coaches should encourage athletes to “dream big” and hold ambitious targets, such as playing professionally. These goals shape motivation and long-term direction for the athlete and team.

How can coaches help athletes deal with unattainable or discouraging goals?

Coaches should break the larger goal into smaller short-term milestones. This lets athletes measure progress, experience success along the way, cope with disappointment, and reassess ambitions when needed.

What does the manual suggest when short-term goals conflict with long-term development?

When short-term objectives conflict—especially in youth team selection, substitution patterns, and early structured play—the manual advises coaches to focus on development rather than simply winning games.

Oct 14, 2026

Upload by Aria Callaghan