Athletic Coaching : Levett Career Center : Hanover College

Athletic Coaching

November 15, 2016	Return to Alumni Panels page
	Van Green '10 Boys Varsity Soccer Coach Madison High School Former Men's Assistant Coach Soccer at Hanover College Senior Chemist, Dow Corning Madison, IN BA, Major: Chemistry, Minor: Mathematics, Computer Science Lambda Chi Alpha Volunteer to get coaching experience. Van has been the Boys Soccer Coach for 2 years at Madison high school. He played soccer for 3 years at Hanover College. He had coached Middle School Soccer at Southwestern. He always wanted to be a varsity soccer coach. What Van wished he had done while at Hanover was travel abroad. He finds it challenging to balance worktime with coaching time, especially since he is not a teacher and has a different work schedule than the school day. The rewarding part is the end of year banquet, following seniors and seeing the effect you have had on their lives. It is rewarding to see players reach their full potential. Van has played soccer since he was 4 years old. He wanted to continue doing something with soccer. He thinks it is neat to see others develop a love of the game.

	Mark Martin '91 Director of Golf, Grand Oak Golf Club 20 year member of the PGA of America (professional golfers association) Golf instructor with several students past and present playing collegiate golf Coach for boy's and girls golf teams at East Central High School, St. Leon, Indiana Hanover: 3 years Baseball Team 1 year Golf Team Cincinnati area BA, Major: Business Administration Phi Delta Theta When Mark graduated, he tried sales for four months. His father owned a golf course along with others, so he tried that and started working toward his PGA certification. He enjoys the daily variety. He starts at 6 a.m., and spends half his time teaching golf lessons and half his time with the business aspect of running a golf course (e.g. - food, payroll, merchandising, maintenance). He enjoys coaching at East Central high school, but finds it time consuming. He is trying to develop middle school golf camps to better prepare golfers for high school. He encourages students to play multiple sports, cross training and learning from them. The mental stress control gained from a last second shot in basketball may help get that four-yard putt later on. Golf can maximize one's potential. He has setup a golf outing to fund a school program.

	Patric Morrison '10 Football - Boys Varsity Head Coach, Madison High School Teacher, Project Lead the Way courses, Madison Jr. High Madison, IN BA, Major: Elementary Education, Minor: History Hanover College has good quality coaches. Patric is jealous of current students because they have much better facilities than when he was here. Patric spent two years looking for teaching job (he had been told getting a job would be easy). He found his Hanover College education to be valuable since he had to do various jobs before finding a teaching position. He shared that a head basketball coach earns about $7500 for coaching, beyond the teacher salary. Lower-level coaches earn @ $5000 for coaching. He is not teaching history, his original plan but is teaching pre-engineering. His first love is coaching (not teaching). He puts in long days, working until 7:30 or 8 p.m. He feels he makes an impact on kids. He played college football and knew in 8th grade that he wanted to be a football coach. He kept everything he received from coaches forever. The coaching job came before the teaching job. He finds that he needs to coach on different levels in high school. He says there are many Hanover College alumni who coach. He advises to make connections with them.

	Rachel (Slade) Sharpe '13 Assistant Track and Field Coach/Senior Admission Counselor Hanover College Hanover, IN BA, Major: Health and Movement Studies, CBP (Business Scholars) Kappa Alpha Theta Rachel helps athlete families through the financial process to be able to afford Hanover College. She sends out emails and does social media. She did track and field all 4 years at Hanover. Early on she decided she did not want to teach elementary or high school. She enjoys college students and she loves Hanover College. Using Strengths Finder, she discovered she is a "maximizer," she loves to see someone reach his or her full potential. She gets to interview students in her office. For coaching track, she recommends a waterproof rain suit. Rachel oversees sprinters. Her chief personality trait is as motivator for track and field coaches. When there are multiple coaches, it is important to find your role among them. Coaches need to spread optimism to the team. One can find college coaching jobs at higheredjobs.com. There was a recent ad for an Assistant Coach at Earlham College for $22K. Interns can earn $9K plus housing. A Graduate Assistant will do the grunt work but will earn a free graduate degree. Some higher-level coaches earn $35K - $60K. Division I coaches can earn $110K. However, coaching is not all about the money; it is about seeing students do well.

	Brady Wells '83 Scottsburg High School - Varsity Boys Basketball Coach (Retired 2015) Scottsburg, IN 32 years of Coaching Experience with Basketball, Cross Country, and Track at Varsity Level (Including 5 years of College Experience as Asst. Coach at Hanover College) Teach PE and Health at Scottsburg HS and MS BA, Major: English, Minor: PE MS - Secondary Education The variety of experiences at Hanover College helps one to be a better coach. There are many different types of people. Coaching boys vs. girls is different. Being a teacher and a coach make for very long days. Besides the season, there is scouting, game preparation, and almost year around practice. There are summer leagues, practice, and practice games. Make sure to consider the time commitment. You will need an understanding spouse. If you love it, do it. Brady's father was a coach. He has a passion for athletics and coaching allows him to continue that as long as possible. Understanding communication between athletes, parents, and administration will make one more successful. Parents may be upset when their child is cut or does not play enough. The custodian may be upset when practice runs over for 15 minutes. High school athletes will bring many situations and will be playing for many different reasons. Who wants them to play? Middle school and elementary students are just wondering where they fit in with their peers. If you coach this group, some of the kids are there who just want to wear the uniform. You have to deal with them. College athletes want to play the sport. For high school coaching entry positions, find a local high school where you can help and volunteer to get a feel for the job. This will look great on your résumé. There are Coaching Associations in each state that have job boards listing all levels of coaching jobs.


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