Maison Vasquez

Responsibilities

During this internship coaching was only part of the responsibilities. Some responsibilities included cleaning, charging equipment, setting up equipment, researching, and more. Urbandale High School has a great facility for their athletes and ensuring proper maintenance and cleaning is very important to keep the facility safe and prepared. Research hours are depending on the coaches needs and can vary from services, software, strength and conditioning, or others. Coaching was one of the main responsibilities, during coaching you are expected to lead groups and individuals while teaching proper form or techniques. Another big responsibility is offering a helping hand to all athletes. Every athlete has a different need and being available to those athletes is one of the most important jobs. New responsibilities and duties come up each day and this list only includes a few of them.

Accomplishments

My greatest accomplishment during this internship was being available to all the athletes. As I grew and got more confident in my abilities, I could see athletes also growing. Athletes were able to come up to me with questions and/or concerns and I could answer or help confidently. Watching an athlete grow before your eyes is a great feeling whether that is their mentality, physicality, or even their presence during sessions.

Learning experience

The greatest lesson I learned from this experience was that there is always room for improvement. I went into this internship not knowing what to expect and not knowing the Urbandale strength and conditioning program routine.

What advice would you give?

I quickly learned a lot during this internship and as I did I also started learning more about people and their motivations for their decisions. Everyone is different and has different needs or even different situations. Being understandable to all situations is a must. Some coaches use different strategies or have different philosophies than others but at the end of the day understanding the athletes is what will help them grow the most.