Being a youth sports coach is much more than showing 10-year-olds how to dribble a ball, swing a bat or kick a goal. Weplay’s newest addition to Coach of the Week, Trent Cooper (far right), will tell you no matter what sport you coach, the challenge is to make such an impression that your players take the lessons they learn beyond the court, diamond or field and give 100 percent in every area of their lives, personal, professional and beyond.
Trent of Virginia Beach, VA is a pharmaceutical representative and father of two active kids, a 9-year-old son and 6-year-old daughter who participate in a wide range of sports. In fact, Trent caught the coaching bug about four years ago when he signed up to be the coach for his son’s soccer team. Since then, Trent has coached basketball, football and his daughter’s soccer team.
Trent believes his continued passion for coaching so many different sports after all of this time is because of the players he has been involved with for the past four years.
“I have been lucky to get a good group of kids and luckily have been able to take them with me from sport to sport and watch them progress,” Trent says.
Like any proud coach, Trent admires his teams saying they are always competitive and have a strong will to win every contest. He also admits that he is lucky to have a son and daughter who are not only diverse athletes, but also like having their dad for a coach.
A quick browse through Trent’s Weplay page will prove he is well versed in the coaching arena. He has coached nearly 10 teams.
“Weplay is my ‘communication’ outlet to my parents as well as a scrapbook for myself and my parents to look at when they are recalling the events of the season,” Trent says. “It is very gratifying having one of the kids come to practice and say, ‘Hey coach, I saw the video of our game on Weplay. It was awesome!’”
Trent’s most recent coaching stint is with the 8-9 year-old Courthouse Basketball Timberwolves who are prepping for the quickly approaching season and eager to hit the court.
Trent Cooper’s Tips to Give your Players:
1. First and foremost give 100 percent all of the time in everything including at practice and in the classroom.
2. Have good sportsmanship. Always win with grace and lose with honor.
3. HAVE FUN! There are some pretty intense settings for 8-9 year boys to play in, and a lot of times you have to remind the kids that ultimately whether they win or lose, having fun, and being a good sport are the lessons that are going to make them a good teammate as well as a good person when they grow up.
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