by Benaiah Powers, Age 8, Champion runner
Read about the job of a professional coach, as broken down through the eyes of an 8-year-old.
Benaiah interviewed me as part of his class project. Benaiah's dad, Dave, and I go way back to when we first started rock climbing together while living in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Benaiah wrote a great summary of his interview with me. It is amazing how wise he sounds when it comes to coaching and running.
Benaiah interviewed me as part of his class project. Benaiah's dad, Dave, and I go way back to when we first started rock climbing together while living in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Benaiah wrote a great summary of his interview with me. It is amazing how wise he sounds when it comes to coaching and running.
Hi. My name is Benaiah Powers. I want to be a professional running coach when I grow up. In my Personal Futures Planning class through my home-school, my dad helps us plan goals, achieve bucket list items, and plan for our future careers. Since I want to plan for being a coach, my dad said he knew someone that could help. Her name is Carrie Lane, and she is a professional coach. My dad has been rock climbing with her, including one time when they got yelled at for climbing on a building in Greenville, SC (ed note: It turns out the Carraba's restaurant in Greenville does NOT in fact allow bouldering on its exterior walls). She also helped train Ron Sanga, a famous mountain climber and family friend that I lovingly call Uncle Ron. She agreed to let me interview her.
Let me remind you that I’m only eight years old. Even though I know what I want to do, there is only so much I can do right now. That was my first question for Carrie. She said I should do lots of different sports while I’m young, because “running is very repetitive”. She said I need to “develop other muscles that help you stay injury free” and “build balanced muscles and joints”. That’s not a problem for me, because some of my favorite activities include swimming, basketball, mountain biking, hiking, indoor rock climbing, and martial arts.
Let me remind you that I’m only eight years old. Even though I know what I want to do, there is only so much I can do right now. That was my first question for Carrie. She said I should do lots of different sports while I’m young, because “running is very repetitive”. She said I need to “develop other muscles that help you stay injury free” and “build balanced muscles and joints”. That’s not a problem for me, because some of my favorite activities include swimming, basketball, mountain biking, hiking, indoor rock climbing, and martial arts.
"That perfect shin angle!" -Coach Carrie She also suggested I “watch lots of track and field on TV and the Internet so that you can see good form and you can watch how the runners position themselves to make moves to win the race”. She even gave me a list of her favorite runners to watch. I really like this idea and already enjoy watching runners on YouTube. Right now, my favorites are trail runners and anything on the Red Bull channel.
Playing sports and watching running videos is easy for me, so I also asked Carrie, "What personality qualities do good running coaches have?" She said I should be “outgoing, friendly, tough at times, and empathetic”. She even went further into detail and listed other character qualities to be a running coach. They included being a good communicator, dependable, a good listener, and a good observer. I’m good at most of that, especially the friendly part, but I’m still just a kid. I need to make sure I continue to work on them as I grow older. I need to do my best to be an all around awesome guy.
I need to make a plan to go from a booty-kicking runner to a running coach. For starters I need to pay attention to my coaches now. I really like Crystal and Marcus Faudi, the coaches for the Chattanooga Patriots homeschool team that I run for, so that’s not a problem. For now, I'm going to keep getting better as a runner.
Playing sports and watching running videos is easy for me, so I also asked Carrie, "What personality qualities do good running coaches have?" She said I should be “outgoing, friendly, tough at times, and empathetic”. She even went further into detail and listed other character qualities to be a running coach. They included being a good communicator, dependable, a good listener, and a good observer. I’m good at most of that, especially the friendly part, but I’m still just a kid. I need to make sure I continue to work on them as I grow older. I need to do my best to be an all around awesome guy.
I need to make a plan to go from a booty-kicking runner to a running coach. For starters I need to pay attention to my coaches now. I really like Crystal and Marcus Faudi, the coaches for the Chattanooga Patriots homeschool team that I run for, so that’s not a problem. For now, I'm going to keep getting better as a runner.
Coach Carrie tests her coaching abilities by working with a young hurdler Then, as soon as I hit middle school age, I will volunteer to help coach elementary age kids. I could even coach at various summer camps. As I get older, I think it would be a good idea to get lots of experience working with kids of all ages. Carrie also suggested that I even look at coaching other sports to get more experience. When I’m old enough I will start looking for coaching courses to take on and then start looking for volunteer and professional coaching positions.
I was actually scared a little that becoming a running coach would take away my love of running. Carrie told me that coaching "actually helps me as a runner because I can see running through the eyes of different athletes.” That makes me feel better, because I don’t ever want to lose my love for running. I think it’s pretty cool that not only will I still love running, but I’ll also be a better runner.
Beyond that, I need to start thinking about more education. At some point I will have to start thinking about college and more. There are tons of classes, programs, degrees, and certificates I can do to learn more and get a job easier. I can even become a doctor like my dad. I can get a degree so high that people would even have to call me Dr. Benaiah. I think that would be pretty cool.
I’m still young, and I have a long way to go. Carrie has helped me a lot, and I have a clear path to follow. It’s not just for me though. This is good advice for anyone who wants to be any kind of coach, not just a running coach.
I was actually scared a little that becoming a running coach would take away my love of running. Carrie told me that coaching "actually helps me as a runner because I can see running through the eyes of different athletes.” That makes me feel better, because I don’t ever want to lose my love for running. I think it’s pretty cool that not only will I still love running, but I’ll also be a better runner.
Beyond that, I need to start thinking about more education. At some point I will have to start thinking about college and more. There are tons of classes, programs, degrees, and certificates I can do to learn more and get a job easier. I can even become a doctor like my dad. I can get a degree so high that people would even have to call me Dr. Benaiah. I think that would be pretty cool.
I’m still young, and I have a long way to go. Carrie has helped me a lot, and I have a clear path to follow. It’s not just for me though. This is good advice for anyone who wants to be any kind of coach, not just a running coach.
You can read more of Benaiah's blogs at benaiahpowers.com
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