When coaches think about how to impact girls, they often focus on skill development, strategy, and performance. Those things do matter. Athletes join sports to learn, improve, and compete. But long after athletes forget the score of a game or the outcome of a season, they remember something else. Maya Angelou said it best,
"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.
Your athletes will remember how they felt. They will remember whether mistakes were met with support or criticism. They will remember teammates who cared and included them. And they will remember the coach who believed in them.
In other words, they remember the climate that you helped to create.
A Caring Climate is the extent to which athletes perceive a particular setting to be interpersonally inviting, safe, supportive, and able to provide the experience of being valued and respected (Newton et al., 2007).
In a caring climate, athletes feel comfortable asking questions, taking risks, making mistakes, and seeking help. Players trust that the coach and teammates want maximum success and care about everyone as individuals.
A caring climate does not mean lowering expectations or eliminating accountability. In fact, athletes often thrive when coaches combine high expectations with high levels of support.
A caring climate communicates:
"I believe in you, and I will help you get there."
Girls are more likely to enjoy sport, stay engaged, and continue participating when feeling connected to the coach and teammates.
A caring environment helps athletes:
Acceptance by teammates, friendship quality, and effective leadership are key to girls' positive youth development (Tucker Center for Research on Girls and Women in Sport Research Report, 2018). Relationships play a significant role in a girl’s sport experience. Feeling supported, included, and valued can influence whether girls continue participating and whether they develop a lifelong love of sport. In addition,,80% of girls say a positive relationship with their coach is a top reason they keep playing (Project Play, Aspen Institute, 2020).
Many coaches assume creating a caring climate requires grand gestures. More often, it is the small, everyday interactions that matter most.
Learning athletes' names quickly. Greeting them when they arrive. Checking in after a difficult day. Celebrating effort. Listening when they speak. Noticing when someone seems left out.
These moments may feel insignificant to a coach, but they can have a lasting impact on an athlete. Athletes notice who pays attention.
If someone observed your team for a week, what would they notice? Would they see athletes encouraging one another? Would they see teammates helping someone who is struggling? Would they see athletes celebrating effort and improvement? Would they see players taking risks without fear of embarrassment? The actions athletes demonstrate often reveal the climate coaches have created.
Language shapes culture.
Think about the conversations happening at practice, during games, and on the sidelines. Do athletes hear encouragement? Do they hear constructive feedback? Do they hear teammates lifting each other up? Or do they hear criticism, negativity, and frustration? The words used within a team become the messages athletes carry with them.
Creating a Caring Climate Starts With You. One of the most powerful questions a coach can ask is: "What am I doing to help athletes feel cared about, seen, heard, valued, and supported?"
Consider how often you:
The climate athletes experience is shaped by hundreds of small interactions throughout a season.
Start with one intentional action tomorrow. Learn one new thing about each athlete. Ask athletes for feedback. Celebrate effort as often as outcomes. Create opportunities for teammates to support one another. Spend five minutes checking in with athletes before practice. Small actions, repeated consistently, create powerful cultures.
At the end of the season, athletes may not remember every drill, game, or score. But they will remember how they felt. As coaches, we have the opportunity to create environments where athletes feel confident, connected, valued, and excited to return.
A caring climate isn't just about improving performance, it's about helping athletes find joy, build meaningful relationships, feel valued, and grow as both athletes and people. Long after the final score is forgotten, that's the impact they'll remember. And that may be one of the most important things a coach ever does.
References
Aspen Institute. (2020).Aspen Institute’s Project Play: 2020 State of Play Report.
Tucker Center for Research on Girls and Women in Sport. (2018). 2018 Research Report:Developing Physically Active Girls: An Evidence-based Multidisciplinary Approach.