Organizational Decision-Making

Decision making is a skill that all sport managers need to possess. I can guarantee that no person on this earth can make it through a job without making some sort of decision at one point or another. A decision is made when a few different factors are presented and a choice needs to be made between the alternatives. I have been a preschool gymnastics coach since I was fourteen years old. As such, I was in charge of anywhere between four and eight preschool aged children at a time. It was my responsibility to make decisions regarding what skills I would teach them, which area of the training facility I would use, and how to maintain their safety. Most of the time, we were given lesson plans to follow in order to move our students through progressions towards mastering a skill. We were told where to go, what to teach them, and when to rotate to the next event. However, sometimes another instructor was already utilizing the area that I needed to use. I then needed to take a look around the gym, assess what the most appropriate thing would be to do as a substitute, and execute my new plan. I knew what the risks of moving to a different location would be such as being forced to move again by another class, potentially being in the way of a preexisting class, or taking time out of the one hour allotment for my class. In another example, when I become a head coach for a collegiate Division I gymnastics team I will be faced with all sorts of decisions. I will need to decide who I want as my assistant coaches as well as what girls I would like to pursue in recruiting. When recruiting starts I will need to consider not only the skill level of the athletes but also their school transcripts. An athlete with immense talent but no desire to further educate herself will not be compatible with my programs goals. Therefore I would decide not to recruit her any further unless she decided to make some necessary changes. There will always be choices to make regarding my training plan. I have to decide how hard I will be able to push them and how long they will be able to train that way. It is a delicate balance between pushing your athletes and giving them a break because you have deadlines to meet in order to be ready for competition season but you also cannot wear your team out before you get to that point. Another important aspect will be choosing which six girls to put in the line-up for each meet. Some weeks, certain girls might be hurting from injuries more than others and I will have to decide whether it would be better to let them push through it or give them a break and put someone less experienced in. I run the risk of further aggravating my athlete's injury but I also run the risk of losing the meet by putting in a less reliable substitute. No matter what I do, I will always face decisions and make choices based on what I believe to be the best bet.