Coaching also helps physicians assume a different role in the community, noted Rafael Silva, M.D., a family physician who coaches an AYSO team in Chula Vista, Calif. “I've made a lot of friends by being involved, and I run into people who know me as the coach for their kid a year ago or 2 years ago,” said Dr. Silva, who practices at the Bonita branch of Kaiser Permanente. “That's been a real plus.”
Moreover, the players you coach sometimes become your patients. “I have a couple of kids who were on the first team I coached who found out I'm a doctor, so they decided to come and see me as a patient,” he said. “That's going to be fun to watch them grow up and know that they were on my first team.”
Another reward for him is watching youngsters improve their skills and learn good sportsmanship. “It's a precious moment when they score their first goal ever,” he added. “Their face lights up.”
Coaching can also bring self-reflection. “My dad was a traveling salesman, and he didn't have a lot of time to devote to sports because he was so busy working his tail off,” Dr. Duboe said. “Hopefully, coaching will be something my kids will carry on to their kids, as well.”
Coaching isn't just for dads. Melinda Silva, M.D., serves as an assistant coach for her husband's team. The couple got involved with AYSO 5 years ago when their oldest son, Rafael III, turned 6 years old.
“The level of involvement that you have is not really as important as that you are involved somehow, whether that means you help them stretch before the game for 10 or 15 minutes,” said Dr. Silva, a family physician at the Otay Mesa, Calif., branch of Kaiser Permanente. “It's amazing how much an impression will make on a child for how little involvement you give. People are afraid [to get involved] because they're always afraid of what the time commitment means, but you can have varying levels of involvement. Just try.”
Having young children of your own is not a prerequisite to becoming a coach, noted Dr. Rafael Silva, who played soccer in high school and in adult leagues. He plans to continue coaching in some capacity after his other three children move beyond school age.
“I still love the smell of freshly cut grass and mud on my cleats,” he said. “I still have the love of the sport, and that's what keeps me going back.”
Dr. Neil Goldberg coached the sixth-grade basketball team of his son, Ross. Courtesy Dr. Neil Goldberg
Advice on How to Make the Time
So you decide to help out as a coach for a youth sports team, but you wonder: “How am I going to fit this into my schedule?”
Physician-coaches who were interviewed for this column offered the following advice:
▸ Coordinate with your office staff and practice partners. Set your office hours once the practice times and game times have been finalized. “I make it balance by being efficient with office work and with reviewing charts and trading time between partners, maximizing the time off and vacations as much as possible,” Dr. Duboe said. “The fact that I have four partners and a nurse-midwife makes things manageable, as well.”
Dr. Goldberg noted that it pays to achieve the rank of head coach, because in most cases, that person gets to arrange practice times and sometimes even games around his or her own schedule. “For practice nights, I picked the days I didn't work late,” he said. “I got to schedule the Saturdays. I saw patients on Saturdays where I knew I didn't have early morning games.”
That strategy works for indoor sports, but when Saturday matches of outdoor sports like baseball and soccer are canceled due to inclement weather, “you're home not making any money and not doing anything, and the kids can't play,” Dr. Goldberg said. “That drives me crazy.”
▸ Consider reducing your work hours. Dr. Rafael Silva works a 90% schedule so he can preside over his soccer team's Thursday afternoon practices. “I chose to take a 10% pay cut to have a free afternoon so I can do something else,” he said.
His wife, Dr. Melinda Silva, works an 80% schedule so she can help with team activities, as well as other family activities. “That's a priority we made because it's important for us to have that balance in our lives,” Dr. Melinda Silva said.