Interesting topic. My thoughts:
- Gotta be able to command respect through their own experience. EG: have they played at a high level/coached at a high level, relative to the level your club competes at? Have they had some coaching success in the past? Have they coached at a high level relative to the level your club competes at?
- I think they should be able to relate to the athletes at the level they are coaching. IE an athlete comes to them and says I am fatigued or I am nervous when competing etc. the JDO should have personal experience in dealing with competing whilst fatigued. Ideally they have experience at competing at that level themselves and have worked with lots of athletes at that level and seen how those athletes deal with different situations.
- Have experience working with the best, elite athletes at that level. They need to be able to subjectively and quantitavely asses your club's athletes. They should be able to qualitatively/subjectively asses athletes skills execution and this can be achieved by knowing how experts, at that level, execute those skills and what kinds of results elite athletes, at that level, can achieve.
- Proven knowledge and experience. What coaches have they worked/played under? What courses and qualifications do they have consider their knowledge on sports science and skills acquisition. How many yrs experience do they have in the sport at the level they are coaching at?
- Good network they can work with to ensure their knowledge is up to date
- Opportunities for your players. Do they have respect of people within your sport's elite pathways. Are they going to teach the skills and fundamentals that will help athletes move up in the elite pathway for your sport?
- Well educated and intelligent
- Very strong work ethic
- Good planner and able to follow through on plans
