Head Age Group Coach - Bellingham Bay Swim Team

Bellingham Bay Swim Team has an immediate opening for an enthusiastic, motivated, highly skilled and energetic Head Age Group Coach. 

Title: BBST Head Age Group Coach

Reports to: BBST Head Coach

Position Status: Full-time – Exempt

About Bellingham:

Located on Bellingham Bay with Mount Baker as its backdrop, Bellingham (population 90,000) is the last major city before the Washington coastline meets the Canadian border. It’s 85 miles north of Seattle and 50 miles south of Vancouver, B.C.

Bellingham is an acclaimed outdoor recreation haven and known for its subdued, healthy and authentic vibe. It’s been named “Best Place to Play Year Round,” “Adventure Town USA,” and “Best Place to Retire and Live,” by various media. While many come here to play hard and sweat, others take in the scenery, laid-back vibe and relax. 

About BBST:

The Bellingham Bay Swim Team (BBST-PN), (www.bellinghambayswimteam.org) of Bellingham, Washington (USA) is seeking an enthusiastic, motivated, highly skilled and energetic Head Age Group Coach to direct and lead the 14 & Under program for its year-round competitive swim program.

 We are seeking a Head Age Group Coach to help lead our competitive swim team into the bright future. BBST is a USA Swimming affiliated team with a 26-year history. We currently have 110 swimmers in six progressive training groups:  Bronze, Silver, Gold, Junior, & Senior A/B that train year-round with a staff of 4 certified coaches. These groups are designed to provide athletes with a growth focused team atmosphere where swimmers train together with an emphasis on TEAM in a competitive setting. 

BBST has developed swimmers from local through national success, with individuals and relays that have competed at junior national, Olympic Trials, and national team levels.

Many of our BBST alumni have gone on to swim collegiately at top-ranked universities, such as Texas A&M, Hawaii, and Denison University, including 100% of our 2021 graduating class. BBST is a nonprofit 501c3 organization under the direction of a volunteer parent Board of Directors elected annually by the membership.

Mission: BBST provides a safe, inclusive, and growth focused environment for all teammates. BBST promotes excellence through consistency, camaraderie, and trust. Members will learn lifelong skills to succeed with confidence in a healthy and balanced lifestyle.

Vision: BBST will be a successful example nationally of culture, competitiveness, and consistency. BBST will support all teammates in their pursuit to accomplish team and individual goals.

Position Responsibilities: 

Coaching:

• Establish an environment that fosters positive team attitudes and teaches self-discipline, sportsmanship and responsibility. Enthusiastically lead engaging team atmosphere that swimmers love to attend.
• Develop and implement seasonal and long term plans for the progression of our age group program and develops innovative techniques that demonstrate success and improvement.
• Develop and implement team and individual goals with the swimmers and the Head Coach, and monitor the progression of the athletes and team in reaching these goals.
• Design swimming and dryland curriculums for all BBST roster levels to promote stroke development and physical conditioning appropriate for the athletes’ current level of fitness and development, while maintaining an appropriate level of challenge necessary to produce improvement in and progression through the program.
• Provide social/emotional support for athletes and differentiated programming to meet each athlete’s needs.

 Administration:

• Work with the head coach to ensure club mission, vision and values are achieved.
• Demonstrate a cooperative, prompt, and respectful communication style with swimmers, parents, community members, and members of the staff.
• Effectively supervise and delegate responsibilities for assistant age group coaches.
• Practice continuous improvement and professional development for self under the direction of the head coach.
• Support all aspects of daily club operation in support of the swimmers, membership, and team mission and values. Strong organizational skills are needed.
• Communicate with other teams and/or PNS regarding meet participation and entries.
• Maintain and update website information regarding practice schedules, meet entries, news, etc.
• Various administrative functions as needed.
• Act as a team representative while attending LSC meetings.
• Maintain professional standard of safety, appearance and readiness.
• Facilitate and participate in club fundraisers.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Must be CPR/AED certified and maintain current coaching certification.
• Strong record and knowledge in modern swimming technique.
• Effective leadership and communication skills among swimmers, parents, and coaches.
• Experience coaching various ages and skill levels in a competitive environment, and managing 20-25 swimmers in a group appropriately.
• Experience with TeamUnify and HyTek.
• Ability to set and achieve individual and team goals and encourage others to do the same.

 SALARY

This is a year round, salaried position with opportunity for performance and fundraising based incentives. Salary will be commensurate with qualifications and experience, beginning range of $37,500 to $41,500.

APPLICATION PROCEDURES & DUE DATE

Position is open until filled. All application materials should be sent to BBST Head Coach Chris Coghill at coachchriscoghill@gmail.com.   

A complete application consists of:

• Letter of application detailing relevant experience and how the applicant is prepared to fulfill the responsibilities of the position
• Statement describing the applicant’s coaching philosophy
• Current resume
• List of three current references with contact information
• Salary expectations