There's a need for youth sports coaches, but time and cost make it hard for parents to commit

London, Ont., hardball coordinator Kevin Bahadur has about a month to find a coach for the South London Baseball Association U11 team, or else it may not exist this year.

"That would be an extreme disappointment for those kids in the organization," said Bahadur, who is also the association's vice-president. "They may have to find a different sport or play somewhere else. The most heartbreaking thing is not having kids able to play."

He is one of several youth sports coordinators in London who spoke to CBC News saying it can be challenging to find and retain volunteer coaches, usually players' parents, as the summer season approaches. 

"It's getting more and more difficult to find coaches, especially when you're adding more teams in your program," said AEL FC Canada president and soccer coach Milton Gougoulias. 

He said his academy has enough returning coaches for its 20 teams this year, but is unable to add any new teams without more support.

Time, commitment and cost are the most common reasons why people are hesitant to coach, said Coaches Association of Ontario (CAO) executive director Jeremy Cross.

"Many of our coaching opportunities are through volunteers and people who are taking time out of their days, out of their jobs and away from their families in order to coach," he said. 

A 2024 report from the CAO found that over 70 per cent of Ontario coaches are unpaid volunteers and 11 per cent are paid on a small honorarium. 

"It is not a well-compensated role, but the responsibilities are quite high," Cross said. 

Coaches spend an average of 15 hours per week coaching at practices, attending games and planning lessons, the report said. Many new coaches also need to put time into certification courses, added Cross, which includes training on ethics, safety and season planning.

While not all sports teams require coaches to be certified, Gougoulias said he requires all AEL FC coaches to go through basic training, which makes it difficult to find people who want to step forward.

"The feedback I've received from a lot of the coaches is the commitment that you have to put toward the program and toward completing the courses," he said, adding that the time commitment for courses can range from a few days to up to six months.

The cost for certification courses also varies, Gougoulias said, ranging from $300 for a basic course to thousands of dollars for certifications to coach higher level teams. 

Unpaid volunteer coaches also put money into travelling to games, Cross said, which includes the cost of gas, hotels and eating out. 

Incentives for coaches

The challenging search for coaches isn't a new issue, said Bahadur. He said most of their coaches stick around as their child players progress through the league, but they have trouble finding new coaches for younger teams. 

Bahadur said missing just one coach not only causes a problem for the team that year, but for other teams down the line. He said if he cannot find a coach for his U11 team this summer and players leave the league, he could struggle to fill his U13 team next season.

"You lose those kids in your system … It starts creating gaps in the continuity of your players moving through your organization through their age level," Bahadur said, adding that he hopes to partner with another London organization to send his players for the season if he can't find a coach. 

Gougoulias said his academy provides incentives to coaches who show their commitment to the organization, including free registration, uniforms and gear for their own kids.

He said being a coach comes with personal rewards as well.

"Personally speaking, I've had players since they were four or five years old and they are now 13 years old," Gougoulias said. "We've seen them develop through the years as a child who can't even kick the ball and now we've got pro clubs that are looking at them."

"It's just the satisfaction of developing a player and developing a person in life," he said.