Co-Lead Protocol (Kids)

How to learn by sharing the room with another kids coach.

After completing six kids assist sessions, you’ll spend six sessions co-leading with an experienced kids coach: three Little Lions classes and three Golden Tigers classes. The order within each pair of sessions doesn’t matter, but you need reps in both programs at each stage of the progression.

Co-leading means you split the class: one of you runs certain segments, the other runs the rest. You’re both coaching, but the experienced coach is still the safety net.

For the fundamentals (adult) co-lead protocol, see Co-Lead Protocol (Fundamentals).

How Co-Leading Works in Kids Classes

Co-leading is collaborative, not rigidly partitioned. You and the experienced coach share the room, with you taking on progressively more of the hard stuff across six sessions. The general progression:

Sessions 1-2: You run warmup + standing game. The experienced coach runs the ground game / main topic, but hands you one game segment within it to run. You run the closeout if the experienced coach asks.
Sessions 3-4: You run the ground game / main topic + recall + closeout. The experienced coach runs warmup + standing game, but may still jump in with a concept during your segment if they see something important.
Sessions 5-6: Same split as 3-4, but the experienced coach steps back further. Less jumping in, less steering. By session 6, they should barely need to say anything during your segments.

The ground game / main topic is where the hardest coaching lives in kids classes: game selection, teaching points, partner pairings for the primary skill-building game, and all the behavioral management that comes with the longest segment of class. The progression gets you into the hard stuff early (a handed-off game in sessions 1-2) while building toward full ownership.

In practice, two coaches sharing a kids room will naturally overlap. The experienced coach might step in on a behavioral moment during your segment, or you might help with pairings during theirs. That’s fine. The point is that your responsibility grows each session.

You plan your own segments. Know the class structure, pick your games, know your targeted goals, plan your pairings. The experienced coach isn’t handing you a script anymore.

You own your segments. Rules communication, coaching between rounds, partner pairings, behavioral management during your segments. This is the real thing.

What Changes from Assisting

Everything from the fundamentals co-lead protocol applies, plus:

You’re picking all the partners for your segments. During assist, the lead coach made or approved pairing decisions. Now you’re matching kids on timidity, size, and social dynamics on your own.
Behavioral management is fully yours during your segments. The experienced coach is backup, not the default disciplinarian.
Time pressure is tighter. Kids classes are shorter (35 min for Little Lions, 50 min for Golden Tigers). Every minute of over-talking costs more.
Energy management is your problem. If your segment kills the energy, the next segment starts from a deficit.

Before and After Each Session

Before class:

Know the class structure for the program you’re co-leading (Little Lions or Golden Tigers)
Pick your games and know your targeted goals
Plan your partner pairings (or at least the kids you need to separate and the kids you want to pair)
Know which kids to watch out for (behavioral patterns, injuries, new students expected)
Coordinate with the co-lead coach: who’s running what, pairing strategy for the day

After class:

Debrief together. How were the transitions? Did either segment run long?
Discuss partner pairings: did they work? Any mismatches?
Discuss behavioral moments: who handled what, and how?
What would you change about your game selection, pacing, or approach?

Sessions 1-2: Warmup + Standing Game (Plus a Taste of the Ground Game)

You run the opening block: warmup and the standing/takedown game. This is the highest-energy part of class and the most procedural. The warmup is the same routine every class. The standing game is usually a familiar format. Your main challenge is setting the energy for the room and managing transitions cleanly.

During the ground game / main topic, the experienced coach will hand you one game segment to run. This gets you into the hard half early so the jump to sessions 3-4 isn’t as steep.

Do one Little Lions class and one Golden Tigers class in these first two sessions.

For the experienced coach

Let them own the energy. The opening sets the tone for the whole class. If they’re low energy, the room will be low energy. Don’t compensate by being louder yourself. Let them feel the consequence and debrief it after.
Watch their warmup execution. Is it crisp and routine, or are they fumbling the sequence? The warmup should be automatic so they can focus on scanning the room.
Hand them one game during the ground segment. Set it up the same way you would during assist: tell them the game, the win conditions, and one concept. This keeps them engaged in the hard half even though they’re not driving it yet.
Debrief the transition. How smoothly did the handoff happen between the standing game and the ground game? Did the class lose momentum?

Session 1: Quiz & Reflection

How did you set the energy at the start of class? Did the kids match your energy or were they sluggish?

How did the warmup go? Was it routine and crisp, or did you have to think about what comes next?

How did the standing game go? Did your pairings work? Did you have to intervene on any behavioral moments?

Session 2: Quiz & Reflection

Compare running the opening in Little Lions vs Golden Tigers (if you’ve now done both). What did you adjust between programs?

How did the transition to the experienced coach’s segment go? Did the class lose energy or momentum at the handoff?

How are you doing on time management? Did your block finish when it should have?

Sessions 3-4: Ground Game / Main Topic + Recall + Closeout

You run the second half of class: the primary skill-building segment, the recall round, and the closeout. This is the hardest block. You’re coaching the week’s main topic, making real-time decisions about teaching points, managing pairings for the longest game segment, handling behavioral moments during focused play, and running the closeout with specific praise for every kid.

Continue alternating between programs.

For the experienced coach

Push for depth. The trainee is now in the hardest part of the class.

Challenge their game selection. “Why this game? What’s the targeted goal? How will you know if kids are getting it?” Push for specificity.
It’s OK to jump in with a concept. If you see something during their segment that’s worth addressing, you can add a teaching point. But keep it brief and don’t take over. Talk about it in the debrief: “I jumped in because I saw X. Here’s why I thought it was worth adding.”
Watch their between-round coaching. Are they keeping it to one point, under 30 seconds? Are they using language the kids understand?
Watch the closeout. Is the trainee giving every kid specific, genuine praise? Or defaulting to generic “good job” because they’re mentally spent?
Start pulling back on the debrief. Ask “What would you change?” before giving your own observations.

Session 3: Quiz & Reflection

Walk through your game selection for the main topic. Why did you pick the games you picked? What alternatives did you consider?

How are you calibrating your language for the age group? Give an example of something you said that landed well. Give an example of something that didn’t land.

How did the closeout go? Did you give every kid specific praise? What did you say to the kid you know the least?

Session 4: Quiz & Reflection

Describe a moment where you adapted during the main topic. What were you seeing? What did you change?

How are you handling the “strict but silly” balance across a full segment? Is your boundary enforcement consistent or does it vary with your energy level?

What feedback did the experienced coach give you today? Do you agree? What are you going to work on next session?

Sessions 5-6: Proving Consistency on the Hard Half

Same split as sessions 3-4: you run the ground game / main topic + recall + closeout, the experienced coach runs warmup + standing game. The difference is that the experienced coach steps back further. Less jumping in with concepts, less steering on behavioral moments. By session 6, they should barely need to say anything during your segments.

These sessions are about proving you can run the hard half of a kids class reliably. Different kids, different energy levels, different behavioral challenges.

Continue alternating between programs so you get reps in both.

For the experienced coach

These are the evaluation sessions. You’re deciding whether the trainee is ready to solo.

Pull back further. Don’t offer feedback between their rounds unless asked. If a behavioral moment comes up during their segment, let them handle it first. Save everything for the debrief.
Look for consistency. Are they handling behavioral moments the same way every time, or does their enforcement vary with their mood? Are pairings deliberate every session, or are they getting lazy?
Push them on self-assessment. By session 5-6, they should be identifying their own mistakes before you point them out. If they can’t, they need more co-lead reps.
Be honest in the debrief. If they’re ready for solo, tell them. If they’re not, be specific. “Your Little Lions pacing needs work” or “you’re still softening boundaries when kids push back” is more useful than “you’re almost there.”

Session 5: Quiz & Reflection

You ran the hard half for a different class than sessions 3-4. How did your game selection and pairings differ? Are you getting more comfortable planning for kids, or does it still feel uncertain?

Describe a behavioral moment you handled during your segment. Was your response consistent with how you handled similar moments in sessions 3-4?

How is the closeout going? Are you giving every kid specific, genuine praise, or are you running out of things to say?

Session 6: Quiz & Reflection

Rate yourself 1-5 on each of these. Be honest.

Game selection and planning for kids

Communicating rules simply and quickly (under 30 seconds)

Giving focused, age-appropriate feedback

Picking training partners (timidity, size, social dynamics)

Handling behavioral moments (consistent, calm, “strict but silly”)

Reading kids’ energy and adapting

Managing time in shorter class formats

Running the closeout (specific praise for every kid)

Transitioning smoothly with the other coach

What’s your biggest strength as a kids coach right now? What’s the one thing you most need to work on before going solo?

Across all six co-lead sessions: what’s the most important thing you learned that you didn’t learn during shadow and assist?

Do you feel ready to solo with supervision? If not, what do you need more reps on?

When You’re Done

After six co-lead sessions, you move to Solo with Supervision (Kids) for four sessions. You run the entire class. An experienced coach observes but only steps in if something is genuinely wrong.