Shadow Protocol (Kids)

How to learn by watching before you coach kids classes.

Before you coach a kids class, you’ll spend four sessions shadowing experienced kids coaches: two Little Lions classes (ages 4-7) and two Golden Tigers classes (ages 7-13). You need to see both programs because the coaching adjustments between age groups are significant.

Shadowing means attending class purely as an observer. You’re not coaching, not giving feedback to kids, and not jumping in to play. You’re watching how the lead coach runs the room.

The sessions below are numbered by focus area, not by required order. The only requirement is two Little Lions and two Golden Tigers. You can alternate between programs (LL, GT, LL, GT) or do them in blocks (LL, LL, GT, GT), whichever fits the schedule.

Don’t take notes during class. Kids will absolutely fixate on the person writing in the corner. Write your notes immediately after.

For the fundamentals (adult) shadow protocol, see Shadow Protocol (Fundamentals).

Session 1 (Little Lions): Simplicity and Energy

What to watch for

Class structure. Track the segments and timing: warmup, first game (standing), second game (ground), recall round (if included), closeout. How long does each take?
Rules communication. How does the coach explain games? How many words does it take? Little Lions need the simplest possible explanations. Listen for how short the instructions are compared to what you’d expect.
Energy management. Kids classes live or die on energy. How does the coach keep things moving? How do they recover when energy drops or kids lose focus? How do they use their own enthusiasm and physicality to set the tone?
Round length. How long are the rounds? Kids burn out faster than adults. Watch for how the coach reads fatigue and disengagement.
The closeout. Does the coach use the sticker closeout? What specific praise do they give each kid?

For the lead coach

After class, spend five minutes on these:

Talk about simplification. How did you decide how much to explain vs just getting them moving? How simple were your game rules compared to the same game in a fundamentals class? Trainees often underestimate how much you have to strip away for this age group.
Walk through the energy arc. Where was energy highest? Where did it dip? What did you do about it? Did you cut anything you planned because you were losing them?

Quiz & Reflection

Write down the class structure from memory: what were the segments, how long did each take, and what happened in each?

How did the coach explain game rules? Write down one rules explanation as close to verbatim as you can remember. How many words did it take? Could it have been shorter?

How long were the rounds? How did the coach read the room for fatigue and disengagement? What did they do when energy dropped?

Did the coach use the sticker closeout? What specific praise did they give each kid? Was it generic (“good job”) or specific (“you did a great job stopping when the timer went off”)?

Session 2 (Little Lions): Behavioral Management and Safety

What to watch for

Behavioral moments. There’s almost always at least one: a kid who won’t participate, a meltdown, a pair that gets too rough, a kid who hits their partner. How does the coach handle it? Watch for “strict but silly” in action.
Athletic punishment. When does the coach use it? How do they frame it? Is the boundary enforcement consistent or variable?
The no-submissions rule. How does the coach explain and enforce this? Do any kids test the boundary?
Partner selection. How does the coach pick training partners? Can you identify the factors (timidity level, size, social dynamics)?
Safety scanning. How does the coach position themselves in the room? Can they see all the pairs? Kids are less predictable than adults. Watch for how the coach scans differently.
Parent dynamics. Are parents on the sideline? How does the coach interact with them (or not)?

For the lead coach

After class, spend five minutes on these:

Walk through a behavioral moment. Explain what you did and why. Explain what you considered doing but didn’t. The invisible decisions are often more instructive than the visible ones.
Explain your partner choices. Why did you pair those kids together? What were you matching on? Were there pairings you avoided? Why?
Talk about parent interactions. Even if nothing notable happened, explain the general approach: friendly but firm boundaries.

Quiz & Reflection

Describe at least one behavioral moment from today’s class. What happened? How did the coach handle it? What was the result? Would you have done anything differently?

How did the coach enforce the no-submissions rule? Did any kids test this boundary?

How did the coach pick training partners? Could you identify the factors they were using (timidity, size, skill, social dynamics)?

Lemov’s principle of focused feedback applies even more strongly with young kids because their working memory is smaller. How many teaching points did the coach give per break? Did any seem to go over the kids’ heads?

Session 3 (Golden Tigers): Complexity and the Drill-to-Game Pattern

What to watch for

The step up from Little Lions. Compare everything: game complexity, round length, coaching language, how much the coach explains, the pace of the class. Be specific about what changed.
The drill-to-game pattern. Golden Tigers use a default pattern: brief blocked practice of a movement, then immediately into a game where that movement is the entry point. Watch for how the coach transitions from drilling into the game. How long is the drilling phase?
Questions between rounds. Does the coach ask perception-building questions (“What did you see that made it work?”) or compliance questions (“Did you understand?”)? This is one of the biggest differentiators between good and great kids coaching.
Submissions. Golden Tigers may have submissions depending on age and size. How does the coach handle the tap explanation and submission safety differently than Little Lions?
The age range. Golden Tigers can have 7-year-olds and 13-year-olds in the same room. Watch for how the coach manages this spread in partner selection, game complexity, and feedback.
Entropy always increases. Within the main topic segment, does chaos go up over time (drill → constrained game → less constrained game)? Does the coach ever reverse direction by stopping a game to demonstrate a technique? If so, watch what happens to the kids’ energy. This is even more visible with kids than with adults.

For the lead coach

After class, spend five minutes on these:

Compare Golden Tigers to Little Lions. The trainee has now seen both. Ask them: what was different? What was the same? This is the most valuable debrief question because it forces them to think about developmental adjustments.
Talk about the drill-to-game pattern. How did you decide when the blocked drilling was enough and it was time to move into the game? How did you use questions between rounds to build perception?
Talk about entropy. Did chaos increase throughout the main topic? Did you resist the urge to stop and demonstrate something mid-game? Kids lose focus even faster than adults when you reverse direction.
Explain how you managed the age range. How did you calibrate partner pairings, game complexity, and feedback for the spread?

Quiz & Reflection

How did this class differ from Little Lions in game complexity, round length, and coaching language? Be specific about at least three differences.

Did you see the drill-to-game pattern in action? Describe how the coach transitioned from blocked practice into the game. How long was the drilling phase? Did it feel too long or about right?

Entropy always increases: within the main topic, did chaos go up over time? Did the coach ever reverse direction by stopping a game to demonstrate? If so, what happened to the kids’ energy?

Did the coach ask the kids any questions between rounds? Were they perception-building questions (“What did you see that made it work?”) or compliance questions (“Did you understand?”)?

How did the coach manage the age range? Were there pairings that looked mismatched? How did the coach handle it?

Session 4 (Golden Tigers): Culture, Adaptation, and the Big Picture

What to watch for

Culture. How does the coach set expectations for how kids treat each other? Is it explicit (stated out loud) or implicit (modeled through actions)? Watch for environmental cues, routines, and the small consistent interactions that build belonging.
Adaptation. Does the coach change a game or rule during class? What triggered it? Was it skill level, behavior, safety, or something else?
Behavioral management at this age. Golden Tigers have stronger opinions and more ego than Little Lions. They also understand social cues better. Watch for how the coach’s behavioral approach differs from Little Lions.
Live feedback during rounds. Does the coach give cues while kids are playing? Is it quick and external, or does it pull kids out of the game?

For the lead coach

After class, spend five minutes on these:

Discuss behavioral differences between age groups. How does your approach to boundaries and enforcement shift between Little Lions and Golden Tigers? What works with one group that doesn’t work with the other?
Explain an adaptation you made. What were you seeing that drove the change? How were you checking whether kids were actually learning, not just participating?
Ask them what they’d have done differently. This is the most important question across all four sessions. It forces them to think like a coach, not just an observer.

Quiz & Reflection

How did the coach set expectations for how kids treat each other? Was it explicit or implicit?

Describe a moment where the coach adapted a game or changed the rules. Was the adaptation driven by skill level, behavior, safety, or something else?

Compare everything you’ve seen across all four sessions: What coaching skills transfer directly between kids and adult programs? What’s fundamentally different?

What’s one thing about kids coaching that surprised you? What feels hardest about it?

After four sessions of watching: do you feel more nervous or less nervous about coaching kids than you did before you started? Why?

When You’re Done

After four shadow sessions (2 Little Lions + 2 Golden Tigers), you move to the Assist Protocol (Kids) for six sessions. If you don’t feel ready after four shadows, do more. The goal is understanding, not speed.