What do you give a coach? The right gifts for coaches depend on the occasion and on who is giving. A birthday gift for the coach can be small and spontaneous; an end-of-season gift is best coming from the whole team. Here you will find ideas for almost any occasion and links to our detailed guides.

What do you give a coach?

Something personal that comes from the group, with an honest thank-you to go with it. Coaches get vouchers and bottles all the time; what they keep are photos, signatures and words from their players. Before you buy, ask one question: does the gift show that it is about this particular coach and this particular team? These five ideas suit almost any occasion.

A training session run by the team

For once, you swap roles: the players plan the warm-up, the drills and the closing game, and the coach joins in. In return, the coach gets to be the one complaining about the press-ups for a change.

A tactics board with your team on it

A small magnetic tactics board where the magnets carry your players' names instead of numbers. That way the coach has the team along at every team talk.

The gift of time

If washing the kit, driving to away games or the cake sale tend to land on your coach, give them a voucher: for one month, the parents take it over. It costs nothing and takes a real load off.

A playlist from everyone

Each player picks a song that goes with a moment from the season and writes one line on why. The songs go into a shared playlist, the lines onto a card.

An evening when the team cooks

The team invites the coach and does the cooking, at the clubhouse or at one family's home. Each small group takes care of one course, and with the little ones the parents help.

Gifts for coaches by occasion

Every occasion has its own tone. The big ones have their own guides; ideas for the smaller ones are right here.

Christmas

Ideas for the Christmas party, from small gifts to group gifts, are in our guide Christmas gifts for coaches.

End of the season

If the coach is staying on beyond this season, the gift says thank you for this year. You will find ideas in our guide End-of-season gift for a coach.

Farewell

If the coach is stepping down or moving on, the gift can be bigger. Ten ideas are in our guide Coach leaving gift.

Birthday

For a birthday, surprise the coach at training: a song in the changing room, a cake in club colours, a card signed by everyone. For a milestone birthday, a joint gift is worth it, such as a shirt with their name and new age as the shirt number, tickets for a match of their favourite club or an experience that matches a hobby outside sport.

Wedding or new baby

If the coach gets married, some teams form a guard of honour in their shirts outside the register office or church; ask the best man or maid of honour beforehand whether the couple would like that. As a gift, a voucher for dinner for two works well, together with a team photo in which everyone holds up a sign with a congratulation. If a baby arrives, a mini shirt with the club crest and a shirt number chosen by the team is just right.

A thank-you in between

After a tournament, after promotion or a league title, or just because: a thank-you nobody expects often goes down best. That could be a tray of cake after the last session before the holidays, a card that suddenly turns up in the coach's kit bag, or applause from all the parents before the next home game. You will find lines for a card or message in our guide Thank-you messages for a coach.

Gifts for a female coach: ideas by sport

The same applies to a female coach as to a male one: personal, from everyone, and suited to her. Flowers and spa vouchers aren't wrong, but they aren't automatically right either. Her sport makes it more specific:

If none of that fits, find out what she enjoys outside sport and give something to match.

Youth coaches, assistant coaches and the whole coaching team

Some youth coaches are young themselves and coach alongside school, an apprenticeship or university. Something for their free time suits them: cinema vouchers for two, a pizza night with friends, concert tickets. And one gift costs nothing: a written confirmation from the club of their work as a coach, which can help with job applications later.

Plan assistant coaches and team staff in from the start: anyone who is out there every week gets their gift in the same round. That way nobody feels forgotten when the gifts are handed over.

Personal or personalised: what's the difference?

Personalised means: a name, number or club logo is on it. Personal means: it is about this coach and this team. The best gifts for a coach are both.

The Flashbook as a gift for the coach

In a Flashbook, everyone in the team gets their own double-page spread with two photos and their answers. It is a book for everyone: each person in it can get their own copy, the minimum order is 10 books, and one of them goes to the coach. One book costs €24.90, €22.90 with 3 or more teams from your club in one order and €19.90 with 5 or more.

Gifts for coaches in other sports

There are also separate pages for coaches in these sports:

What not to give a coach

Cash in an envelope can quickly feel like payment to a volunteer. Alcohol doesn't suit everyone, and a bottle of schnapps handed over by children looks odd.

How much is reasonable to spend on a gift for the coach?

It depends mainly on the occasion: for a birthday or Christmas a little is enough, while a leaving gift can be bigger. The fair way is a small amount that is the same for everyone and collected by one person, so nobody has to compare. If a Flashbook is part of it, count back from the date: first the team fills in the questionnaire, then the books arrive 5 to 7 working days after the last answers and payments.