(4) Matching with Youth

(A) Finding a suitable match

Our primary matching factors are gender, location and availability.

This is because the default mode is to meet up for coaching in person. Virtual coaching sessions may be disallowed altogether by schools or partner organisations. If allowed, it should only be a rare occurence, due to some urgent matters that make it challenging to meet up in person.

We also have a few other secondary factors based on our sense of the coach and youth's compatibility, to try to achieve a better match.

(B) Accepting a coaching assignment

When we have a potential student, we'll WhatsApp you with the key details of the student and the programme. This includes a brief background on the student as well as the programme requirements (e.g. duration, frequency, scheduling).

Please do:

• Reply promptly as it's very challenging to match if there are several students at a go.

• Accept only if you can confidently commit to the requirements. If not, it's ok, we'll match you another time! (So far, in the 3 years that we've been doing this, a grand total of only 1 coach has dropped out in the middle of a coaching assignment. Let's keep that number unchanged.)

To add on, we understand that, for students to be empowered through coaching, coaches' needs must also be respected and supported. Our commitment to coaches:

• Flexibility as far as possible so you can work around your schedule.

• We understand and respect that you have other priorities—day job, family, or other commitments.

• You decide how many coachees to coach and how you take them on.

What we need from you:

• Your commitment once you accept a coaching assignment! We're not asking for a lot. Coaching 2 students is essentially just 2h a month, give or take. In the past 3 years, we can count on one hand the number of times when a coach had to cancel a session with their coachee. We seek your cooperation to maintain this very high level of commitment.

(C) MSF registration (If applicable)

Upon matching, if the youth was referred by a social service agency (SSA), you also need to register with the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF). This is separate from MOE's. Unlike MOE's, you don't register directly on a portal; the SSA does it for you.

• We’ll send you the MSF registration form.

• Fill it in and send it back to us via WhatsApp.

• The SSA will send it to MSF for registration and let us know the outcome in 3 weeks.

(D) WhatsApp chat with the youth

We'll create a chat with the coach, the youth, a partner organisation/school rep (if any), and the youth's parent(s), if the youth is a minor.

• This is for arranging coaching sessions.

• Don't message or call outside the group chat, for accountability.

We'll introduce everyone and add some general pointers to get you started.

(E) Start coaching!

Generally (unless a specific programme requires otherwise), coaching sessions are:

• Frequency. Typically about once a month, for 6 months or more.

• Duration. About 1h per session.

• Venue. At a conducive public place or partner organisation/school's premises.

(F) WhatsApp community

We'll also add you to our WhatsApp community if you're not already in it. This houses all our group chats except for 1-on-1 coaching chats (as there's a limit to the number of groups we can park under 1 community).

• For a start, we'll only add you to the "Coaches - Lounge" group, which is for all coaches.

• As and when you're onboarded to specific programmes, you'll be invited to join the group chats.

(G) Google shared drive

We’re happy to share some reading materials that we've collated and curated over the past several years. You'll receive the link over email. Make sure that you're logged into your Google account on your browser. 

Read at your own pace, give us feedback on what's useful and what's not, and help us out by contributing materials!