“Victory is in having done your best. If you’ve done your best, you’ve won.”  Bill Bowerman

It’s the pointy end of the sports season and time when parents start thinking about a gift to Thank the Coach for all the hard work they have put in.  We completely understand that it takes a special kind of person to volunteer as a Coach.  Honestly, where do they find the patience, energy and skill to get hyper active children to focus, act as a team and support-not-blame each other? And can I hire them to raise my kids??

So to celebrate the beauty of having coaches in our lives to teach our kids the importance of doing their best no matter the outcome, we’ve looked high and low to find the BEST group gift ideas out there. Here’s looking at you coach 🙂

THE ANY-WEATHER DUFFEL

It’s not your average duffel bag. Made from a durable laminate material, the Base Camp Duffel is a bomber of a bag. Amply resilient to be tossed around the sports field, or to be transported up a mountain via a yak, this is one burly duffel bag. 69-liter volume provides ideal storage for team gear, or weekend trips lasting three to four days. From $180-$270 online or at any The North Face store.

THE PERFECT JACKET

The SKINS Plus Men’s Nano Jacket is built to protect Coach from wind and light showers. It’s the ideal second layer to wear over the team kit, keeping the coach comfortable and protected whatever the weather.  It’s made from an ultra-light and breathable fabric with an athletic cut to minimise drag while running around the field.  Available for $99.00 online or at most major athletic wear shops.

FOR THE FITNESS FANATIC

The Fitbit Charge is the perfect gift for the coach always on the go.  It keeps a log of their total daily activity— steps, distance, calories burned, floors climbed, total active minutes—and also helps your coach stay on top of their workouts and sleep. And with wireless syncing and a battery that lasts from 7 to 10 days, there’s no need to worry about finding time to plug it in and download data. From $190, available at selected stores.

WIRELESS WORKOUT HEADPHONES

Whatever sport your coach plays in the off season, the flexible, sweat‐proof Plantronics BackBeat FIT wireless stereo headphones will keep pace with them. Its powerful audio plays music clearly while its safety‐oriented design lets them hear surroundings and be seen at night. It comes with a reversible armband to secure a smartphone while moving and stores the headphones when at rest – making it the perfect workout partner. From $100 available across Australia.

SPORTS PERFORMANCE SUNGLASSES

Fluid contours and sleek lines add to the look of Oakley’s M2 sport performance sunglasses. With its interchangeable lens design the M2 has new ear stem sculpturing, wrap-around earsocks, and nosebombs made of the sure-grip material. Durable, comfortable, and ready for competition. Available from $160 online or at any Oakley shops.

PICTURE PERFECT

Who doesn’t want a GoPro? It’s the perfect group gift for off-season or during the season (attach to your cap and film the game!). The GoPro Session is the smallest, lightest GoPro yet. It’s water-resistant, has one button to control 1080p video and 8-mp photos. And with Bluetooth and WiFi, it uploads immediately to social media. In standard and surf versions. Available from $250. GoPro.com

WHISKEY OR BOURBON?

“There is no bad whiskey,” said writer Raymond Chandler. “There are only some whiskeys that aren’t as good as others.” So get into the spirit and splurge on a fabulous bottle for your coach. Whether it’s a blended scotch, single malt or aged bourbon there are bottles to suit every price range. No idea what to get? Check out Jim Murray’s Whiskey Bible for the 2016 winners.

ADIDAS YEEZY BOOST 350

For the coach that takes style as seriously as his game plans, then the Adidas Yeezy Boost 350 is the shoe to get, that is if you can find them.  The Yeezy Boost is a line of sneakers created by Kanye West for Adidas. a stylish, conceptual sneaker that combined classic boot designs with adidas’ innovative Boost technology. Since then, the series of Yeezy Boosts in 750 and 350 form have gone on to be one of the most sought after sneakers on the planet!  For release details go to adidas.com for details.

HE WHO LOVES GADGETS

Have a coach that loves gadgets?  Then this is the perfect group gift.  The 3Doodler is the world’s first 3D printing pen. Designed by WobbleWorks, Inc., an emerging consumer electronics and robotics company with big ideas, the 3Doodler has been created to be compact and easy to use; you simply plug the 3Doodler into a power socket and start drawing anything in 3D within minutes. Whether freestyle 3D sketching, or tracing shapes from templates to make larger architectural structures, anything is possible. Available from $110 from Amazon.

If you want to get the coach or manager in your life a really special thank you gift, but don’t know where to start, we can help. At GroupTogether we make it easy to get the other parents to chip in. Set it up in minutes and we do the rest.

That’s our 2016 list of best group gifts for coaches. We’d love to hear if you have any other fantastic group gift ideas that we’ve missed. Please leave a comment and we’ll add it to our list.