If I examine how things in youth sports have changed not just from when I was a young athlete going through the steps of participating at the recreational, competitive of school based team levels but even from when I started coaching until today, it is very obvious that the coach-athlete dynamic has changed and the most importantly the expectations and needs of athletes especially those in youth sport have changed dramatically.
Now, one thing that I can't say with certainty that has changed or gotten or worse or that it is just that I am more aware about the phenomenon. is that the number of overzealous, pushy, high-pressure parents has increased exponentially. Or at least if it hasn't increased, the way these parents manifest themselves has. Attend any kind of tryout, showcase or even a simply league game and you have plenty of parents handing our athlete profiles with interactive media links, parents filming their kids every action so as to compile a library of athletic exploits. Young athletes now seem to play some form of organized sport year round. It would seem that one main consequence of this (and not surprisingly), burnout rates in teen athletes has gone sky-high in the last decade or so. However, on a more anecdotal level, and from both personal experience and via discussions with highly qualified coaching peers n I say that the "typical" kid who participates in sport just isn’t as athletic as he or she used to be. In today's society of instant gratification and multiple options for entertainment give my the perception in any case that the interest in participating in organized sport is just not as interesting an option that it might have been for my generation, and in addition, the athletes are a bit desensitized to the overall training process. They would seem to view everything as just another game/practice, so the value of each training exposure is a bit less. This was something that just didn’t happen when I was a younger individual participating in sport or even at the start of my coaching career and free play was so heavily emphasized. We would spend countless hours on the field, diamond or even on the street playing a multitude of sports. As a a young coach, I often witnessed athletes arriving excited to start training, now, I see many arriving with their noses buried inches from their phones, checking texts, emails and social media until the last possible minute before having to get started. So we see an influx of two issues, the parents pushing their kids into as highly competitive situations as possible, registering them into all kinds of development camps, travel and showcase teams, off season training academies and pushing them towards peak athletic performance even at the younger ages, couples with other forms of instant entertainment. The easiest way to evaluate coaching competence is wins and losses. This is nothing new, it has always existed and when we are talking about professional sport, with the amounts of money involved, it makes perfect sense, but is it really the main priority for youth sports ? When I was a coaching course instructor, young coaches, even at the youngest of ages groups would talk about their team's win-loss record, and must of the discussion seemed to center or results performance and how somehow their coaching ability was the main reason for success. This is nothing new, but today, with the demand for instant success, and the apparent unwillingness to put in the time and effort it would seem the demands and expectations are worse. However, for me, and this is my coaching philosophy and I don't expect everyone to consider me better or most self aware than anyone else, I think as coaches at the majority of non-professional levels we can be involved in, we have a responsibility that far exceeds win, losses and championships. As the course instructor at the very first course I ever took, started off with, " Always remember that without athletes, there is no need for coaches" This is something that I have always kept in mind throughout my coaching career. For me, coaching is about putting athlete's first, about creating an environment for them to enjoy and thrive. Now, when I talk about putting athletes first, that does not mean lowering expectations to make things easy for them, only telling them what they want to hear, or somehow allowing them to dictate every decision you make as a coach. Putting the athletes first is planning out how you coach by taking into consideration the needs of the age and competitive level of your athletes, their needs and expectations and then acting accordingly, all the while making sure to focus on creating responsible individuals that can take skills onward in their lives in a positive environment. Sounds easy huh? So how one who might think similarly to me go about accomplishing this? Well here are some thoughts...... ( from this point on, I will be using she pronoun for simplicity, only because, coaching girls and women has been my experience. Sports are games, and games be definition are supposed to be fun. If a kid works his butt off, but the outcome isn’t what she’d hoped for, you should talk about the value in the process rather than dwelling on the target destination she didn’t reach. Crack jokes to lighten the mood, and then try to find a learning experience in losing, as opposed to pointing out all the errors they made and the reasons they lost. In my experience, parents and coaches who overreact and take the fun out of the game are the single most common reason kids give up a sport. Under-reacting can be equally problematic. The process is definitely more important than the destination, but if a kid doesn’t take the process seriously, she should hear about it. If she is disrespectful to an official or coach whether their coach or an opponent, doesn't apply herself in training, shows up late to practice, or poorly handles something that is 100% within her control, she should be disciplined for it. Blindly accepting behavior or actions that are contrary to the process so as not to be seen and " the bad guy" is not doing any justice to the athletes either. I've posted a few times about the issue of sports specialization at a young age. My personal opinion and one shared by many is that early sports specialization doesn’t work as well as people think. Kids are more likely to get injured, and they miss out on a well-rounded sports experience that fosters better athleticism and social interactions over the long haul. It's important for young athletes to be exposed to various forms of sport. It allows them to choose which one might be a better fit for them, athletically and socially. Remember, one very important role of coaching is to out athletes in situations where they can succeed. At the younger ages, this includes finding the sport that best suits them. Even when the sport in question remains constant, play is different than practice, as it is far less regimented, and there is far more quality movement because there are fewer stoppages for teaching. It also presents a far more interesting environment and greater opportunity for social development. Kids need to play more – and in a variety of disciplines. Adolescent athletes need practice. Kids don’t need more competition, though; our modern athletic society already plenty of that. If training is too regimented, you can create athletes who don't develop good decision making skills and it will also affect their ability to adapt quickly to changing situations. So I mentioned earlier that sports are fun and therefore they need to be fun. This is very true, but it also important to accept that win and losing is part of sport. I think we have a generation of kids who have been desensitized to losing. I have seen swings between those who are so focused on winning that they lose sight of the process and coaching the right habits, and those who want so much not to be seen as results driven that they create an environment where it is ok to fail. Losing is part of life, but that doesn’t mean that we should be satisfied with it. It should motivate us to work harder so that it doesn’t happen again. This doesn’t just apply to sports, either; it applies to life. Years on, after participation in sport is done, people won't remember the majority of their wins or losses but they will remember the skills that sports provided them to deal with life. Society has history of "overcorrections" when expectations and perceptions change. What is right one day, might be wrong the next and then actions are taken to swing the pendulum goes too far in one direction after a long period at the other end of the spectrum. When we feel that too much focus in given on winning that it might create a segment of youth that feels as some fort of athletic elite and another that is excluded, we compensate by wanting to much to create an environment where everyone is treated exactly the same. Anyone around youth sport has experienced the handing out of participation trophies which reward nothing else than simply showing up. Participation trophies are the counterbalance of the overbearing parent or crazy little league coach. Rather than bring the pendulum back to center by educating kids that the true reward is the satisfaction that comes from knowing they did the best they could do, we've given every kid a trophy to make her feel special - even though all the kids get the same trophy. Yes, the kid who shows up late to practice and swears at the coach gets the same trophy as everyone else. A trophy is something a kid should look back on years later as a reminder of fond memories of hard work, teamwork, and a job well done. It shouldn't be something that gets thrown in a box with a few dozen other participation trophies that have absolutely no sentimental or educational value. My biggest concern with participation trophies, however, is that they a) diminish the value of exceptional performance/service and b) condition kids to think that things will always work out okay in the end. Sorry, but the sooner we make kids realize they don't deserve a party every time they accomplish anything, the better off we'll be. One of the issues with sports in today's reality is that sports participation is seen as just one among many activities. Too many young athletes feel they can show up at training or games and simply turn on a switch and perform and the level required. For those who really want to take sports seriously, there is a mindset that needs to go with it. This means making sure that athletes, especially the younger ones understand the importance of proper rest, eating and recovery for injury. Taking care of the mind the and body are important factors for athletic performance. As coach, lead by example, give the athletes the chance to success and teach them to be responsible for their own success. It is a fine line between taking the time to fully explain every decision, why, what, and what the benefits to each and every athlete, vs simply barking out instructions and assuming they understand the why or figure it out for themselves. It's about finding the right balance. having the athletes understand that sometimes things are going to be asked of them "just because" and while they might not always understand the big picture behind the decision, they have to learn to trust their coaches that it is being done for the best interest of the group. It is also important that as a group that sometimes, as they say, sometimes the needs of the many, outweigh the needs of the few or the one ( this was actually a line from a Star Trek movie). It will happen when you as a coach, make a decision that is best for the group but will disappoint one or a few of the team members. That said, I think it is very important to create an environment where you as a coach create opportunities and challenges for them to demonstrate responsibility. Whether there are specific team related tasks, like being responsible for making sure all the training equipment is out for practice, running warm ups, or organizing team building activities as examples. Fostering accountability for the success of the group is a powerful thing. I have a scenario I always use when giving presentations about coaching. I start by explaining that in pretty much every team or workplace group, there are generally 3 groups, around 20% high performers, 20% low performers ( or disinterested people) and the balance which fall somewhere in the middle. I then ask those attending to tell to which group the coaching should be tailored and why. Obviously the choices of to which group the coaching should be focused is limited to three but the reasons as to why can be varied. Once I have taken a few examples, I point out that the reality is that a good coach finds a why to tailor the coaching in order to reach all 3 groups. This is about being equitable in coaching. It doesn't mean treating everyone the same way but rather giving everyone the same opportunity. I won't delve too much into the details of what I mean by this for the purposes of today's blog post but if you are interested, you can get more details on the specific topic via this link to a previous post specifically sharing about equal vs equitable equity-vs-equality-in-coaching.html The point is to say that athletes only need to relate to one or a few coaches on the staff. And the reality is that as long as they can at least relate to one of the coaches, that is ok. However as a coach, for team sports, you need to be able to relate to all your athletes. You can't pick and choose to whom you give your coaching efforts. You have to deal with all the members of the team and give them all a chance to succeed. Yes, despite your best efforts, some won't succeed, some will quit the team or the sport and some will dislike you. This is going to happen, but if it happens, make it because the athlete made the choice, not because you didn't give her your best efforts. It's taken a bunch of words to spit out all my random thoughts on this front, but I wanted to finish with one last thought that isn't so random: I think there is a lot that is right about youth sports these days. More girls are playing sports than ever before. There are loads of wildly passionate coaches out there who are trying to do the right thing. Information on training and coaching is more readily available than ever before. Sports medicine has improved dramatically to help kids with injuries more quickly and effectively. We have to remember that at the end of the day, less than 1% of the kids who participate in youth sports will become professional athletes. However, sports are still an outstanding medium through which to instill a variety of favorable qualities beyond just athleticism. To that end, I hope that some of the suggestions here will help to make kids not only better athletes, but better people, too. I think this really happens when coaches are able to truly put their athletes first and understand that while coaching can sometimes feel like a thankless job, being exposed to criticism/ second guessing from athletes, parents and the casual observer and for the most part with little or no compensation, their is a reward in seeing your athletes become great individuals. It might be years later when a former athlete will thank you for all you did for them, or tell you that something you said or did for them when they were young helped them succeed as an athlete, but let me tell you from experience, there is no better feeling than this when it happens
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There is the saying, "healthy body, healthy mind" Most of us have heard or read about this and some people also keep saying this to others as friendly advice. It has a simple but deep meaning. For a healthy mind, healthy body, we obviously know we should be both physically and mentally healthy and fit.
This simple saying would indicate that by being physically active, perhaps by participating in some sporting actively, it will benefit us in our everyday lives by keeping our minds sharp. However, I think sports have a much bigger impact, or at least they can in the ideal. In this context, I am not taking about professional sports and the millions of dollars associated with them but sports in a very general way. I think at the youth levels, sports can have a significant impact on developing children in ways that will make them contributing members of society. Of course this is very dependent on the coaches being good role models and being able to realize the impact they have on our youth. If it is a proven fact that youth sports are a medium to teach young players life lessons. Youth sports are going to teach young players a lot more than the required sport specific skills. There are a lot of life lessons players will learn on their journey through participation in youth sports and which can influence long after their playing days are done. Let’s be honest, players have a very, very slim chance of playing on the national team, professional sports or even competing at the university level. I don’t say this to be harsh or pessimistic, but to emphasize the importance of focusing on how you can help every single player you coach. I have coached athletes from early teens to adults and regardless of the age group or level of competition, I am a big believer that there are some common life lessons and skills that can be assimilated through competition in sport. These are most important at the youth levels as individuals are developing their personalities and are more easily influenced. Some of the more significant life lessons that I think can be learned through sport are the following; Mistakes are not failures but rather an opportunity to learn - Start with the notion that no one is perfect, no one goes through life never making a mistake. When it comes to sport, there will be many times when players make mistakes during games or practice. Mistakes will often happen when someone steps out of their comfort zone and tries something new. How many inventions or advancements have occurred as a result of a mistake ? Coaches have to reassure their players that it’s okay to make these mistakes, they’re learning experiences. A good coach will challenge the players to evaluate the mistake themselves with questions such as ‘Why do you think that happened?’ and ‘What could you do next time to change the outcome?’. As long as players are learning from their mistakes, they should be pushing themselves and making as many mistakes as they can. Sports teach individuals the value of teamwork and the skills of leadership - On any team, sports or in the workplace, not everyone fully controls their own destiny. We rely on others for success and in most groups leaders emerge. There is a certain truth that leaders are born and not made, however, while I do think certain individuals can more easily move into leadership positions, I think a good coach can identify leadership potential and nurture it. If we consider sports to be a mirror of society in a much simpler way, one could argue that sports can provide different players an opportunity to be a leader on their team. This could be as simple as making a different player responsible for warm-ups before each practice, allowing the players to make decisions, or rotating the captain of each game. If given these opportunities to lead, players will become much more confident leading others and develop leadership skills that most kids rarely have the opportunity to learn. Sports provide a natural selection when it comes to leadership, given a chance , leaders will step up and those not apt to be leaders, will at least understand the requirements and accept that perhaps their skills are a better fit in other roles. Just as it’s important to learn how to lead others, it’s also incredibly important that players learn how to be lead by others. Having a coach is in a lot of ways similar to having a boss. The coach is an authority figure that will be giving instruction, praise, and criticism to the player. By experiencing how to follow, players will learn how to take instructions, how to respectfully question authority, and even patience if they disagree. This will give them plenty of lessons as to how they want to lead in the future. Sports by nature are a emotional and physical activities, and body language speaks volumes - Sports bring out competitive instincts even when winning or losing isn't the primary focus. How individuals react in moments of stress, competition, adversity and disappointment can say a lot about them, even though they might not realize it. Body language says a lot about how a person is feeling and what they’re thinking. I’ve found a lot of players display poor body language without even realizing it and youth sports is a great medium to address that since most coaches won’t accept it on their team. Players will quickly learn that if they throw their hands in the air in disgust because a teammate missed a short, it’s a poor display of sportsmanship. Similarly, while on the bench players better make sure they’re displaying positive body language. I have always been disappointed when my athlete on the bench were joking around or not watching the game. It sent the message that since they were not playing, what was happening on the field wasn't important for them in that moment. It’s well known that body language is one of the main criteria that recruiters look at when evaluating players or employers look at when selecting potential employees so why not use sports as a way to address it. Aside from body language, ones emotions or the ability to manage them, are also a tell tale sign of a person's character. Youth sports can be frustrating. Not only for the players, but for parents and coaches too. There will be games when the referees don’t seem like they even have a whistle in their mouth. Every player will experience games where regardless of the best efforts, things just don't go right. When these things happen, players will learn that getting angry or frustrated about it doesn’t help the situation and inevitably impacts performance. Experiencing feelings of frustration and anger and learning how to control them will help players in all aspects of their lives. Goal Setting - I am a big believer that goal setting, short, mid and long term goals, and planning the process to achieve them. Youth sports is a great place to learn how to set goals and determine how to achieve them with no repercussions if they fall short or fail. Players will learn that setting goals gives you a target to reach for and adds motivation while on the journey to achieving them. They’ll then learn the important step of figuring out how you’re going to reach those goals by breaking them down into achievable steps. You can’t just set goals and cross your fingers that they’ll come true, you need to work out a plan and work hard to make them come true. It's important when using goal setting, that goals be measurable and realistic. During my time at Concordia, I would have players submit in writing personal goals for the season. Invariably each year, I would get goals along the lines of " give my best effort every practice" . It's great to strive for that, however that isn't really a goal in the sense of goal setting. Success doesn't just happen - Most athletes, at least the ones that are honest with themselves and with the process, will learn that the best players are usually the players that have worked the hardest on improving their game. While talent definitely plays its role early on, sooner or later it’s the hardest workers that rise to the top. This will show them that if they want to become great at anything, whether that be the guitar, learning a foreign language, then it’s going to take hard work. And a lot of it. There are no short cuts. There’s no magic words. Being great at something takes hard, consistent work. As the team begins to see their hard work paying off, make sure to point out to them that it’s their consistent, hard work that has led them to these improvements. This would also be a good time to point out how they will see similar improvements if they work hard at anything else they want to do or achieve in life. There’s only a certain amount of time in each day and players will soon realize that they can’t do everything. They’ll have to sacrifice certain things to spend more time on what they consider more important. This requires players to determine their priorities which is a great skill for later in life. Players will realize that if they’re determined to put in the work to be the best possible version of themselves, whether in sports or any other activity, they give themselves a chance at success. This will lead to making choices. They’ll be forced to use their time more productively. This will help them decide what their priorities are and what are the best choices they can make. Winning with Class, Losing with Dignity -In youth sports there is definitely a right and a wrong way to win.I’ve seen some disgusting acts of sportsmanship from players and coaches on winning teams. Mocking their opponents, refusing to shake hands, and other forms of horrible behavior. Good coaches will teach their players how to be proud of their achievements without putting down their opponents.This often involves shaking hands after the game with the referees and opposition players and giving a few words of encouragement. Of course the flip side of winning with class, is accepting a loss with dignity, or at least accepting disappointing outcomes. Youth sports is the ultimate environment for players to experience the emotions and feelings that come from failure and defeat since there are in most cases, no long-term consequences of losing. This can be after losing a grand final, being cut from a team they really wanted to make, or missing a game-winning shot. Good coaches will teach players to lose with dignity and respect, and that there is always a learning experience to come out of every loss or failure. Players should always shake the hands of the referees and the opponents after every game and not blame the loss on external sources like the referees or the field conditions. The results whether a win or loss, is a consequence of many factors all coming together in a specific manner. Many of these factors are beyond our control, so win or lose, learning how to deal with the outcome is important. Evaluating Strengths and Weaknesses - Everyone has different strengths and weaknesses.It’s important for all players to know what they’re good at and what they struggle with so that they can address their weaknesses and play to their strengths.This allows players to understand how they can best contribute to the team during games and what areas of their game they should be working on. As coaches, it is our role to put athletes in a situation where they can succeed and improve. Every team needs members whose skills sets can play a part of the overall success. Soccer teams need defenders, midfielders , forwards and goalies. Not everyone can play every role. A coaches role to to show athletes why their skills sets work best in a specific role. This is not different in the workplace. Dealing with Stress, Pressure and Adversity - Whether we like it or not, there can be a lot of pressure in youth sports. Some of this is attributed to overbearing parents who unfairly demand excellence of their children, while some of it is simply the normal pressure of close and intense games.Youth sports allows players to learn how to deal with the nerves and stress they feel in these situations in a fairly risk free environment ( although one could argue that losing a big game is very disappointing). There will undoubtedly be times where players are overwhelmed by the occasion and the pressure will get to them resulting in disappointing, and the urge to give up. Like other challenges, this is all a learning experience and will help them get comfortable with pressure situations they’ll encounter later on in life like public speaking, writing exams, or starting a new job. Being responsible for yourself and accepting life isn't always fair - Youth sports is one of the first places where children start to take on some serious responsibility. It can be something as simple as asking them to follow certain team rules, bring a water bottle, dress in the right team colors, be on time. Sports can teach them to take pride in being account and having their parents remember everything for for them. Players will also learn that they are responsible for their actions and for their own improvement. Too many times, we hear about athletes blaming coaches for lack of playing time, teammates for not passing them the ball enough or politics preventing them from making a team they try out for. However, here is the kicker, sometimes, when we make good choices, we take responsibility for our actions, make the effort, put in hard work, things just don't work out and sometimes the reasons why they don't work out are unfair. The simply truth is that sometimes, life is not fair. This is a tough rule for players to learn at an early age but one that is gradually taught nonetheless. Injuries happen. There will be missed or bad calls by the refs. A coach might not select a player to the team although everyone things he or she deserves it. A player might not start or play in the game even after a great week of training for the perceived reason that the coach is playing favorites. Things will happen and players have to learn to accept them and move on because most of the time, sulking about it isn’t going to change anything. For those unfortunate enough to experience the full power of this lesson, we’ve all heard of at least one player that has worked their butt off for months to get ready for a season and then within the first week of pre-season end up blowing out their knee which leaves them sidelined for the season. Life is tough sometimes. However, this is certainly one case where sport mirrors life. In work, love and life, things are not always going to work out. Accepting them and being able to adapt and recover is an important life skill. Perseverance is a skill that’s important for all players to learn at an early age. There will be setbacks. They will fail. There will be obstacles they must overcome. Players will experience the emotions that come with these obstacles and failures and will learn how to push through them and not quit when it gets tough. Teach your players that when times get tough and they feel like quitting to stop looking too far ahead and start thinking step-by-step. Then it comes back to consistent hard work and being patient. Remember, success doesn’t happen overnight. Coaches must make it clear that there are only two things that players can control at all times: their effort and attitude. There’s simply no point sulking over things that you can’t change. Not as fast or athletic as others ? Work on reading the player and making good early decisions. Work on fitness so that they can still be competing hard at the 90th minute ( soccer reference hear). This also goes for things that happen during the game. Think you got fouled when you turned the ball over? The referee didn’t call it so there’s no point complaining. Get back on defense and work to win it it back. Missed an open shot? It happens! Make sure you don't miss the next one and for sure don't spend 10 minutes walking around thinking about it. Players must learn that there’s no point dwelling on things that are out of their control. Move on and focus on the things you can control. Respect among teammates and for opponents - Competition is a healthy thing as far as I am concerned. You can want to be your opponent without being disrespectful. The proper etiquette and behaviors learned through sport can apply in life. Through their youth sports journey players will learn the importance of respecting those around them. Not just their coaches and the referees, but also their teammates, the opposition, and everyone else involved. For this respect to be instilled in players, there must be consequences for acting in a disrespectful manner like putting down a teammate or mocking an opponent. Coaches can’t give empty threats or it will be hard to establish respect. The players must know that when you say you’re going to do something, you mean it. Respect is to be earned and given but one shouldn't depend on the other. Players must learn that the amount of respect they show others can’t be determined by their levels of frustration or the outcome of a game. At the most basic levels, society judges success in sports by wins and losses. That is fine, but in youth sport, I think their is most more at play. The same way school can teach more to our youth than science, or math or any other subject, so can sport. Without taking away from the competitiveness of the sport, coaches must understand that the life lessons learned by players on their youth sports journey are much more important than the final score of a game. As coaches, it’s our duty to do our best to instill as many of these life lessons in our players as we can. Eras come and go, things evolve over time and every generation has those older individuals who will who through out the comments like " back in my day ....... " or " today's youth have it really easy compared to us." The ironic thing is that the people making those comments, when they were "back in their day" probably had people making very similar comments to them and the points of comparison are often distorted with the benefit of hindsight. Today, I am one of those older individuals, surely passing judgement about how today's youth doesn't get it, or how things are so much easier, or better. My generation sees the current generation as living in the era of instant gratification. My give it a name and characteristics as a way to validate why younger individuals don't see things or act like we would expect them. We probably do it in order to try and explain those things that we can't relate to or understand. Does this mean that our analysis for the current situation is flawed in some manner ? Does it mean that our expectations or conclusions don't hold water? Are we perhaps idealizing some of the things that we didn't particularly like when we younger? I would say the answer to those questions can be both yes and no. I am a big believer in the two notions that 1. Reality is in the perception of the observer 2. In every situation there are 3 realities, mine, the other person's and the reality somewhere in between So what is the point of all this? Well I want to set the table for my perception of the realities of youth sport today. My observations are comparing what is happening today to what I might have gone through as a youth in sport, then as a young coach starting out, to someone with almost 3 decades of experience in coaching the the benefit of experience against which to compare. So let's start taking a look at it. Is today's young athlete well prepared and supported to today's demands in athletic performance and training ? The lack of lower overall general fitness levels and early age athletic “preparation” as well as the common occurrence of youth athletic “sports specialization” is presently an all too common theme in today's your sport. Pick a sport, any sport, and you can find organizations who have made it a year round commitment. The notion of seasonal sports is a rarity and the dream of a competing at the highest possible levels and achieving success appears to often be the incentive for such early sport specialization. However, too early a sport specialization does have its consequences. OK, here comes my old guy moment..... The athletes of today live in a much different society than the athletes of decades past. The days of walking or riding a bicycle to one’s destination is often replaced with a car ride from parents, an arranged “carpool”, or perhaps a helping hand from a friend or neighbor. The advances in technology have provided us with the Internet, a venue for obtaining information effortlessly and provides an ease of multiple tasks as it is no longer necessary for one to leave their home as often to make a sales purchase, communicate with friends, travel to the public library, etc… and essentially producing instant gratification at one’s fingertips. The days of playground pick-up games have been frequently replaced with various video games played at home in a sedentary position. However, there are certainly millions of children, teenagers, and young adults that participate in athletic activities. Some of these young athletes partake with the aforementioned dream of their participation evolving as a gateway to a making a travel team, some elite level club or even the dram of the university scholarship. With the involvement is some type of physical activity aimed more specifically towards the goal of athletic enhancement the question arises are these athletes prepared for the stresses of vigorous Athletic Performance Training as well as the enduring repetitive stresses that will occur over a long competitive season? Unlike the athletes of decades past, many of today’s adolescent and teenage athletes are often sedentary when off the field of play, and many are of the mindset of “sport specialization”, meaning a significant percentage of these individual athletes participate in one specific sport and only that sport activity throughout the year. It can lead to overuse injuries that occur from repetitive movements involved with specific sport. When I started out my coaching certification, the notions of cross-training and down time were very prevalent, however today, they seem to have been replaced by the idea that more is better for one specific sport. Specializing in one sport is not a bad thing, and at a certain point is a necessity. That point used towards the end high school or the teenage years when as the gap between recreational and competitive levels would widen begin in college. In my high school days, there were plenty of two- and three-sport athletes. This is much less common now. In today’s competitive reality, high school programs, athletes play a sport in one season and continue to prepare for that same sport in the off season. In general, the sport they play is picked exclusively years earlier. The youth-sports leagues outside the school programs for the majority of sports will schedule tournaments and practices over each other so that a player is forced to choose only one sport due to scheduling conflicts. Youth players are tagged as having potential or not and much younger ages and those deemed to have limited potential are pushed aside. The problem is that perceived athletic at the younger ages is not consequence of skills but often related to physical development. Someone can be deemed to talented but too small for a particular sport and therefore excluded while inversely someone coordinated in manner exceeding associated with his or her age group might be seem as being " talented" but years on as they physical development of peers reaches comparable levels, the skills might not be up to par. Decisions are made early and those pushed aside then have limited changes to make higher level teams. The so called development pyramid of youth sports becomes more of a narrow cylinder. This leads to two negative consequences today's youth. First, parents and our societal sports infrastructure are forcing early specialization in a single sport (or in areas other than sports, such as piano, violin, chess), which narrows the development of children. Second, the intensity and need for an edge to get "the prize" has led to a cottage industry of specialized coaching that extends the dynamic of “haves and have-nots” into sports, un-leveling the playing field. In addition, the dedication and time required is far beyond what participants in youth sport experienced in previous decades. Kids are not just picking one sport at the expense of other sports. They’re picking one sport at the expense of any other kind of life. And that’s if the kid is “succeeding”. What it takes to succeed is participation in today's growth industry of specialized sports camps, one on one training sessions, travel teams, showcase tournaments, etc. Now it isn't just about having the potential skills but about being able to afford the cost of being an athlete. Not every family can afford the expensive leg up in sports, in the same way that not every family can afford private schools. The financial hurdle creates a imbalance, even in sports. The imbalance doesn’t affect high talented , very athletic kids, they’ll make the team. The difference is with the kids on the bubble, the ones that could improve given a the chance to get quality coaching and exposure to a higher level of competition. The one from a family with the financial means for extra coaching will likely make the team. The one from a family without those means will likely get cut and need to find something else to do after school. As athletes focus on sport at increased levels of participation, increased number of athletes require some form physical therapy related performance training and athletic participation injuries. I venture to say that in some part, this is a result of the fact that team athletic therapists are more available to younger athletes than back in my day so while it might appear there are more injuries, it is more an issue of them being identified earlier and better. However, it could also be an issue that performance training as well as the organized athletic participation of these athletes is initiated at too young an age and then coupled with a general lower level of overall fitness levels, injuries occur. From experience coaching athletes between the ages of 14 and adulthood, and in my opinion, there is a lack of physical preparation that occurs all too often. Often times it is the athlete’s skills that render them successful, but it is their lack of physical preparation and at times, their lack of athleticism that may put them at risk for potential injury. At the time of the initiation of an athletic performance training program, many young athletes, and at times their coaches, are more concerned about how quickly physical improvement can be achieved than about the proper way to prepare to train. Younger athletes get into lifting for example and it is often about seeing how much they can lift and how quickly they can increase their max, but not about really showing them the right techniques. If the present day young athlete is less physically active during the early developmental stages of life, and disregards the opportunity for their body to adapt and develop from the experiences of the various environmental stresses that occur in a child’s life, are they less prepared at the time of the initiation of performance training and/or their selected sport of participation? If the physical stresses such as walking, running, bicycle riding, tree climbing, participation in various sports and physical activities, etc… occur less frequently or are even eliminated, in addition to elementary schools and physical education classes eliminating “dangerous” activities such as a schoolyard game of “tag”, or climbing ropes in the gym class, is the young athlete of today as physically well prepared as the young athlete of the past? Are today’s young athletes prepared to adapt to the high stresses that are applied to their body over a prolonged period of time without breaking down? Are college and professional athletes, whom are so specialized and demonstrate high skill levels for their particular sport of participation, also prepared for the high stresses of their off-season training program? Many successful one-sport specialized athletes are very “skilled” at their particular sport of participation. Does this mean that they are overall very athletic ? Is their conditioning and work capacity at optimal levels? Are they prepared for the training that hopefully will not only enhance their level of play, but also allow them to resist the stresses associated with athletic participation over a long season and avoid injury while maintaining their ability to perform at an optimal level of performance time and time again? There are also many athletes that display high levels of ‘athleticism”, but are not necessarily “skillful”. Take my sport of soccer as an example. Someone might have a great level of cardio and great speed, but they could control a ball if their life depended on it. There is certainly a difference between “skill’ and “athleticism” and it would be a crucial mistake for a coach to not recognize the differences between these two physical entities. One would argue that it is important to be athletic and that skills could be taught and learned but the opposite then should also be true. Every generation can attest to the impact of the over-involved parent. Every sport, every team, everybody has come across one ( just one if you are lucky) of these. The parent who lives through the athletic success of their kid. The problem is the perceived validation that some parents feel via athletic achievements of their kids is a lure for the wrong-headed parenting that specializes kids who are too young to decide for themselves. The issue today is that in the age of social media and youtube videos, parents are capturing the exploits of the kids and sharing them online hoping that somehow it will lead to recognition and selection to the "next level" A parent's bragging about their child's exploits is no longer about talking with other parents along the sidelines but can reach a much wider audience with the click of a few buttons. Sports play a wide ranging role in society, from simple physical activity to stardom and riches associated with professional sport and various levels in between. Some will play for fun, some will participate for achievement. Some would argue that there have always been barriers for participants in youth sports to move from recreational to highly competitive levels, but back in my time .................... The essence of the soccer culture is that soccer is the “player’s game”. What this means is that, once the game is underway, the players are expected to make their own decisions as to the right thing to do in any situation, without interference from coaches or spectators. Of course, in a professional game, there are plenty of spectators with an opinion but their input is thankfully lost in the noise of the crowd.
Sideline coaching varies at each level of course. The message that a coach needs or wants to share with individual players or the team as a whole is as different as the experience and abilities of the players at different age groups and competitive levels. In a youth soccer game with only a handful of spectators, loudly-voiced opinions and “suggestions” are all too easily heard. Anyone who has been involved with youth soccer has stories about the over-involved parent who feels that he or she, while not willing to coach, feels that they have an opinion that is worthy of being considered. While soccer has grown and continues to grow in North America, there are still certain parts of the soccer culture which remain somewhat not understood than those in other sports, in which the coach is effectively a part of the team, controlling plays, using a timeout to stop the other team’s momentum, instructing a player to run or stay on base, calling for line changes and so on. Irrespective of whether you think this is good or bad, it is not the soccer way. Once the whistle blows there are no practical mechanisms provided by the laws of the game for a coach to influence the outcome. The players make individual decisions, good or bad, and collectively have to react as a team to the strategy and tactics of the their opponent. They learn to do this in two ways, first at practices, where the coach does have control, and second and, ultimately more importantly, by experience at the games. This is the origin of the soccer coaching adage “the game is the teacher”. It takes a lot of games to get the experience, but there really is no short cut, much as coaches might wish there were! Many coaches find this situation frustrating, especially if they also coach a sport in which they do have more control. A common reaction is for the coach to become a “shouter”. In the extreme this takes the form of a continuous barrage of shouted verbal instructions to the players, which is essentially an attempt by the coach to “control” the game. At any game with a noisy crowd this doesn’t work, of course, although some coaches develop remarkably loud voices trying. This style of coaching at the game is sometimes also referred to as “micro-coaching” so basically the sports equivalent of micro-management. I have also used the term PlayStation coaching to reflect those coaches who somehow think all their players are controllable from a distance and can be guided through every step of the game. The "Laws of the Game" for soccer actually have a section related to the manner in which coaches can interact with players during games. FIFA law states that a “coach may convey tactical instructions to his players during the match and must return to his position immediately after giving these instructions. The coach and the other officials must remain within the confines of the technical area, where such an area is provided, and they must behave in a responsible manner”.. The spirit of the FIFA law is that coaches convey only occasional instructions to players and these are limited to “tactical”, that is “off the ball” instructions. The expectation is that coaches use the game to observe their players in action and use what they see as feedback into the practice situation. Let’s start by admitting that many veteran coaches, including myself, have at some points throughout their careers covering the entire spectrum from micro-coaching to being an observer and cheerleader at games. We’re not perfect either. Sometimes we lapse into bad habits under stress because we’re human. But we believe in the soccer culture and strive always to be good role models. In this section I will discuss some of the issues surrounding micro-coaching in more detail and explode some myths. To begin with, let's be very frank, no matter how clear and explicit your shouted instructions might be, the players will rarely be able to hear let alone understand what they are being told. It’s hard to accept this if you have never played a team sport. The truth is that, when concentrating on handling the ball, it is impossible to process instructions. Players shut out extraneous inputs; all they hear is a general background noise. Of course, if they are close and you shout really, really loud, they’ll hear you, but in doing so they will probably lose focus on what they are doing and lose the ball. Players on the field like being directed. Even if they do, (from experience, my interaction with athletes I have coached leads me to believe that it stresses them more than it helps), it isn’t helping them make their own decisions, and they’ll never become good soccer players if they don’t. Some coaches justify their behavior on the grounds that the kids really need the instructions and that it helps them become better players. It’s possible that this could be true but at what cost? Again, it’s hard to appreciate this if you haven’t played a sport with a “coach”, but most adults would find it irritating and unsettling to be the subject of constant verbal instructions. Kids spend their whole lives being told what to do by adults. Historically they learned to play sports without adult involvement. Times have changed so that organized sports are now the norm, for better or worse, but that doesn’t give adults the right to take over their games. It’s the players’ game. Ask around and most coaches that are vocal in their coaching from the sidelines will reply that they are simply encouraging their players and giving them options and positive reinforcement. I hear this a lot and I’m sure some coaches really believe it. However, if you’re a real shouter, you will inevitably get seriously involved in what’s happening out there on the field. Eventually when something goes wrong, you’ll let your guard slip and some not-quite-positive remark will emerge, because it’s practically impossible to keep the brain properly engaged when in verbal torrent mode. As an example, what do you think is the impact on your players of a shout of “Wake up, defense!” immediately after a goal is scored? I would suggest to you that this belittles the players and simply expresses the coach’s dissatisfaction with their play. It is not positive coaching and it is unlikely to improve performance on the field. Other tell-tale phrases are those containing “you should have…” or “you need to…”. While well intentioned, these remarks will be perceived as criticism by the players. I don’t know too many adults who respond well to public criticism, let alone kids. Just remember, the players only “need” to have fun. Finally, panic shouts of “Get it out of there!”, “Shoot!”, “Clear it!” just overload the players with noise. They rarely have any useful effect, except to make players feel more nervous and unsure of themselves. Great performances are not made in a mental state of panic. Most importantly, My experience is that listening to a shouter coach, however well intentioned he/she is, just gets plain annoying after a while. It certainly spoils my enjoyment of the game. Spectators (parents) come to watch their children play, not to listen to the coach. Many coaches will tell you that being vocal on the sidelines shows everyone, the players, the parents, the opponents etc that as a coach, they are into the game, that they are passionate and involved. Most importantly, many inexperienced coaches might say that it shows the parents that their kids are being coached. Many parents are equally unaware of the soccer culture, and simply transfer their expectations from other sports. Others are themselves intimidated by a coach who is a shouter. Some, seeing progress in their child’s soccer development, may put up with the shouting because “my child is learning a lot this season”. I would challenge anybody who can prove to me that constant verbal coaching from the sideline has any real impact on the continued developed of any player. Many coaches will also tell you that being vocal in questioning referees calls sends a message to the team that the coach has their backs. Micro-coaching often goes hand-in-hand with public complaining about the refereeing. Again, if you are providing running commentary to every aspect of the game, you are going to react deeply to every call, just as if you were actually out there on the field, and if you’re verbalizing, you’ll find it very hard not to say something critical. There is no margin for discussion on this one: public complaining about the refereeing is not acceptable, period. Coaches need to lead by example and constantly complaining about the refereeing doesn't tell the players that the coach has their backs, it says it is ok to complain about every call, not to mention might shift accountability when the game isn't going well. How many times have coaches complained that they ref stole the game from them? I've probably said it myself but as far as I know, refs don't score goals or give away the ball. A lot of micro-coaching has its roots in the coach being too personally invested in the success of the team. This is dangerous ground that can lead to some truly bad behavior by coaches. And, yes, it happens every season. Sometimes a coach is trying to make up for his or her failed success in sports by playing vicariously through the team. Other times the drive to win (at all costs) is just too deeply embedded in his or her personality. Other times the coach feels inadequate if the team isn’t successful and attempts to remedy this by micro-coaching. If any of these resonate with you, just remember “it’s for the kids”. You are a coach and in a leadership position, not a player. So, all that being said, does it mean that I think coaches should be completely silent at games ? No! The opposite extreme of a shouter is the truly silent coach, which is easily mistaken for indifference. Players do like to be praised when they do well. There are plenty of opportunities at a game to provide praise and positive encouragement to your players. It’s also perfectly ok to communicate tactical suggestions just so long as you don’t do it continuously. For example, instructions to your defense to move up with play, and occasional positional advice. What you should not do is try to teach positional play at a game by constant instruction. In my coaching career, especially with older, more experienced players, I often tried to have a series or verbal cues that I could give out during games. These were worked on during practice, as we developed our tactical play and game plans. It could be something as simple as saying " high pressure". Based on what we might have worked on in training, each player would understand how role as to what was required for the team to put on high pressure. I didn't yell out instructions to each individual player as to what to do in each situation. The verbal cue gave a very clear message to the entire team for our tactical set up in that moment. However, at the youth level, the most important thing should be about creating a positive environment where the athletes can improve, learn about the game and most importantly develop the ability to make decisions in the most intense competitive moments, on their own and based on work done in training. If you are a coach and while reading this you recognized some of your own behavior at games, try to examine your reasons for micro-coaching. Hopefully some of the arguments above will persuade you that there is another way that will achieve the same results and, in the process, let the kids play their game in as natural a way as possible. So it turns out that Sunday September 30th was International Podcast Day. I will admit my ignorance that while I obviously recognize the the podcast industry has grown tremendously over the last decade and especially the last couple of years, I didn't know it had its own day.
For the uninformed who might read today's post, let's start by answering the question for " What is a podcast?" To begin with, let's understand where the name "podcast" itself comes from. It is basically the coming together of the words " pod" as in Ipod although it doesn't specifically relate to Apple in any way and "cast" as in coming from broadcast. So at most basic of definitions, it refers to a broadcast of some sort of portable digital media player. That's a good starting point, but try thinking of a podcast as “Internet Radio On-Demand.” It’s similar in that you can usually listen to it on your computer but it’s more than that. However, and not to confuse the issue, podcasting isn’t confined to just audio but can be video as well. With the amount of content that podcasting provides, regular Broadcast Radio, simply can never compete. The AM and FM radio band only has so many channels. Consequently, radio stations broadcast their content — meaning that they attempt to appeal to as broad of an audience as possible. Also, content is often dictated but the advertisers who provide the money which allow radio stations to continue operating. Podcasting however, is not necessarily dependent on advertising revenue. With its specific and specialized content, it is provide very specific content to only those who choose to listen. So while a particular podcast’s audience may be considerably smaller than the audience of a broadcast, one could argue that the podcast’s audience is a much more targeted and interested in the content being delivered. So, in a way, Satellite Radio, with its ability to provide more channels than Broadcast Radio, takes a step towards podcasting, but still does not come close. Podcasts are “On Demand” and can be listened to on your schedule, not when a Radio Station decides to air it. So, it’s kind of like recording something and being able to listen or watch it when convenient. Each podcast typically has a website where show episodes can be listened to or downloaded for future listening. With downloaded media, you can either listen to it on your computer or take it with you by transferring it to a portable digital media player or using a podcast app on your phone. So, in this way, it’s kind of like a small paperback book. But what truly makes a podcast unique, and what gives a podcast its “casting” ability, is how it is able to immediately deliver itself to multiple podcast distribution points (such as iTunes, SoundCloud or any number of other applications. Listeners can easily “subscribe” to podcasts (most are free), then the listener is then walked through how to add that podcast’s syndication “feed” to a podcasting application of their choosing. So, when a podcaster releases a new episode, subscribers are automatically notified without having to constantly check back with the podcast’s website to see if a new show has been produced. And, with the podcatching software, episodes of their favorite podcasts can be automatically downloaded — all without having to lift a finger. So, in this way, podcasts are like magazine subscriptions. You can pick and choose what you want to listen to and when. Podcasts can be produced by just about anyone wanting to share and communicate with the world. Also podcast websites usually have ways for listeners to leave comments about each episode, and literally enter into a discussion with other listeners, podcasts are like a community of individuals sharing a common interest. Kind of cool. So now that I have explained what a podcast is and how it works, let me answer the question about why thy are so popular and a real growth industry. Well to begin with, podcasts aren’t new; they’ve been around for more than a decade, and audio books and similar listening formats have been around for even longer. In my opinion, some of the reason that podcasts have become so popular can be linked to a few realities of the growth of technology. The internet has historically been limited to laptop and smartphone screens. While video has been dramatically rising in popularity over the past few years, many users’ primary form of content consumption has involved staring at a screen, scrolling endlessly down a news feed or reading endless threads of forum comments. Exciting at first, screens have become exhausting for many users, and podcasts represent a refreshing alternative. Rather than using your eyes, you use your ears; there are silences, pauses, and genuine human voices rather than words and images on a screen. Plug in the earphones, choose a podcast and you can listen to the content of your choice. Podcasts saw an explosion a few years ago thanks to some early influencers in the space. A handful of standouts taught the world that podcasts could be a viable opportunity, and that opened the floodgates to content producers. The cost-to-value ratio for podcasts is incredibly low. All it takes is a high-quality microphone and a bit of setup time, and you can start your own podcast without much trouble. People with a the desire to share about a topic can easily create a podcast and attempt to reach a target audience. For those podcasters looking to do it as a revenue generating venture, podcasts provide a lucrative potential opportunity, costing just a few hours of production time a week, but returning significant advertising dollars. Obviously, the current generation of mobile devices and internet speeds has helped to accelerate the consumption of podcasts. It’s possible to download new material anywhere, very quickly, and listen to podcasts without interference; the same can’t be said for TV shows and movies, as mobile screens are still too small for most users’ viewing preferences. This makes podcasts ideal for things like commutes to and from work or just lounging on one's deck or lakeside. In addition, with the increase in cars having Bluetooth connectivity or functions like Apple car play, which allows the capability of streaming audio from the internet from multiple sources the way smart TVs can stream video from an indefinite number of sources, even those who commute by car can listen to podcasts while on the move. Like any other trend in society, preferences can be ever changing and evolving. With the ease and low cost of podcasting, it is easy for those in the field to adapt their content or if it isn't working out simply stop without the loss of a significant investment. One truth about marketing is that just because something is expensive to produce doesn’t mean it’s going to yield more value for your content. That's the beauty of podcasting. Find a topic of interest, find a target audience who wants to listen and you can instantly create a market for your content. Like any industry, podcasting is directly dependent on the advances of technology and the shifting interests of consumers. The rise of mobile devices and better / faster internet coverage helped drive the success of podcasts because it became more convenient for users to download and listen to them on the go. As technology continues to evolve and maybe things like Virtual or Augmented Reality become mainstream or the growth of 5G internet will certainly affect the entire notion of mobile connectivity and consumption of video and audio content. Finally, consider that even with all the other technology factors supporting podcasts, it would have been nearly impossible for the medium to take off if it weren’t for the handful of high-quality content producers that showed off how engrossing the medium could be. Early influencers or early adopters are always the driving force for any significant change in consumer behavior. They are the drivers of trends in our society. There are many who see podcasting as a phenomena of the younger generation, the hop, technology savvy individuals who are branching out but in reality, it is simply a new medium that can reply to today's desire for instant gratification of the need for quick access to information. Having appeared on a few podcasts in the last few years, I have to say that it's a blast to think of myself doing modern day radio. I am always amazed by the ease with which a podcast can be set up and loaded onto the various apps and when I get a chance to listen back, I find the audio quality quite fantastic. I have become one of those that enjoys finding interesting podcasts myself. So to all those who might be reading and enjoy or participate in podcasts, I wish all of you a belated International Podcast Day. EVERYONE WANTS TO BE LIKED BUT AS A COACH IT ISN'T THE ESSENTIAL THING, AT THE START ANYWAYS.10/1/2018 Leadership is a massive part of any sport. Whether you’ve been a coach for 20 years plus or you recently decided to take up coaching for the first time, leadership should always be at the forefront of your thinking.
It does come with a lot of pressure and the coaches are constantly under scrutiny; that’s why it’s important to incorporate certain values into your leadership to allow your team to reach its full potential and ease the overall pressure. The bigger the stage or level of competition, the more scrutiny and second guessing a coach will face. Even at the youth recreational level, there will always be at least one parent who somehow feels he or she could do a better job. Leadership in all its forms whether in sport or in the workplace are very much the same and comes with the responsibility to make decisions that will affect a group of individuals who can all have different expectations, objectives and perceptions about what is considered good leadership vs bad leadership. Once you step into a role of leadership, or for the purposes of today's blog post , a role of coaching, there a few very basic realities that in my humble opinion all coaches should keep in mind. -It's not about you ! Without athletes, there would is no need for coaches, so if you are coaching for your own validation or personal rewards, get out, you won't last. -You run the risk of disappointing someone each time you make a decision. You can't make everyone happy all of the time. -You have to be willing to make the tough decisions, that is part of the job description for being a coach. You can't gloss over decisions or avoid them in order not to disappoint. - As a coach, your decisions will often be judged not on the quality of the decision or the thinking that led you to the decision but simply on the outcome. Any coach or manager knows that you can make a great decision based on the information available to you and yet the outcome doesn't quite go the way you planned. Sometimes outside observers won't care about how you made your decision, simply about what happened once you made it. And often, their evaluation of YOUR decision will be based on how it affects THEM and not what was best for the group. Sports coaches are responsible for getting sporting teams or individuals ready to compete, and even guide them through their competition. Extra duties may include recruiting players, developing game strategies, and teaching the skills of the sport. A coach requires good planning and organization skills. They need to be able to relate to their athletes and coaching staff, and get the best out of the people around them. No where there does it say that a coach needs to be liked to be successful. Of course, let's be honest, everyone wants to be liked. I doubt there are too many people who openly are ok admitting that they don't care if no one likes them. Some people have that false bravado about boldly stating that they don't care but....... I'll let you draw your own conclusions. However, one could say that if the best thing everyone of your athletes can say about you as a coach is " he/she is really nice, we all really like him/her", it could mean that you aren't doing a very good job. Why do I write that? Well, as I stated in my 4 realities up top, each time you make a decision, the risk of upsetting or disappointing someone is there. The higher the competitive level, the bigger the rewards, the higher the expectation level of the athletes. Athletes want to play, they want to compete and be on the field. If as a coach you have an athlete who is openly content to be on the bench constantly, then ask yourself how motivated are they really? So assuming all your athletes feel the burning desire to be on the field and believe they deserve to be on the field, well then you as the person who decides who gets to play will surely disappoint at best or royally piss off at worst , one or some of your athletes. Back to the coaching responsibilities, coaches come from a wide range of areas, from ex-competitors, parents, teachers and even fans just interested in that sport, all with one thing in common - a passion for coaching. To get into coaching, you can start off gaining experience in a club or school environment. This way your skills can develop as your team develops, and over time you can learn and grow your own style of coaching. In addition to getting first hand experience, you should also be completing coaching courses. Most national coaching bodies run or accredit courses that can be done to give you coaching skills and knowledge. These courses usually follow a level system, from junior introductory coaching to top level elite coaching qualifications. They also advance from generic basic coaching to sport specific courses. It is also possible to gain qualifications from university level courses in sports coaching, as well as exercise physiology, psychology and biomechanics, which can only enhance your coaching knowledge. Mentoring is another a great way to move forward in your coaching. Many great coaches were once assistants to another great coach, where they were able to use their mentor as a sounding board for ideas and questions on coaching, and to mold some of their coaching style and skills into their own. All this is great, you can learn a lot about the theory of coaching, how to be a good coach, but nothing really prepares you for coaching like practical experience. In additional, I think it is essential that as a coach, you don't try to emulate anyone's specific style of coaching but take the best of all possible resources and then find you own way to coach. I am a firm believer that one's coaching or leadership style should reflect one's personality. If you are by nature a fairly relaxed and laid back individual, being a coach you is very vocal, excitable , loud , etc might not really work. You may be seen to be playing a character rather then being a coach. So do coaches need to be liked ? I think being liked is a bonus, like I said, everyone deep down wants to be liked. However what I think is most important as a coach is to be respected and trusted. Your athletes should be convinced that you are always doing what is best for the group. So how do you get there ? Well regardless of your coaching style, there are a few basic leadership concepts which might help. Be a positive leader. We’ve all been there. A string of defeats, a crucial match up against a big rival, a difficult training session they’re all challenges that require strong leadership. A massive part of leadership is to be able to deliver message with positivity. Without a motivational pre-match team talk or a bit of encouragement from the sidelines, you’re going to struggle to keep team morale high, which in turn could affect your performance on game day. To the opinions of some, a good leader will bark orders at people and focus on what people are doing wrong, rather than what they’re doing right; but the best leaders will be aware of the needs of every player and understand that a more positive approach can be required at times. As a leader, you should be able to judge when to use a firm approach to spark a member of the team and when words of encouragement are a better call. Let's be clear, this doesn't mean being a cheerleader constantly telling the team how great they are, how all their errors are ok. Athlete's are not stupid, tell them after a harsh defeat that it's ok, that they did their best, they will question if winning is really important to you. Rather, it is about always communicating in a way that the focus is on making the individual and the team better, learning from mistakes and setting expectations. Top down communication. As a leader, you need to be able to clearly and succinctly explain what you need from your players. This could be one-on-one, or to the entire team. That’s where top communication comes in. Strong communication is a solid foundation for all great coaches, captains and successful leaders. The main aim for a captain or coach is to find a way of communicating to players which inspire them to listen. Anyone can communicate but not every leader is blessed with the ability to press each player's motivational buttons and influence change. Leaders should establish a way in which they communicate their message effectively to their player. Having this ability sets apart the great leaders from the mediocre one. As a coach, you can't be patronizing and you can't be seen as not wanting to upset anyone. A good communicator is clear, consistent and transparent. Their is no room for misunderstanding or for different individuals to interpret the messages as best suits them. Communication is crucial. People can’t always see what effect their efforts have had and don’t feel they share in the reward. It's about being able to ensure that every member of a team buys into the group objectives and clearly understand what their role is within the group. Feedback is key. Coaches bound to lead in different ways. Some coaches may have a philosophy of speaking negatively to players in order to keep them determined and on their toes, some may take a softer, more informal approach. Whichever style you prefer to communicate with, leaders should always be constantly looking for opportunities to deliver useful feedback to players about their performance. Overall feedback is about balance; knowing the correct ratio of giving negative feedback but reinforcing it with a positive contribution on what they’ve done well. Feedback that’s heavily critical and negative runs the risk of not being listened to and could prove a little pointless for certain players. Individual feedback is also really important. You should have a good system in place to provide players with constructive, useful feedback. There are some questions every leader should ask themselves. What motivates players to play sport? What does the player enjoy/not enjoy? How does each player learn? What are the best practices to suit every player? You could draw up an individual player plan for personal development to help them progress and organize continuous reviews with them throughout the season. It’s also a good idea to set targets for players to give them more of a purpose and another form of motivation. As a coach, you have to remember that there might be 20 or 25 athletes to you as the one coach. It's easy to get caught up in the day to day coaching and not get around to providing timely feedback. So use your assistants, create the understanding that you are always available to meet players for feedback sessions. Feedback can be done in both formal and informal ways. Creative decision making. As a leader, you'll have to make a number of decisions that don’t always have a clear answer; so the ability to think outside the box is crucial. If something isn’t working well, you should be keen to switch it up, throw some new ideas out there and have faith that your decisions are going to pay off. Without the confidence to explore new ideas and the personality to get the whole team on board with them, it could affect the overall performance and success. A coach's confidence can be very contagious. If the players know a coach believes in the team and it’s potential, they might start believing in it too. Similar to if the leader has the confidence in a player, it can have a big impact individually. Desire to win, but not at all cost. A good leader will always have the desire to win no matter what the circumstances are and will want to drive this attitude into the team. This ties in with positivity. Being negative and pessimistic isn’t going to do team morale any good. Even when things are tough, you should lead by example and get everyone motivated in training, during a half-time team talk and after any win or defeat. It’s crucial not to lose focus as you’ve got the responsibility as a leader to hold the fort and keep the players in the winning mindset. This will often come naturally to a leader and good leadership will always come hand in hand with a burning desire to win. Wins and losses are consequences which are affected by a multitude of factors, many of which you are a coach have no control over. It is ok to want to win, in fact in competitive sport it is essential, but you can get tunnel vision and just think about winning. Focus on the process, give your athletes the tools and create an environment where the athletes can express themselves and perform at optimal levels and then you give your team a chance to win. Your level of commitment. It’s important for leaders to go above and beyond for the team. You should be willing to put in the extra hours to review a match, talk to a player or even plan an extra training session. Ultimately, players (and by extension your team) are going to benefit from this hard work. Lead the pack with a attitude of dedication, and you'll see a positive response from your players on matchday. This can even extend to social events and dinners. Create a team ethos of dedication, commitment and passion . By putting in these hours, you’re going to gain a lot of respect and endeavor from the team. It also might mean adapting to your athlete's needs. There may be some moments when you are called upon to do something that you can't really understand why, or really don't see any value in, but you have to remember that if it is important to your team then it should be important to you. Team respect. Finally, a discussion on good leadership goes hand-in-hand with respect. Respect is massive in sport. If you’re a leader, gaining the respect of your players is vital to gaining their commitment on the field. If you don’t have it, there’s no point in having your title of coach. Respect will allow people to listen to you and take on board what you’re saying. For example, if you’ve got a new tactic at half-time or a drill in training you want to try, with no respect people won’t buy into it or put it into their play. To gain a good level of respect, you need to be able to relate to players, be approachable and open to feedback yourself. Without these things, you’ll struggle to strike up relationships with players and it will cause issues when it comes to the big day at the weekend. Respect is two-way street. Offer it to your players, and you'll be one step closer to earning it yourself. It is often said about respect that you must work very hard to earn it but can lose it very quickly. There is so much truth to this. Leadership is hard, not everyone is suited to be a leader and certainly not everyone is willing to be a leader. Some people want to be leaders without being willing to accept all the aspects that go along with it. From experience I can tell you that as a coach, you will encounter times when your athletes don't like you and will have no problem being very open in telling you. If you get down every time you feel disliked as a coach whether real or imagined, then I can tell you that you will not enjoy yourself. Being a coach requires confidence in yourself, a thick skin in dealing with complaints and criticism but also the ability to accept that you aren't always right and that you can always learn. If you are respectful, consistent and focused on the best of interests of your athletes, over time you will earn their respect and if you are lucky, they might even like you. |
AuthorAfter many years of coaching at various levels and with different teams, I thought I would share some of my experiences and thoughts about coaching. Archives
January 2023
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