Bill Sweetenham
0:00:08.280,0:00:14.740
I started coaching in the outback of Australia
in Mt Isa, went to be QLD director of coaching
0:00:14.740,0:00:19.869
and then moved to the Australian Institute
of Sport in Canberra, Moved from here to Hong
0:00:19.869,0:00:24.869
Kong for four to five years, came back, I
was recruited back to be the youth coach preparing
0:00:24.869,0:00:31.869
for the Sydney Olympics, then moved to Britain
for 10 years and now I'm back doing some high
0:00:34.210,0:00:38.290
performance consulting with a few different
corporations mainly at the corporate level
0:00:38.290,0:00:44.809
but also at the sporting level.
0:00:44.809,0:00:50.170
I made a decision that I wanted to be out
of my comfort zones, that I didn't want to
0:00:50.170,0:00:55.460
stagnate in coaching or in personal development.
Britain was an obvious choice, I was head-hunted
0:00:55.460,0:01:00.499
and recruited for the job, and I felt that
there was an opportunity for me to develop
0:01:00.499,0:01:07.340
personally and I didn't want to stay in a
comfort zone in Australian Sport.
0:01:07.340,0:01:14.340
I've been lucky I've worked with personal
tutors for myself, for the performance side
0:01:15.049,0:01:21.670
of swimming I've had great work with people
who are supportive in terms of physiotherapy,
0:01:21.670,0:01:28.670
psychology, all the sciences and support,
biomechanics. I recruited a lot of people
0:01:29.360,0:01:34.909
into Britain, Tried to build the most formidable
coaching team that I could, surrounded myself
0:01:34.909,0:01:41.909
with the best and good people, and that was
fantastic. We went from British swimming from
0:01:42.359,0:01:49.359
2000 where we had no ranking at all to third
overall in 2008, which is due to the response
0:01:50.149,0:01:52.530
of the support staff and the coaching team
that I had around me.
0:01:52.530,0:01:59.530
I think that the passion, the enthusiasm for
the task, the ability to set standards and
0:02:02.920,0:02:09.920
not compromise those standards, to be driven
with process but also have a very good outcome,
0:02:10.330,0:02:14.420
know where you are, know where you want to
go. Have a gap analysis done and know the
0:02:14.420,0:02:19.400
steps along the way. you've got to achieve
to reach that and have an unwillingness to
0:02:19.400,0:02:26.400
compromise on that journey. Also I think good
coaches today, the coaching has changed tremendously
0:02:26.830,0:02:31.970
over the years, it's no longer the same old
same old that it used to be, it's now more
0:02:31.970,0:02:36.980
advanced and I think that as a coach from
the past, it's been a challenge to keep up
0:02:36.980,0:02:42.180
with that.
0:02:42.180,0:02:47.250
I think that the opportunity now for young
coaches to come in and be exposed to a whole
0:02:47.250,0:02:53.799
range of people, a whole range of experiences,
can fast track. In the old days it was 6-8
0:02:53.799,0:02:58.840
years that you had one solution for any given
problem that may or may not have work, 6-8
0:02:58.840,0:03:04.299
years in the coaching game to have half a
dozen solutions that would work for any problem.
0:03:04.299,0:03:09.450
To then follow on to 6-8 years where you didn't
have any problems, you saw them coming and
0:03:09.450,0:03:13.670
solved them before you got there, and then
your last 6-8 years of coaching where you
0:03:13.670,0:03:18.790
created problems to teach lessons. I think
that we've seen the reduced down quite considerably.
0:03:18.790,0:03:23.900
So that coaches are much better prepared today,
due to the courses that the Australian Sports
0:03:23.900,0:03:28.849
Commission run and conduct. Darlene Harrison
and the team do an excellent job as Darlene
0:03:28.849,0:03:35.049
did in Britain when she was there, in preparing
young coaching talent to take on the world,
0:03:35.049,0:03:42.049
be innovative and creative and driven towards
success, much more so than it was in the past.
0:03:46.409,0:03:51.629
Love what you do, do what you love, and always
deliver more than what is expected and deliver
0:03:51.629,0:03:56.500
it on time. And the way to do that is to make
sure you have a good understanding of psychology
0:03:56.500,0:04:03.209
when you deal with athletes in todays world,
and I'd suggest do a psychology module so
0:04:03.209,0:04:07.129
that you can get into the hearts and minds
of the people that you work with and also
0:04:07.129,0:04:07.880
your opporsition.
I started coaching in the outback of Australia
in Mt Isa, went to be QLD director of coaching
0:00:14.740,0:00:19.869
and then moved to the Australian Institute
of Sport in Canberra, Moved from here to Hong
0:00:19.869,0:00:24.869
Kong for four to five years, came back, I
was recruited back to be the youth coach preparing
0:00:24.869,0:00:31.869
for the Sydney Olympics, then moved to Britain
for 10 years and now I'm back doing some high
0:00:34.210,0:00:38.290
performance consulting with a few different
corporations mainly at the corporate level
0:00:38.290,0:00:44.809
but also at the sporting level.
0:00:44.809,0:00:50.170
I made a decision that I wanted to be out
of my comfort zones, that I didn't want to
0:00:50.170,0:00:55.460
stagnate in coaching or in personal development.
Britain was an obvious choice, I was head-hunted
0:00:55.460,0:01:00.499
and recruited for the job, and I felt that
there was an opportunity for me to develop
0:01:00.499,0:01:07.340
personally and I didn't want to stay in a
comfort zone in Australian Sport.
0:01:07.340,0:01:14.340
I've been lucky I've worked with personal
tutors for myself, for the performance side
0:01:15.049,0:01:21.670
of swimming I've had great work with people
who are supportive in terms of physiotherapy,
0:01:21.670,0:01:28.670
psychology, all the sciences and support,
biomechanics. I recruited a lot of people
0:01:29.360,0:01:34.909
into Britain, Tried to build the most formidable
coaching team that I could, surrounded myself
0:01:34.909,0:01:41.909
with the best and good people, and that was
fantastic. We went from British swimming from
0:01:42.359,0:01:49.359
2000 where we had no ranking at all to third
overall in 2008, which is due to the response
0:01:50.149,0:01:52.530
of the support staff and the coaching team
that I had around me.
0:01:52.530,0:01:59.530
I think that the passion, the enthusiasm for
the task, the ability to set standards and
0:02:02.920,0:02:09.920
not compromise those standards, to be driven
with process but also have a very good outcome,
0:02:10.330,0:02:14.420
know where you are, know where you want to
go. Have a gap analysis done and know the
0:02:14.420,0:02:19.400
steps along the way. you've got to achieve
to reach that and have an unwillingness to
0:02:19.400,0:02:26.400
compromise on that journey. Also I think good
coaches today, the coaching has changed tremendously
0:02:26.830,0:02:31.970
over the years, it's no longer the same old
same old that it used to be, it's now more
0:02:31.970,0:02:36.980
advanced and I think that as a coach from
the past, it's been a challenge to keep up
0:02:36.980,0:02:42.180
with that.
0:02:42.180,0:02:47.250
I think that the opportunity now for young
coaches to come in and be exposed to a whole
0:02:47.250,0:02:53.799
range of people, a whole range of experiences,
can fast track. In the old days it was 6-8
0:02:53.799,0:02:58.840
years that you had one solution for any given
problem that may or may not have work, 6-8
0:02:58.840,0:03:04.299
years in the coaching game to have half a
dozen solutions that would work for any problem.
0:03:04.299,0:03:09.450
To then follow on to 6-8 years where you didn't
have any problems, you saw them coming and
0:03:09.450,0:03:13.670
solved them before you got there, and then
your last 6-8 years of coaching where you
0:03:13.670,0:03:18.790
created problems to teach lessons. I think
that we've seen the reduced down quite considerably.
0:03:18.790,0:03:23.900
So that coaches are much better prepared today,
due to the courses that the Australian Sports
0:03:23.900,0:03:28.849
Commission run and conduct. Darlene Harrison
and the team do an excellent job as Darlene
0:03:28.849,0:03:35.049
did in Britain when she was there, in preparing
young coaching talent to take on the world,
0:03:35.049,0:03:42.049
be innovative and creative and driven towards
success, much more so than it was in the past.
0:03:46.409,0:03:51.629
Love what you do, do what you love, and always
deliver more than what is expected and deliver
0:03:51.629,0:03:56.500
it on time. And the way to do that is to make
sure you have a good understanding of psychology
0:03:56.500,0:04:03.209
when you deal with athletes in todays world,
and I'd suggest do a psychology module so
0:04:03.209,0:04:07.129
that you can get into the hearts and minds
of the people that you work with and also
0:04:07.129,0:04:07.880
your opporsition.
