From athlete to coach: mentoring perspective
Issue: Volume 28 Number 1
Being a champion sportsperson does not necessarily translate into being a brilliant coach, but there are many shining lights on the Australian sports scene that prove the value of experience and inside knowledge.
Three of those are basketball superstar Karen Dalton, AFL legend Paul Roos and former world champion triathlete and cyclist Liz Hepple.
"Having been an athlete is certainly an advantage in terms of knowing the hard work, training and dedication you have to have," says multiple championship-winning cyclist Liz Hepple.
"You also have an insider"s perspective when it comes to being able to recognise those who have the right personalities to succeed and those who don"t."
"I particularly like coaching women because I know what they're going through. I"ve been through the same sorts of things and understand their fears and apprehensions."
Understanding is critical to Paul Roos's coaching style.
"As a former player you understand the discipline and sacrifices the players are making. You can put yourself in the player"s position and sometimes you do find yourself pulling back a bit because you instinctively know what the players are thinking," Roos says.
"It is an approach that's earned me the trust of the players. Honesty is the key at all levels, and that translates into respect between me and the players."
Having the respect of the players is also of utmost importance to Karen Dalton, and it helped her when she had to fill Tom Maher"s shoes as coach of the Sydney Uni Flames.
"In my first season coaching at WNBL level I started as Assistant Coach to Tom Maher and when he left halfway through the year, all of a sudden I found myself head coach and that was tough," Dalton says.
"But because I knew the players and they knew me it was a lot easier.
It was a rapid transition though, because I'd been playing alongside some of them the previous season."
Hepple, Roos and Dalton were outstanding as competitors and have taken that success into their coaching careers.
Liz Hepple rose to the top of cycling as a relative novice, not taking up the sport until she was 23 years old. Among her many achievements are a Tour de France bronze medal and the 1990 World Triathlon Championship crown. Her greatest success was coaching 23-year-old cyclist Sara Carrigan, who recently won Olympic gold in the 118.8-kilometre road race in Athens.
Former Fitzroy and Swans player Paul Roos is one of the superstars of AFL. He was a member of the Victorian representative team for ten years running, and was seven-times named in the All-Australian team. In 2003 Roos was named AFL Coach of the Year after guiding the Swans into the preliminary final.
Karen Dalton's international career spanned 252 games, including two Olympics and four World Championships, twice being named WNBL Defensive Player of the Year.
She was appointed coach of the then Sydney Panthers during the 2000-01 season and led her team to the WNBL Grand Final series win. She was subsequently named WNBL Coach of the Year.
Despite their playing talents, Heppl, Roos and Dalton all had to work their way into coaching positions.
A graduate in human movement, Hepple earned her coaching stripes with an Australian Sports Commission coaching scholarship, under the guidance of Queensland Academy of Sport Coach, Peter Day.
"Winning the scholarship and having a mentor was a great way for me to learn the ropes," says Hepple. "I had always had an interest in coaching and sports science and loved the exercise physiology side of things, so it was a natural progression for me."
Dalton has a physical education background, which was useful when she cut her teeth coaching junior teams, while still playing.
"There was a lot of progression along the way. When you first start it is very different finding yourself on the other side of the fence to the players. I learned a lot by coaching juniors.
"I watched other coaches to become better myself. I also had the fortunate experience of being involved as an assistant coach with the Sapphires and the Opals, so I could see how coaches from other countries operate, too."
Roos served his time as an assistant coach with the Sydney Swans.
"Even if you think you have a pretty good idea how to coach you need to get experience behind you. You don't all of a sudden get a job as a senior AFL coach," Roos says.
"But you can set yourself on the right path. I was there when Rodney Eade gave the job away, and I grabbed the opportunity to take the next step."
Roos has carved out his own coaching style, although admits he's taken "bits and pieces" from all the coaches he"s played under.
"When you start out as a player you're not really thinking about a career as a coach, but you do take on board the methods of the first two or three coaches you have.
"The last coach leaves the biggest impression, because by that stage in your career you're thinking more tactically.
"But I've really tried to be myself as a coach and not tried to model my style on anyone in particular. I've played alongside some of the players I'm now coaching, so they know my style and my personality."
Hepple did not ever have a personal coach, but set her own training programs.
"Now it is become a lot more structured and a lot more professional," Hepple says. "Although, coaches of different teams I was involved in all had some influence, and you pick things up along the way.
"But there's much more to coaching than picking up other people's techniques. It is also about managing people, communicating with individuals and trying to work out what makes them tick."
Dalton agrees: "Working with personalities is sometimes just as important as developing skills. I've been fortunate to work with some great people and happy teams, which makes the job that much easier."
All three share a passion for developing young talent, and they get as much out of coaching as their charges get out of being coached.
"It is a unique environment where you get a great deal of enjoyment out of building something with a group of talented people. And of course you still get to experience the highs of a victory," Roos says.
