Coaches urged to 'balance' lives
Issue: Volume 28 Number 4
Elite coaches should sit down every December and make a list of personal aims for the coming year, says a consultant to leading business people in Australia and the United States.
A partner in the company Business Health, Bob Ossey took time away from counselling the chief executives of major companies to address the High Performance Coaching Forum at the Australian Institute of Sport on ‘Coach Welfare — Beyond Coaching’.
A former Australian baseball representative and board member of the Australian Professional Golfers Association, he said there were many parallels between the pressures of the boardroom, and those on the sidelines of elite sports. ‘You are producing a different product, but the issues are exactly the same’, he said.
He asked his audience a series of questions:
- Have you had a full medical check up every year for the past five years?
- Do you have a personal fitness and health plan that you stick to and share with others?
- Would your husband, wife, partner, assistant coach agree if you said your life was in balance?
- Do you have more than four weeks’ annual leave stored up?
- Do you know what your short, medium and long-term personal goals are?
Describing the last question as ‘the scary one’, Mr Ossey said that while most coaches had very clear ideas of what they wanted to achieve in coaching, hardly any had given serious thought to a personal life plan.
‘So get yourself out of your coaching hat and write down the things that are important to you in life’, he said. ‘It doesn’t matter if you are older, young or in between, it never stops needing to be done once a year — it will change your lives.’
It could be something as simple as having enough free time to work in the local community centre, picking up a son and daughter from school once a week or finding time to have a coffee with a friend or partner before going to work.
‘When you want to know whether your life is in balance, ask someone who cares about you very much, because you are often so driven and committed as successful coaches that it is easy for your life to get out of balance without you even realising it’, he said.
Mr Ossey urged coaches to pay strict attention to their own physical, mental and financial health. ‘Financial health to you may mean earning $15,000 a year living on a station somewhere, or it may mean $200,000 a year with a house in Point Piper. It’s individual. Don’t let any financial planner tell you exactly what you need.’
However, they should think of the years after coaching — an average of three decades in retirement for a couple — which will need ‘a bucket of money’ to finance.
‘I want you to pretend it is 2011 and you are not coaching. Pick the ideal job for you if you are not doing what you are doing now and write a CV for a recruitment or outplacement firm and update it every year — it is a great exercise.’
‘The important thing to ask yourself is “are my skills relevant”; as elite coaches you have an abundance of skills which are also important in the business and education worlds, so keep developing them and they will stand you in good stead for anything you want to do in the future.’
A sports physician at the AIS, Greg Lovell, said coaches were no different from the general population in their reluctance to have regular medical check-ups. ‘Their work ethic means they will not see a doctor until there is something that prevents them from coaching’, he said.
Stress within a coach’s relationship brought on by the workload could have serious health consequences. ‘Stress is associated with increased incidents of heart disease, strokes and high blood pressure’, he said. ‘It will affect mental capacity, cause depression, disrupt sleep patterns and make existing problems such as diabetes, asthma and dermatitis much worse.
‘My advice is to have a health plan, review diet, get at least three aerobic sessions a week to improve cardiac function, see a doctor every year and get a mentor who can help you keep to your plan and maybe review it.’
Swimmer Petria Thomas said older athletes expected to have some input into their training programs. ‘I am the first to acknowledge the coach is the one guiding the direction, but we need to have some ownership of what we are doing’, she said.
‘It is a matter of trust and having a good relationship. I have had coaches who have been very good and explained in detail why I need to do a particular set — I have also had coaches who told me to just shut up, get in the pool and swim.’
Asked whether she would have ever felt confident enough to counsel coaches obviously under stress, she said she would encourage them to go home and spend time with their family. ‘Older athletes should be trusted to complete a training session without the coach having to pace up and down the pool.’
Lindsay Gaze, who attended multiple Olympics either as a basketball player or coach, said his advice to athletes in his charge has always been the same. ‘I tell them there are three elements they have to look after: studies, sport and social life — with older athletes you can substitute employment for studies’, he said.
‘You can manage any two of these very easily, but if you want to manage all three you have to work very hard at it. For instance, a young kid with his first car or first girlfriend can have a good social life without any detriment to his studies, but unless he is very careful and dedicated, his sport will suffer.
‘Some people take the easy way and just choose two, others take up the challenge and manage all three. It comes down to finding the right balance.
‘The same applies if you are making a measurement of yourself. If athletes see you as reliable, someone to be trusted, sometimes with the most private things they are concerned about themselves, then your life is in balance and you are in good shape.’
Keeping a coach healthy wealthy and wise.
- Write out a personal plan for the rest of your life with short, medium and long-term goals. Review it every year and stick to it.
- Find a mentor to share these aims with you and support you. Research shows goals are more successfully attained if you are accountable to someone for them.
- Ensure you have a life outside coaching. Read books, attend theatre, do community work.
- Learn to manage your finances and develop skills that will be advantageous to you in life after coaching.
- Monitor your health. Ensure you see your GP for a check-up every 12 months.
- Balance your home and work life. Ask yourself if you really need to attend every minute of every coaching session, or whether some work can be left with assistants, or even with the athletes themselves.
