Coaching for strength in diversity
Issue: Volume 27 Number 3
Cricket coach Jodie Davis could have been forgiven for wondering how she got herself into the situation – here she was giving final instructions to a group of young Pakistani players, some of whom had not touched a cricket bat until a month previously, about to go out in front of a packed crowd in a Women’s World Cup match against champion England.
Rickey Luland might have had similar feelings as he prepared to take charge of the Australian senior touch football team on its tour of South Africa and England, wondering how his indigenous background and admittedly laid-back coaching style would mesh with this squad of elite and still very committed players in the tough program ahead.
Neither need have worried. While England did rattle up a record score of more than 300 in 50 overs against Davis’ team, jibes about the bus having to be called to the ground early were silenced when Pakistan stuck courageously to the task, batting through its over allocation to score 130 for the loss of four wickets.
And Luland’s Australia returned in triumph, with just one loss and two draws in 23 games and a string of commendations from the players who took part.
Both cases represent a victory for coaching techniques, temperament and plain old attention to detail, while wielding teams out of individuals from diverse backgrounds in unpromising situations.
Cricket
When Davis, a former Australian representative and level three coach, travelled to Pakistan she knew she was taking on a challenge, but was still horrified at what she found. 'It was five weeks before the World Cup at the end of 1997 and I was under the impression that the squad was in place and had done some training, in fact the first full day I was there I was taken to selection trials,’ she said.
'Now Pakistan may be a cricket-mad country, but it is also Muslim, and there was considerable resistance to women playing. I found I had five or six well-off girls who had escaped the system by playing in England. The rest of the squad – including a wicket keeper - had to be selected from around 200 trialists who had never played cricket before. In the end I had to pick the girls who looked reasonably athletic and might respond to some fast training.’
They had to be taught basic movement patterns for running, throwing and catching. ‘These kind of skills you get as kids by playing in the street, but that was simply unheard of among women in Pakistan,’ Davis said. ‘And things were complicated by the fact they all had to get permission from their families to take part in the training camp and travel to India for the World Cup.
‘One simply disappeared without telling me or anyone, because her father had told her she had to come home.
‘Luckily dress code was not a problem, as the World Cup organisers decreed that long pants had to be worn because the pitches were so hard. Even so the players had to keep their caps on and wear long-sleeved shirts, and we had to organise training sessions around prayer times.
‘The language barriers were a constant worry. I had to rely on the more educated girls to translate, but I couldn’t be sure they were getting my message across exactly the way I wanted it. In the end I was able to communicate quite well by using appropriate voice tones and key words and sentences they learned.
‘And I used the fact that I stood out as tall and blonde to get some media attention for the team.’
Pakistan lost every game it played, and the introduction of a qualifying competition meant it has not appeared in a finals series since, but the team is still playing and Davis is confident the seeds have been successfully planted.
Cycling
Tom Skulader does not have to worry about religious affiliations or difficult parents, but his job as Assistant Coach (cycling) to the Australian Paralympic Committee presents its own series of challenges.
His attitude is coloured by an incident some years ago involving his own father. ‘He had been a very active person all his life and was widely known in the community, then he suffered a severe stroke,’ he said.
‘After several months he came out of hospital and I took him down to the local shopping centre and people avoided him; they knew who he was but they would walk away because they could not deal with his disability. I thought "he is still my father and he should not be treated any differently because he’s had a stroke" and that formed my attitude to working with the disabled more than any other single event.’
Skulader said he does not look upon the athletes he trains as disabled. ‘They are different – but so are people who are well below average height. The fundamental requirement for all coaches is to treat their athletes as individuals, get along with them, and get the best out of them.’
He stressed his job was to prepare elite athletes for top competition. ‘It means that there are times when people come along and ask for help and I can do no more than give them advice, because of the constraints on my time.’
His squad currently consists of members with vision impairment, cerebral palsy and amputations. The visually impaired ride tandems with a sighted ‘pilot’ on the front.
‘They are as powerfully motivated as any able-bodied athlete,’ he said. ‘You cannot say they are in the squad simply because of their disability. They are there because they want to be, and they want to compete successfully at the Paralympics.’
Soccer
For some six years, Les Bee of Sport Education Victoria, based at the Victorian Institute of Sport, has been using his spare time to coach the boys’ soccer team of one of the state’s best-known grammar schools. ‘The school policy is that all its pupils will take part in sport, but increasingly it was recruiting students from overseas who had no experience in the traditional Australian sports,' he said. 'The preference was for soccer, so they asked me to help out.’
That seemed straightforward enough, but Bee quickly came face to face with some striking cultural differences that had to be overcome. ‘My coaching style has developed to be more of a facilitated approach - putting the athletes in charge of what they wanted to learn - but the overseas students, predominantly from Asia, came from very hierarchical societies where they expected to be directed,’ he said. ‘It was tough at first, but the moment one came to me and said "I would like you to show me how to do this", I knew I had a breakthrough. Once one did it you couldn’t hold them.’
Some language difficulties were experienced both between coach and players, and amongst the players themselves who were from a variety of countries. This was alleviated through constantly using game-based activities to ensure a more relevant and practical approach to training. These games allowed for practical demonstration and experience in both tactical and technical areas that were more readily transferred to competition.
There were other things Bee had to be aware of. ‘In some cultures people do not like anyone touching their head, so you have to be careful about things like ruffling their hair when they’ve done something well,’ he said. ‘Generally they are not so physical as Australians.’
The team, which currently also includes a smattering of Australian students, is now able to hold down a place in the middle of the competition table, and Bee is gratified that many of his former charges have continued to play the game at university.
Touch football
For Rickey Luland, a 17-year association with touch football as a player and coach culminated in two widely different events this year. ‘The first was when I coached the Kempsey Natives to the NSW Country Championship,’ he said. ‘We were an under-18 team playing in an under-23 division and it was a real mixed bag – my nephews, kids from dysfunctional families, from my own community – it was a pleasure to see them perform.
‘I don’t really see myself as a role model, but they can look at me, who has perhaps half their talent and who has made his way in touch because of hard work and dedication, and say "if he can do it, so can I". Instilling self-belief is one of the hardest things to do with indigenous people, but they are good athletes, and they like hands-on games and quick results, which is why touch football is such an attraction.’
Taking charge of Australia Seniors – a combined over-30 and over-35 squad – represented challenges of an entirely different sort. ‘The team was the best I had ever coached, not because it was full of star players, but simply because we did things for each other, right from the start,’ he said.
He made a short speech before the first game in South Africa, reminding them of the honour of representing their country, and how there might never be another chance. It was an emotional moment and there were tears in his eyes at the end, but it set the tone.
‘I was dealing with mature players, and being an ex-player myself, I tended to let them have a fair bit of say, they are the ones who are out there busting a gut after all – but if there was an occasion when I had to step in, I did so,’ he said.
‘There’s no doubt my style is fairly laid back, but that doesn’t mean I don’t know when I have to be strict. I had jokes and a few drinks with them, and in the end I think that got the best out of the team. After all, it’s an amateur sport and while representing Australia must be taken seriously, the players have to be allowed to enjoy themselves at appropriate times.’
When coaching athletes from diverse backgrounds:
- Always be true to your basic coaching style. There is a point beyond which you cannot compromise.
- Learn about the athletes you are coaching. Avoid cultural faux pas that may set up barriers.
- Treat every squad member as an individual. Never begin a session with the attitude ‘Today I am coaching the disabled’ or ‘the Asians’.
- If language is a problem, try to establish key words or phrases to get your message across. A trustworthy translator can help with more complicated instructions.
- Treat mature players as responsible adults, while never be afraid to step in if behaviour becomes inappropriate.
