It's not just about coaching
Issue: Volume 29 Number 2
You’d think that if you’re engaged as a coach, all you really have to do is look after the team and make sure it achieves the best possible results.
It’s not that simple. Whether you’re a community coach looking after the local under 8’s or a full time professional coach in charge of four teams and a dozen staff in the national league, there are other considerations that you need to be aware of if you are to maintain your position as coach.
It’s been said before – the coach has to be a mentor, teacher, psychologist, physiologist, surrogate parent, friend, confidante, and so the list goes on. But these are all the athlete centred roles.
In addition, the coach has to be a; diplomat, negotiator, facilitator, organiser, problem solver and, sometimes a; financial expert, and that’s just to keep the board/management/parents happy. Other potential stakeholders include; assistant coaches, medical staff, officials, the competition organisers, sponsors, and the media.
The coach has to look after all the stakeholders linked to the squad/team, not just the athletes in their care. You must be focussed on the task, certainly, but the task is more than just the physical conditioning of the athletes or game day management of the team. By maintaining a broader perspective, that is, considering the whole organisation from players to upper management, you and your team are more likely to attract the support of other stakeholders such as parents and the club board.
If however, you are tunnel visioned about the wellbeing of your team in isolation from anything else going on in the club, you may miss important issues that impact on you and your team. For example, if you regularly make unrealistic demands for equipment etc, without considering the cost to parents or being aware of the club’s financial situation, you could become unpopular with management or, in the community setting, parents, who have to pay the bills.
Another example could be the junior coach who adopts a win at all costs attitude against expectations that all players receive equal playing time. Sure, the team might win but, equally, the coach might not be asked back for the next season.
Having a clear and agreed understanding up front with all of the stakeholders is a key to avoiding conflict in the coaching setting. Be diplomatic and try to understand the perspectives of other stakeholders including the athletes, their parents and those taking on managerial roles.
Above all else, be aware of the policies and expectations of the club that may impact on your ability to do the job for which you’ve been engaged, and work within the constraints of those policies, as you carry out your roles as mentor, teacher psychologist, physiologist, surrogate parent, friend, confidante ….
