As my first year has finished at Bloxham, it feels right to
reflect on what I have learnt and what key messages I can take forward to my next year of coaching
1) There is a difference between Physical
Education and School Sport: However, many teachers, pupils and parents
believe playing competitive games constitutes P.E. The job of Physical
Education is to make a child as physically literate as possible. Every child in
this country is taught to read and write, the same is true for P.E; every child
should be taught to run, jump, throw, twist, pull, push, squat, lunge, brace
and rotate. But many people try to stick a child on a rugby pitch who can’t
control his/her bodyweight, let alone other peoples. Without the appropriate
physical comprehension, many children struggle to play competitive sport and as
a result get injured or just drop out of sport all together. Baroness Sue
Campbell summarised this concept very well at a conference I recently attended;
P.E is a need to do subject, competitive sport is a nice to do subject.
2) Always
reinforce the quality: This cannot be emphasised enough, especially with
regards to strength and conditioning. Many children I have worked with this
year feel as though they have earned the right to do certain exercises. If they
can’t master the basics, there is no method of progressing up the athletic
development ladder. Even with the more capable athletes, the basics can be
mastered on a daily basis, through the use of warm ups and cool downs. This is
the bread and butter, the fundamentals that all children should be competent in
doing. Reinforce that quality from the start, and make your athletes aware that
this is what is expected every time they train.
3) There
is more to life than sport: Due to the nature of our school sport structure,
all of the children I coach play 3 terms of sport, an attribute which many
children fail to complete due to early specialisation. This certainly helps
them become more versatile athletes, but it means that Sports Coaches are
pulling them in different directions throughout the school year, in order for
them to gain advantage come game day. What is crucial for children, parents and
coaches to understand is that there is more to life than sport. Sometimes
children need to say no; have that afternoon off, catch up on coursework, use their
‘free time’ to learn an instrument or just chill out and be a kid. From my
experience, the children that are pulled in these directions either get fed up
of that sport or over-train and suffer the injury consequences that are
associated with this.
4) You are part of a bigger team: Coaching
doesn’t just involve yourself and the athlete. Parental education and support
is vital if the child is going to succeed in sport. Communication from their
sport coaches is imperative and needs to be constantly updated. You are just
one part of a multi-disciplined team, each member can highlight aspects of the
child’s life and sport, which has a direct impact on your coaching structure
towards them.
5) Everything starts in the warm up: The
attitude and direction of the session, whether it be in the gym, outside on the
court or field, is dictated in the warm up. Too many of the children I work
with thought that the warm up was an opportunity to discuss social agendas
while lying down on a bench press! Set the tone and set the attitude for the
session in the warm up; it is an opportunity to see how the athlete moves and
works and therefore requires your concentration and commitment, as much as
theirs. Treat each warm up as an opportunity to get better.
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