Coach Tracking Study(PDF) - sports coach UK

COACH TRACKING STUDY
Meet Joe
If there were such a thing as a typical
coach from this study, it would be Joe. His
fictional coaching story summarises the
findings from the Coach Tracking Study.
I was always a very sporty person. Looking back, I
think I must have played about 15 sports. Some were
more serious than others, and I even made it to
county level in a few. I think that’s why my club
approached me in the first place – they were short of
coaches and figured I knew the game and had the
commitment to turn up every week.
I liked the idea of giving something back to the club
that had given me so much, and I was happy to help.
While I remembered my old coach, I wanted to make
sure I was doing the right thing so I signed up for a
Level 1 course. It was worth it. After the course, I had
a lot more confidence to coach as I felt my knowledge
was more up to date.
After a few years, I wanted to take my coaching to the
next level so I completed my Level 2 qualification, but
nowadays, I like to learn more on my own time.
When I started coaching, it was tactics and drills I was
after. While I’m still looking for these, what I really want
to do is develop myself as a coach. If I’m going to ask
my players to improve, it’s only fair I should try to
improve myself. I’ve learnt to reflect on my own
coaching and, these days, I would probably learn more
talking to other coaches than listening to someone
standing at the front of a classroom.
Over the years, I found the amount of coaching I did
just kept increasing. Our sport would have a
recruitment drive, and lots of new people came to the
club, but we didn’t have any extra coaches! It was
usually me who had to fill in the gaps. I enjoyed
working with new people, but there’s only so much
one man can do.
What I really like about coaching is seeing my players
improve and knowing I had something to do with it.
Of course, it’s even better when we win – that’s just
like the good old days when I was out on the pitch
myself. But ultimately, it’s about the players I work with.
I want them to have the opportunity to develop, but
they’ve also got to have fun. That’s what I love about it!
I haven’t coached for two years now. I just didn’t see
that coming! What happened was I changed my job
and just didn’t have the same time to devote to my
players. Hopefully, I can get back into it in some form
as I have a lot of skills and experience to offer.
Joe
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