Blog
This is my first ever blog, and probably my last. I’m more of a practical person with a hands on approach than someone who wants to spend a lot of time putting words on to paper but I promised myself that I would have a go at writing a blog one day – one of the things on my bucket list, and the coronavirus lockdown has given me the opportunity to do this.
24/06/2021 Multi-skills in School
I have worked in schools since 2005, first as part of my role as a Netwall coach for Nottinghamshire County Council, covering all of south Nottinghamshire including the city, on a project called Playsport.
What a fantastic experience this was, working with like minded coaches. Some of our best learning was getting together as a group with some equipment and just bouncing ideas off each other and sharing best practices. We always looked at the WHY: I want to share some of my experiences working in schools around Nottinghamshire and my thoughts around these.
I got into coaching to make a difference and school, especially curriculum time, can really impact on children. My main work is in primary schools and I feel we need to create a learning, fun environment around the joy of play but also emphasise its importance for helping to sustain a healthy lifestyle. I also feel it is important to work alongside teachers, teaching assistants, midday supervisors and parents to educate the importance of PE in schools, especially the fundamentals.
Physical education needs to be treated with the same importance as Maths and English, no more so in these times when we are told obesity is becoming a nationwide problem and we have all been so restricted in our movements during the Coronavirus pandemic. And after all, if you ask anyone what is the most important thing you can have then most people would say their health before wealth.
Hopefully the children I work with have fun in a positive, creative environment. I really believe life should be fun especially as a child where our imagination should run riot – being creative, trying new things without fear of getting it wrong but also working out problems and gaining confidence when you get things right. I feel we learn better when we enjoy ourselves and are allowed to “have a go”.
Bugbear – I was tutoring an inclusive workshop and a lady in a wheelchair looked really nervous. I asked how she was, making a connection with her, and as the day went on she became less nervous and seemed to enjoy the session. Afterwards she thanked me and explained that she had never really been allowed to do PE at her school and she had to cut sports pictures out of a magazine whilst everyone else got to be active and participate. I find this fact ridiculous as she was more than able, and this exclusion practice had knocked her confidence.
Freedom of movement and play are so important and can be expressed in stories. How often do we get to fly on a plane, go to the moon, see dinosaurs, be a jumping bean, play football for England? These are all part of some of the warm-ups that I deliver in schools which help develop all the ABC’s including strength. These also allow teachers to develop themes around space, different countries, counting. All important areas of education. It can also help develop some connections afterwards eg after a football warm up we always celebrate and I might ask the question, who has heard of Bobby Charlton and when did England last win the World Cup? Not many will know the answer but one lad, who wasn’t the sportiest of a group, knew all about Manchester United and the Munich air disaster. All the other children then started to ask him more questions about it and made a connection with him which might not have happened if this simple celebration had not taken place.
Bug bear – Children are often expected to sit behind a desk, concentrate and be quiet. Discipline is obviously important, but we must also remember the importance of being allowed to move around and also ask questions. All children are inquisitive and young children especially will always ask, “Why?” We don’t always need to give them an immediate answer but instead a simple “what do you think” allows them to think for themselves and explore. Being curious is so important and not enough adults ask the “why?”, they just accept things without questioning.
The WOW Factor – do children really need expensive things? I often go into school and ask how many of the children have a tennis ball at home? It is never everyone and quite a few times it will only be a handful of children. I will then comment that the best thing about having a ball outside is that there is no roof and so you can throw the ball as high as you like. I will then throw a ball high and catch it to demonstrate, and it usually gets a “Wow” from them. This is such a simple thing. I then let them have a go themselves, of course most won’t be able to catch the ball to start with but as they practice, within a few minutes they get better and better and you can see the smiles on their faces.
Bug bear – not enough children are allowed to just throw a ball in the air, not enough parents make time to just play with their children. I have noticed this is worse since the Coronavirus lockdowns with children lacking fundamental skills through lack of opportunity,
It’s great when you have a fully engaged class of 30-40 children all enjoying and learning together. It’s important not to notice just the good kids or bad kids but everyone in the group.
Bug bear – Intervention. I have been in so many schools where children are taken out of PE to read or for some other form of intervention and often it’s the children who love PE and gain confidence from this subject. I think this is where we lose the value of how important PE is, I’m sure these same children wouldn’t be taken out of a Maths or English class.
Give children time to flourish, they will catch up. Let them play, let them learn, let them be children for one more day.
16/02/2021 Lockdown Coaching
What strange times we are all living in. So many people have suffered the loss of a loved one or financial hardship. Hopefully, we will all see some light at the end of the tunnel soon.
My job as a coach is to motivate and inspire the players I work with but how has lockdown affected me personally and how can I help to coach myself and keep myself motivated now. My coaching since March 2020 has been very much stop, start and I have had to learn to adapt my coaching to using virtual technology. During the first lockdown I found it easier because I had a lot of things I could catch up on that I hadn’t had chance to do before, including getting my new ideas down in a book, and it was good to have some time for reflection and planning ideas for future projects. I also believe you need to continuously develop yourself, so I set about doing lots of online training such as webinars and an Open University course. I am also learning to juggle and play the guitar.
I am a people person and prefer to coach and interact with others face to face. I believe this is a much better way to see how others react to your coaching and it is much easier to read their body language. However, in this third lockdown I have had no choice but to adapt my coaching by learning how to use virtual technology such as Zoom and Teams like never before. I think this is brilliant if there is no other way to interact with people and now I am used to this I may still use these on occasion once the pandemic is over.
A lot of younger coaches seem to take this for granted but I didn’t even own a computer until I was about 45 and so this has really pushed me out of my comfort zone. To start with I didn’t feel as though these methods were “real” coaching, and it is not the way I would choose to operate, but then I asked myself the Why? Coaching is about making connections with people and of course technology is also allowing me to connect with the people I coach. Would I still prefer to do this face to face - of course.
However, I have now tutored courses, delivered Webinars, and set up Zoom sessions with some of my table tennis players and with some of the schools that I deliver the PE curriculum for which I am sure in the future will only add to my coaching skills. I have learnt more in this area than I ever would have attempted if the pandemic had not made it a necessity.
One good thing about making connections and interacting with people this way, I have seen more of my own family by having a virtual quiz night on a Sunday. We have all had a go at hosting the quiz and there is still the usual banter, teasing and family competitiveness. This is something we would not have done if circumstances had been different and after all there is nothing more important than family.
19/01/2021 Perception – Is everybody different, who is a Top Coach?
I remember tutoring a table tennis Level 2 course and one of the candidates said to me “why don’t we get any information or feedback on our players from the Top Coaches when they go to other training sessions with them?”.
Two things in that question intrigued me:
1 Why weren’t parents and coaches getting feedback or information on how their children and players were doing and feedback on how they could help them when they returned home or to their own clubs?
2 (And this part intrigued me more for when I tutored future coaches) – what is everyone’s perception of what a “Top Coach” looks like?
I threw this second question out to the group to see who they perceived to be a Top Coach. Various answers came back – someone working at the top of their field, national coaches, coaches who are working with the top ranked players. So, I also threw the question out there of what did they perceive were the qualities of a Top Coach? Answers came back such as knowledge, caring, communication, listening, motivator, showing empathy, organiser, someone who creates a good environment and someone who is open to new ideas.
I then challenged the group to look at the people they perceived to be Top Coaches and also the coaches who work at grassroots level and see if they felt any of them measured up to the qualities they had just mentioned they would look for in a coach. Someone who they would entrust with the development and wellbeing of their most precious gift, their children.
The perception in the room started to change and the candidates started to really look into what makes a “Top Coach” – has that coach really got the best interests of the player in mind, do they teach them the how, what and why of playing and do they create the right environment for them.
I like the quote “What makes you a Top Coach?”. Answer “The one with the best players”. I am not sure this is entirely true. Also, some people’s perception is that top players automatically make top coaches. Some former top players become fantastic coaches but not everyone has the personal skills to be able to make a “Top Coach” certainly without going through an apprenticeship first to learn and develop their craft. On the other hand, just because someone hasn’t been a champion player themselves, or coached a national champion doesn’t mean that they cannot become a “Top Coach” themselves.
To me, a “Top Coach” is someone who the player remembers as making a real difference to their lives in a positive way. You should always coach the individual person who is in front of you. You might be a “Top Coach” with beginners, children, adults, girls, boys, para-athletes, or other elite performers.
It is very difficult to be a great coach in all these areas, that’s why it’s important to know yourself as a coach and see the bigger picture, being part of a coaching chain and passing players on when it’s necessary for their personal development.
Even with elite performers, there is a coaching team around the athlete or player. If you empower players to be the best they can in a thriving environment, and both be open to learning and improving then you are on your way to being a “Top Coach”.
20/05/2020 - What shapes us…
During the coronavirus lockdown, I have had more time than usual to reflect on my coaching and what I feel has shaped me as a coach over the years.
When I first started coaching at aged 18, I had the use of just 1 table at a youth club at Green Lane in Clifton often accommodating over 20 children in the same evening. There was lots of noise from other activities going on at the youth club and lots of players wanting to join in the session. At the time, I longed for a purpose-built centre such as our local Draycott and Sycamore table tennis clubs now enjoy with enough room and tables to have 2 children per table.
However, on reflection, if I had had the use of such larger facilities, would I have been the same coach as I am today?
Coaching is all about creating the right environment and working with people. So, what did I learn from these first coaching experiences? I learnt how to adapt, how to work with players on and off the table, to be creative using fun games and making sure everyone was involved even if we had to use the walls, benches and floor of the room because of the lack of tables. I learnt how to be flexible with groups. I had to find a way to get things done and how to solve problems. I was using the STEPS principle (Space, Task, Equipment, People, Success and Safety) without even realising what it was.
The camaraderie between the children grew because of this close and challenging environment. They learnt how to share, solve problems and adapt which I believe made them better match players. Also, when we went to other venues for matches and played in different conditions, the players easily adapted to different types of environments.
This one table venue was not out of choice but I now see this as a valuable lesson.
You as a coach can create the right environment, it’s not the venue or the equipment that’s the priority, it’s about the players.
04/05/2020 - Not just a beanbag coach…
Who am I? I’m a sports coach which I break into 2 main areas, my multi skills work and my table tennis coaching. But this is the thing, coaching is about working with people so I am a coach of people, helping them to be the best that they can be, not just in sport but also in life. It’s only over the last few years that I now realise the true value of what I do.
I grew up in a household where being practical came very easily to everyone apart from me. For example, my mum makes wedding dresses, cakes, does carpentry. She is ultra-talented in that way. My dad was a master butcher and could also seem to mend most things. My two brothers are very practical and very quick to fix things, one is now a mechanic with his own business and the other is a master builder. These were seen as real trades and skills in my own family and I’m sure in lots of others too.
Then there was me. I was a trier but never seemed to get anywhere and so at the time I thought trying hard was not good enough unless you actually succeeded at the task. I attempted to do all these things and always tried my very best but struggled to emulate my parents and siblings in these areas. At school my dream was to be a PE teacher but this idea was dismissed as I was told I could only do this if I first went to University and, despite trying hard again in my lessons, I was not deemed clever enough to go down this route. So, when I left school, initially the only job I could find with any connection to sport was working at a sports shop in Nottingham.
I had to find a different route to pursue my dreams. At 18 I started coaching table tennis out of a local youth club coaching approx. 20 children on only 1 table so I had to learn to improvise. I started to take lots of courses to gain qualifications in multiple sports and gained experience in lots of different sporting environments. This was my ‘university’ and I had to work extremely hard to combine all of this with a separate full-time job and family commitments.
In later life in my role as a coach, I now realise how important this work rate, effort and determination I see both in myself and the people I work with actually is and why my work is just as significant as any other. Sometimes I think that people just think I am the one who throws beanbags to children or hits a table tennis ball to a pupil. But a coach is far more than that. I have served an apprenticeship for many years, learning how to communicate with people of all ages and managing classes of 30+ children. I give people the opportunity to learn, and have fun while they are doing it, whilst challenging them to be the best that they can be both in sport and in their personal lives. I have enabled people to make a living in various aspects of sport, doing what they want to do. Some have changed course and gone back to university and gained degrees and even PHD’s.
I have been lucky enough to coach Paralympians and national champions but also lucky enough to engage children who have been reluctant to do PE. A particular memory is of a child who was already in Year 4 and had never joined in with his classmates during PE lessons. When I started to take the class, I managed to connect with him and he gained the confidence to join in with the lessons going forward.
I have tutored and mentored other coaches who are doing fantastic work in clubs, schools and NGB’s. These connections I have made with lots of people, many of who have become lifelong friends, are so valuable to me and hopefully to them to. This is in my opinion about making a difference, I am a coach of people so this is my ‘trade’. This blog does feel a little bit like a therapy session. I have found coaching the most natural thing for me to do so thinking back now maybe the things that have come easily to me would not have come easily to my family. So, work hard, be yourself and follow your passion in life.
Check out some of the pictures from my sessions and workshops