Successful VS Unsuccessful Athletes & Coaches

I recently was asked: How do perceptions of success vary between the coaches and their athletes? So i used some examples;

 

George – 1^stgrade coach at Sydney Olympic (successful)

 

• He keeps in contact with the team even if training or games aren’t on or if you’re injured. No one feels left out.
• If games or training is rained out, he will 99% of the time get an alternate venue to train so no fitness is lost & the players can still see each other for team bonding.
• Players are expected to be at all training sessions, or they are benched or dropped so he sets the level of performance and discipline.
• He gives motivating speeches and gives real insight on the other team which shows the players how committed he is and the work ethic he puts in makes us step up to match it.
• If there is a problem or poor performance, he will address it and fix the problem instead of storming off like other coaches and leaving players to fend for themselves. George will stay up and do what he can to better the team and find a solution to mistakes made by the team.
• He organises prizes when the team performs but only at the highest level of performance. There are no prizes just because talent helped a win, determination, grit and 100% committed is needed to be seen before the team is praised.
• He looks after each player individually and understands personal life can come into play and he remembers we are all human and things happen.
• He also looks after loyal players that stay at the club and give him full commitment and loyalty George goes above and beyond for them.
• Lastly he is very smart when it comes to the game and knows how to get the perfect message across so each player understands their role and as a team what is expected, he understands some players need a softer approach and others need a rev up to get the best from them.

 

 Coaches of an unsuccessful team (didn’t know one personally) so this is just opinion.

• They only train once a week or don’t show up to training and have sessions cancelled due to weather and no alternate venue.
• The players have no discipline and feel like the sport is just a game and the discipline and commitment level isn’t there.
• They don’t do enough team bonding
• The coach gets angry when they lose and storms off instead of addressing and fixing the issue.

 The athletes:

Successful

• We are expected to be on time and be in full training gear.
• We are only praised if we all work together and give 110% at all times
• We are given specific roles that tailor to our roles which really helps with each task during the game and knowing what is expected of each player.
• We are self motivated to do extra work away from the team training
• We take nutrition and sleep seriously
• We have the same expectations of eachother
• We hold eachother accountable to the highest standard
• We give positive talk on the field and help eachother hold our heads high even if we are losing
• We don’t blame eachother for our own mistakes. We own them
• We are constantly asking questions on how to improve

Unsuccessful

• Teams that are unsuccessful don’t always have training
• Sometimes forget gear so we can’t participate and run laps instead
• Sometimes go a whole week without seeing the team if the coach is sick or if it rains
• Yell at each other when someone makes a mistake but it’s because we don’t communicate each job or who is going to do that particular things in a game.

 

The coach sets the standard I really believe for the athletes, this person is guiding these athletes in their chosen sport so I can tell if they see their coach organised, committed and understanding they will respond better and perform to a higher standard in comparison to a team with a coach that isn’t as well organised or committed. 

Team bonding is also very important, the girls of the successful team didn’t want to disappointment each other, they referred to each other as family.

The unsuccessful team yelled and disrespected each other and it will show in their performance.