I have written previously about the under-13 squads I am working with this year.
As part of their introduction to the squad, we have them discuss and agree on “non-negotiables” — agreed actions, behaviours, attitudes within the squad that simply will not be debated — for themselves, for their interactions with team mates.
And also for what they expect from their coaches.
We (the coaches) didn’t get a say (these are the players expectations of us), but we will have to own them, as far as we can.
If we are to aspire to being more than Shane Warne’s bus!
Coach non-negotiables
- Give constructive, honest and tough feedback
- Challenge your game
- Progressive Coaching (coach people with a vision of the future)
- To always be approachable
- To remain positive
- Adaptability
A lot of the players have prior experience of other development and performance pathways. Some might have been engaged by more progressive educational approaches in school — something beyond “teaching to the exam”.
But the list of coach non-negotiables looks really rather well thought-through.
What matters most to the players — what we coach, or how we coach?
In an unscientific follow-up conversation, the coach “attitudes” (honest & tough feedback; approachable; positive) seemed to rank more highly than actual coaching behaviours (challenge; progression).
Difficult to tell if this is because the coaching knowledge (what to coach; how to coach for improvement) is just assumed to be there, or if the relative importance of coach attitudes and behaviours relates to the players’ previous experience with other coaches.
The Teesra 
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