The Teesra

Category: Coach Development

  • UNCRC & sports coaching — more than “safeguarding”

    I had heard of a “rights-based approach” to coaching children, but not understood how this extends beyond keeping them safe from harm, important as this is.

    So I was very interested to find out more about this approach, and how rights-based coaching relates to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), as part of the Open University (OU) course Sports Performance: Different Approaches to Sports Coaching.

    The United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child

    Lots to think about.

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  • A typology of coaching — what is coaching? (4)

    I have just completed a fascinating online course from the Open University, hosted by Future Learn — Sports Performance: Different Approaches to Sports Coaching. Highly recommended for all coaches.

    Sports Performance: Different Approaches to Sports Coaching

    It got me thinking (again) about a definition of what coaching actually is. Both a philosophical and practical enquiry, from which a typology of coaching has emerged.

    I am deliberately not calling this a hierarchy! Although the later levels will undoubtedly be paid more (infinitely more than the volunteers).

    Many (most?) practicing coaches will fit into more than one of these categories, often simultaneously.

    From inspirational yoda master, preparing his charge for the ultimate challenge, to the (pre-) participation coach, crawling around on the floor with three year olds. All “coaches”…but not all coaching, necessarily.

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  • WITTW vs. WIN — is winning the most important outcome, even for “high performance”?

    The ECB’s 2022 High Performance Review, led by Andrew Strauss, has attracted extensive scrutiny for the suggested new playing schedule for First Class and List A, but remarkably little for those elements of the Review that relate to creating a high performance culture away from match days i.e. coaching, pathway, player development.

    In amongst the less-discussed sections of the Review is a proposal to “embed…[What It Takes To Win] WITTW into the ECB coaching curriculum.”

    It certainly makes sense for coaches to help players to develop and deploy skillsets that contribute to winning.

    But I have concerns, ideological and practical, on the choice of WITTW as an appropriate model within cricket.

    Might we be better concentrating on What’s Important Now?

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