The Teesra

Category: philosophy

_why_ we coach; why we coach the way we do

  • Why does sport matter? It’s so much more than just a game.

    This post is a much extended version of a 500-word assignment on why football is “more than a game”, written for an online course.
    It has been edited to take account of some helpful comments from reviewers, and to include some slightly more coherent conclusions than could be accommodated in the original word-count.

    I have just completed an online course with FutureLearn — Football — more than a game?, with University of Edinburgh. History, finance & governance, community engagement, just a little politics…fascinating!

    The course provided lots of data on revenues and TV viewing figures, and reports of the social, economic, diplomatic and philanthropic activities delivered by, or in the name of, “football”. But I don’t think this evidence of the global reach of football really captures the essence of why football, or sport in general, matters to fans.

    For me, the question seems to be more about “ownership” of the game, and that sense of “belonging” to a “tribe” — beyond being a fan of a particular team or national side, this is more to do with those who “get” sports, and those who don’t.

    It really is so much more than just a game.

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  • What did the Scientific Revolution ever do for coaching?

    What did the Scientific Revolution ever do for coaching?

    This piece is slightly modified from a paper submitted to an online course on the scientific revolution of the 17th century. The article was an excursion into twin obsessions of mine — over-elaboration and an exploration of coaching pedagogy, explicitly, what works, and why.

    My conclusion was that the scientific revolution legitimised the question as a tool for learning. From observation (“what’s going on out there?”) to hypothesis (“is this what’s happening?”) via experiment (“is my hypothesis correct?”) and on to a new understanding (or another question).

    And that sounds rather like the model for coaching (and, more pertinently, learning) that I can subscribe to.

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  • Coaching the child vs. coaching the sport

    Over lockdown I was privileged to receive an invitation to join a series of webinars hosted by Chance to Shine (CtS) for their coaches. I have run a few CtS sessions in schools, but in truth I rather felt like an impostor amongst the County Board staffers who do such a great job delivering CtS across the country.

    The presentations were (mostly) very interesting, occasionally inspiring. Not always immediately applicable to what I will do (no, I don’t expect to be delivering CtS over a live video link in the near future), but it did get me thinking about why I coach.

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