Experience is key, coach!

In the modern day and age of immediate satisfaction we sometimes, as sports coaches, overlook our own job — to coach. To coach means to develop, to develop means to take a specific interest in a person who is also your player and build this person’s character and skills — this means caring as well.

But today where results are the only measure, sadly so, this has crept into school sport. I strongly believe that we use the term high performance far too quickly as a disguise for chasing the result, the immediate satisfaction. My first taste of it was as a school rugby coach in 2004, a poisoned chalice at the best of times. I sweated blood and tears for all the boys I coached. I believed that giving the young person the best experience possible would stand him in far better stead than driving at results all the time. Don’t get me wrong, a sports person who tells you they’re playing sport to make friends is either on drugs or is lying — winning is what we want most and I was and still am no different.

I lost one game mid-season and was called in by the then headmaster who knew nothing about sport, never mind rugby at a school where rugby is the be-all and end-all. I was informed that perhaps it was time I moved out the position and allowed for new thinking to come in?? New thinking? All that was important was results. The fact that I had changed three boys’ academic commitment meant nothing. The fact that socially the boys were taking better decisions, that as a team they were united and learning what team work was all about when the chips were down, the fact that this was shaping their characters — all meant nothing clearly.

Sadly I know of too many real coaches who have suffered a similar fate at school level!!!!

Where I am different is winning cannot come at the cost of the players’ welfare and experience. This experience I speak of is not game-time, it is experience that is crucial to the development of the player on a holistic level. This is a model that believes in the fact that real experiences will lead to a well-rounded player who will derive strength from all experiences, negative as well. There are as many lessons in losing (if not more) than in winning. If we fast-track players under the guise of high performance, which I believe is a common occurrence as young as under-11, without an appropriate understanding of a player’s experiences it will take a lot longer to realise a result or fail outright.

My employers at the time failed to understand this and so do many other schools, clubs, provinces and national teams. Perhaps one of the reasons we are so up and down with results across the board.

In SA we simply look for the superficial spin on development, this in my vocabulary is a swear word from many quarters. I always believe that this whole scenario of “developing” talent is a catch-22. Why? Because if you’re hearing about it, it is there for the wrong reason. It is those programmes that you don’t know about that are the real programmes. They make sure the players’ experiences are positive even when the initial experience may be negative and that the learning and growth translates into reaching skill-based potential.

The catch-22 is that some programmes are so good they cannot remain a secret. In SA right now I’m not sure I know of many (if any) like this. There is Let’s Play, an initiative many people will be familiar with. I think the concept has potential yet it is there primarily to create the spin-off of positioning the SuperSport brand and creating sales for DStv decoders. Just my opinion.

I have not seen any real tangible spin-off from any programme they’ve run. Maybe they just haven’t showed it. Let’s Play is simply a brand, they involve service providers (who charge for the service of course) and then put that on TV linking up with some credible initiatives. I will acknowledge that, but where is the sustainability of the experience.

I am looking for real experiential impact — I am looking for follow through — I am looking for social change that adds value to South African society. I would like to see schools leaving their so-called younger superstars in their peer groups as long as possible and not upgrading them to first-team level too early. Understandably some talent is just too good to ignore but let’s manage that exception. An example for you at a provincial and international level: Derick Hougaard and Morne Steyn.

Hougaard I believe was rushed and Steyn was not, less by design and more by default I’m guessing. Where are the two players now? On very different paths I can assure you.

I challenge programmes such as Let’s Play, The Sports Trust, Lead SA and the like to derive real value versus commercial and superficial value. To create experiences that are life-changing. I challenge organisations like Discovery, the Sports Science Institute of South Africa, the health and wellness industry, the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee and a combination of the departments of sport and recreation, education and social development to do the same thing. To drive hard at experiences, mould future champions appropriately from a young age and put in place a coaching infrastructure that will make sure we build from the bottom up. A sports experience which can and must play an integral role in changing the face of this country.

Is it too idealistic?

The longer we think like this the more experiences we lose out on.