{"id":597,"date":"2012-05-11T00:05:07","date_gmt":"2012-05-11T00:05:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/myringetteteam.com\/charity_cup\/?p=597"},"modified":"2012-06-14T11:13:00","modified_gmt":"2012-06-14T11:13:00","slug":"picking-the-best-ringette-coach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/myringetteteam.com\/charity_cup\/picking-the-best-ringette-coach\/","title":{"rendered":"Picking the Best Ringette Coach"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>\u201cWhy do I hear only one coach yelling?<\/em>\u201d asked a mother as she watched her daughter play. She noticed that her daughter\u2019s coach was NOT yelling.<\/p>\n<p>She concluded that her daughter\u2019s coach was a poor coach, due to his silence.<\/p>\n<p>Do good coaches yell? How loud should they yell?<\/p>\n<p>How about this one: <em>\u201cdid you win?\u201d<\/em> Because if you lost &#8211; well, that game was a waste of time.<\/p>\n<p>Yet another typical comment: <em>\u201cas a coach, she is a great strategist.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>What is the definition of a good coach? Yeller, winner or strategist?<\/p>\n<p>In the pre-season, many local ringette associations challenge themselves to select the \u201cbest\u201d coaches for their teams. They want the \u201cbest\u201d for their athletes.<\/p>\n<p>Many coaching selection committees, regardless of the level of play, do not know what they expect of coaches.<\/p>\n<p>How can a coach perform well in the absence of guidance and expectations?<\/p>\n<p>Personnel experts tell us to determine the selection <strong>criteria<\/strong> and assessment <strong>methods<\/strong> prior to starting the assessment process.<\/p>\n<p>Coaching selection should be valid, fair and merit-based.<\/p>\n<p>So, what makes a good coach?<\/p>\n<p>The Coaching Association of Canada notes the qualities of great sport coaches:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Knows the Sport<\/li>\n<li>Seeks Out New Information<\/li>\n<li>Is a Motivator<\/li>\n<li>Knows The Athlete<\/li>\n<li>Is an Effective Communicator<\/li>\n<li>Is a Good Listener<\/li>\n<li>Is Disciplined<\/li>\n<li>Leads by Example<\/li>\n<li>Displays Commitment<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Andrea Becker, a professor at Cal State Fullerton, published the study, \u201c<em>It\u2019s Not What They Do, It\u2019s How They Do It: Athlete Experiences of Great Coaching,<\/em>\u201d in the International Journal of Sports Science &amp; Coaching (Vol. 4, No. 1, 2009). She asked athletes about great coaching.<\/p>\n<p>Becker identified 60 characteristics of great coaching and grouped them into the following six themes:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Coach Attributes<\/li>\n<li>The Environment<\/li>\n<li>Tactics and Strategies<\/li>\n<li>Relationships<\/li>\n<li>Coaching Actions, and<\/li>\n<li>Influences<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Athletes in the study spoke out:<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201c\u2026great coaching cannot be solely determined on the basis of <strong>win-loss<\/strong> records or <strong>media<\/strong> attention. \u2026 the true essence of greatness was captured in athlete experiences of who their coaches were, what they did, how they did it, and how it <strong>influenced<\/strong> them. Ultimately, these athletes experienced individuals who were not only great coaches, but <strong>extraordinary people who left lasting impressions on the lives<\/strong> of those who were fortunate enough to call them \u2018coach.\u2019<\/em> \u201c<\/p>\n<p>What does this mean for the coaching selection committee trying to pick the best ringette coach?<\/p>\n<p>Start with the core criteria: <strong>enthusiasm<\/strong>, <strong>teaching the details<\/strong> of the sport, and <strong>creating a learning and discovery environment<\/strong> that inspires.<\/p>\n<p>Coaches who simply watch ringette athletes perform rote drills copied from a drill book will achieve limited results.<\/p>\n<p>Coaching is about <strong>athlete engagement: <\/strong>offering an athlete learning experience with feedback to foster development.<\/p>\n<p>And, last, but not least \u2013 we want coaches who respect, understand, and aim to support female athletes. Boys and girls are different. They warrant different coaching approaches.<\/p>\n<p>Selection committees can <strong>create teaching simulations<\/strong> for prospective coaches, <strong>conduct reference checks<\/strong> for past behaviour, and assess <strong>personality interests <\/strong>and approaches.<\/p>\n<p>While not perfect for coaching selection, interviews are common as a selection method.<\/p>\n<p>Ringette Associations can follow these tips for good ringette coaching interview selection:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Choose relevant knowledge and behavioural factors (practice planning, drill leadership, game management, tactics, fitness for ringette, conflict management between players, and working with assistant coaches)<\/li>\n<li>Avoid closed-ended questions, such as &#8220;Did you know about this&#8230;?&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>Compose questions that put the coach in a real ringette coaching situation\u00a0and ask her to apply her knowledge and experience<\/li>\n<li>Have a list of 10 good answers on the marking sheet;\u00a0look for 5 points from the candidate (this puts selection committee members on the same page, and makes marking easy)<\/li>\n<li>Allow for other acceptable answers as they arise<\/li>\n<li>Keep notes<\/li>\n<li>After all interviews are over, the committee agrees on the score to each of the candidate\u2019s questions<\/li>\n<li>Plan for 3 hours to process four candidates (20 to 25 minutes per person)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Experience<\/strong> is king: <em>\u201cbeen there, done that.\u201d<\/em> But, don\u2019t overlook the \u201c<em>new to coaching<\/em>,\u201d motivated, natural engaging leader who inspires and teaches.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cWhy do I hear only one coach yelling?\u201d asked a mother as she watched her daughter play. She noticed that her daughter\u2019s coach was NOT yelling. She concluded that her daughter\u2019s coach was a poor coach, due to his silence. &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/myringetteteam.com\/charity_cup\/picking-the-best-ringette-coach\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tips-ringette-coaches"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/myringetteteam.com\/charity_cup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/myringetteteam.com\/charity_cup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/myringetteteam.com\/charity_cup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/myringetteteam.com\/charity_cup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/myringetteteam.com\/charity_cup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=597"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/myringetteteam.com\/charity_cup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":636,"href":"http:\/\/myringetteteam.com\/charity_cup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597\/revisions\/636"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/myringetteteam.com\/charity_cup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/myringetteteam.com\/charity_cup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/myringetteteam.com\/charity_cup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}