I got into coaching because I thought it was fun. I enjoyed coaching summer league, and my dad needed a coach. 3 days a week for 50 minutes a day. Not a lot of money, but it also wasn't a lot of work. It was perfect for a kid who was going to a Junior College trying to redefine himself academically. I was having a blast coaching, being a college student, and I was on the Dean's List. Things were great. I fell in love with coaching though. Helping others improve became addictive, and it got me hooked, and now I am a full-time coach.
As I continued to coach though I felt like I needed a purpose to my coaching, so I really began to think about what I did as a coach. I found that making kids faster at swimming, although part of the focus of what we did, it was kind of superficial. There had to be more. I began to research and talk with other coaches about the values taught in swimming; the life lessons that can be learned. I figured out that maybe because I wasn't fully dedicated as a young person as a swimmer, I didn't seem to learn all these lessons. Now as a coach though I began to realize that we did teach great lessons that helped kids as they go through life. I started to say certain things, and conducted myself in a certain way. I began to stress the life lessons in my coaching. Not only did my swimmers begin to learn them, but I myself began to learn them as well. Coaching has helped me become who I am.
Through the years I have gotten better at relaying my message to my swimmers. Some do take a little longer than others, but I stick to my formula and it seems to be effective. It is a challenge at times, as results begin to overtake swimmers and parents, and they have a hard time realizing everything that they can be taking away from the experience. Not to say our goal is not to make them fast swimmers because it is, but when I began to teach the life lessons using swimming as a vehicle to do so, my swimmers also began to achieve much more in the sport. As the lessons not only make them better people and students, but they become crucial in the continued success in swimming.
A few things that I try to get them to learn: It takes hard work for success; Deal with failure and use it as a step towards success and not a result; Time Management as swimming tends to take over and dictate a swimmers time; How to motivate teammates and use them to help motivate you to be better; I can't is just a way to say I am not willing to try anymore; Impossible is only something that I haven't tried to accomplish; and many others that can be learned.
It does take time to rehearse in your mind what you are going to tell your swimmers. It takes time to realize what you have taught so far, and what you still need to address. It takes time to evaluate previous season plans, and come up with that new ways that will not only achieve success, but be slightly different so that your athletes don't get bored with same old thing all the time. It is a daily activity to continue to look over the plan and then create a workout for the day that fits into that plan. Despite all that, it is a great job.
As mentioned in my coaching memory, it is amazing to be able to make a difference in one persons life. There have been more memories like when I talked a swimmer into continuing to swim despite going through a rough patch of swimming horrible. He only continued to swim to be a Valley High School champion, a scholarship swimmer for division 1 Swim Team, and an Olympic Trial Qualifier. So many instances like those, and now I am addicted.
I coach to make a difference and to help teach the life lessons that there are to teach with using swimming as the vehicle. Yes, I like to make swimmers fast, but there is a little more to it than that.
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