CAYPABLE

I attended the CAYPABLE CPD tonight aimed at current club coaches who work with children and young people. First thoughts are that it is rather interesting to see the concepts and theory shaping this programme, which also forms the basis of the current level 1.

The 'Becoming Caypable' resource pack is very handy for coaches such as myself, considering the little background I have in this sport. The pack has a fantastic amount of content which I'm going to be a massive geek about and read through. It's really gave me a little more enthusiasm to get out there and try out some of the plans and it will help that the fundamental aspects of the course and resource pack will be easily transferable across other sports (Win-win!). One thing that was pointed out tonight is that I need to remain on top of the session and step in when players are not performing the 'correct' technique! I'm not going to be too critical of myself today.

It looks like I've found myself a club and a team at u10 too. Although it does clash with another project, it is looking positive. Even if the chairman kept highlighting the children's behavioural issues!

The little things

At the minute I'm trying to further myself by coaching and networking in sport with the hope that it'll open up an opportunity for me to be employed by someone. For the last three weeks, I've been supporting a community rugby league club promote the sport in Greater Manchester. They are running a programme aimed at using sport as a tool to reduce anti-social and criminal behaviour locally by targeting disadvantage children under 16.

With recent events across the country, there has been a considerable amount of opinion in the media about youths from these backgrounds being the scourge of society. Typically the children attending are showing their attitudes among their peers; wanting to be the centre of attention and disrupting the session at all opportunities. It normally follows one of two of the group starting to mess about and then they all follow. It is kind of frustrating when you're just getting going. What is this a reflection of though? Is it the children trying to push the boundaries in front of their peers? Is it something to do with me as a coach? 

 

Their reaction to the coaches turning up is always good to see. I've experienced these behaviours before though, with lads and girls from more affluent backgrounds. So can it be determined by socio-economic background? I don't think so, although it may be partly responsible. Can it be because they are kids? Maybe it's a natural kid thing? Can it be because of the coach? Now this is what I believe is a major attribute of a good coach; being able to command the attention and respect of all those involved. It is this which I believe is a major flaw for me as a coach.

You may expect with their background to deal with children who have some stereotypical behaviours. I'm going to say that is the case here. The use of foul language is a problem, where isn't it? Here though, it is used in quite a nasty manner, which I do believe comes from their social interactions on the estate. Their little disputes, which can come from a forward pass to someone being tackled, end in each kid wanting to fight (and kill) each other rather than looking towards using that incorrect behaviour in a constructive way and what they can do to prevent that happening again. It comes across that if they don't succeed at every opportunity they've failed and they need to find the person responsible.

How can I adapt to get these players to understand this? After every incident (yes, there was many), I asked the children on my side questions to guide them to understand what went wrong before explaining what can be done to avoid this situation. Did this work? I'm not too sure. It is a constant learning experience for me.

Along with the children's behaviours between each other, I am also trying to engage with new ways of adapting sessions to promote specific sporting behaviours. I never played the sport of rugby league in my youth so it is a little difficult for me to draw upon experiences of playing and being coached. Yesterday the lads wanted to pick up the ball as dummy half, run at the opposition defence and eventually run out of tackles. Another coach implemented a rule of two passes after the ball is picked up to stop this behaviour. It is in this situation I question my ability to adapt sessions. I know at specific ages the league's rule is that if a dummy half is tackled it is an automatic turnover. Why didn't I think of using this to my advantage? Something else that comes with experience? We'll see.

My experiences coaching

My experiences playing sport

I know this is about me coaching but these experiences have been one reason for me becoming a coach and shaped me to be the coach that I am. I'll have wrote something similar as part of my degree and I'll try not to bore you.

I grew up playing football for an 11-a-side team in Reddish, Stockport. It wasn't the best footballing side but I enjoyed going down Wednesday and Sunday to 'play'. When I say 'play', I mean stand as a substitute for 70-90 minutes each game depending on the quality of the opposition with the odd start here and there. I don't blame the coach and other players for expecting this to be the case. I was a school year younger than the rest, physically I hadn't developed like the majority of other players and they wanted to compete against the other teams we faced. I was always a believer in my own ability (I still am now) but I had one major weakness - I was physically unfit.

According to a school report, I was part of a basketball club (is this a way of saying I wasn't good enough for the team?), I trained with my year's cricket team at school, playing one game out of a possible one (seems strange considering what school children have had the opportunity to do now), and outside of school I gave track cycling at the velodrome a go, which I thoroughly enjoyed but somehow never stuck to.

My experiences coaching

I didn't really take to coaching straight away and my primary focus for wanting to work and be involved in sport was aimed at me becoming a development officer, promoting sporting participation within the community. I can see how both roles are interlinked from the experiences that I have had and overtime I have come to enjoy this role.

Past experiences have seen me amass hundreds upon hundreds of hours as a coach, in a wide range of sports. I've coached in roles supporting local authority school holiday sports camps, leading on programmes such as Active Playtimes and Sportslinx, coaching at a community junior rugby league club, supporting a local talent development camp, supporting the expansion of sport into a new City through coaching in schools and I was a counsellor at a summer camp in the USA for two summers. At the minute I'm supporting a local rugby league club deliver activities aimed at under 16s to keep these children children away from anti-social behaviour and criminal activities.

I wouldn't say I was lucky to get into rugby league cause there are opportunities to get into the sport across the country, especially in areas where they are looking to expand.  I will say though that I was lucky to meet and have support from the people I did. They've done a lot to channel my enthusiasm for sport. In 2009 there wasn't much I knew about the sport other than the ball has to be passed back! So along with coaching being a process I am adapting to, I am also always learning about this new sport.

All my experiences in coaching have been to give people the same opportunities I had. Alongside this I want to let all the children (young people and adults) have equal opportunities to participate. I don't want to see children turn up to be the sub every week like I had the misfortune of doing. I believe rugby league is a game that is suitable for all children and there is one position that everyone can excel in. I would honestly (and I do mean this) rather the players won/lost/drawn knowing that it was a result the whole team had been responsible for rather than focusing on a team that consists of the strongest players week-in week-out. I'll probably go into this and make myself a little clearer another time.

Why? I'm not the best of writers...

Really?

After browsing a few online blogs from other coaches and seeing how they were sharing their experiences I thought the process of blogging would be a great experience for me. Hopefully it will allow me the opportunity to reflect on all my experiences, provide me with ideas of further development and promote opportunities for external feedback. As I'm currently unemployed, I didn't know why I hadn't thought of this before.

So, 'why not?'

I'm not the best of writer, even though I wrote a 10,000 word dissertation in my third year at University and can talk all day (it may be rubbish, but still!). I also struggle to put across my points coherently and often get people confused. Many people would say I'm a little boring or miserable too (I'm not, honestly), so I may come across as a little negative. I'm going to give this process a good go though, however I don't think many of my posts are going to be more than a couple of lines long. 

I'm going to give another post a go with my past experiences in sport as a participant and a coach and how they have shaped me to become the coach I am currently  and where I want to be.