Forward December 2015 | Page 38

SPORT Journey to the Alcock Cup It has been said many times, “you can’t expect a different result if you continue to do things the same way,” and with this in mind, we bravely chose to do things differently in 2013. To complement the elite Strength and Conditioning sessions that were being established by Mr Jeffrey Giles, Director of Athletic Development, the School engaged the services of Darren Harris from ‘Leading Teams’, a culture and leadership consultancy organisation, to help establish a culture that would underpin our desires for future success on the sporting field. We needed to establish a trademark set of behaviours that would lay the foundation for long term success. pre-season camp would lay the foundation for the team, but it was the commitment to our program by one of our better players, Jack Cripps (He 09-13), that would have a more lasting effect. Despite playing WAFL Colts football for East Fremantle FC in the morning, Jack was back with the team by 1.00pm and was still grinding through the physical work at 10.00pm. Jack would go on to win the Bink Davies Best and Fairest award and play for WA in the National U18 competition. Jack showed that committing to the School’s program was the best way forward for our elite players and his example would serve us well going forward. This process involved a number of Year 10-12 boys from all winter sports reviewing how they were perceived externally, as well as where they were at that present time, and how we wanted to be perceived. A trademark set of behaviours and values was decided upon with the notion being that if we could live these, we would be well on the way to the success we craved. The boys now had a clear understanding of what was required. We needed to be ‘3G’ – United, Professional, Hard. Establishing a trademark set of behaviours also provided our coaches with a secure platform from which to coach the respective teams; everyone knew what was expected of them. Despite all the pre-season work, we began the 2013 season with a 149 point loss to Hale and then followed it up with a 122 point loss to Scotch. It was clear that some of the 1st XVIII boys were unable, or unwilling, to behave the way the team needed them to. The following week a number of selection changes were made and four Year 10 boys were brought into the team. When we were six goals down midway through the second quarter it looked as though we were in real trouble, but the boys responded magnificently. Despite going down by three points, I knew we were on the right track. We continued to bring in Year 10 boys for experience and by the end of the season we had recorded four wins and would finish fifth on the ladder. It is one thing to have some words written on a wall that help guide our behaviour, but it is another thing to really know what they mean and what they look like on the field. A physically demanding and mentally testing 38 For Geoff Valentine, the journey towards the Alcock Cup began in November 2012 when he was appointed Director of Football. In 2013, Geoff moved out of the 6V classroom in the Preparatory School and up to the Senior School to lead the School’s football program. Typically, the Director of Football position had been an administrative role as opposed to coaching, but with encouragement from Headmaster Stephen W