GAELIC SPORTS WORLD Issue 38 – November 16, 2015 | Page 41

BY JOE TROLAN
NOVEMBER 13, 2015
As a coach (or parent) we should always endeavor to push
young athletes (people) to challenge themselves and do their
best. The outcome of course does not have to be overtly measurable such as in a medal or trophy but that the person is satisfied with their efforts.
EMBRACE CHALLENGE
Our job as a coach is to ensure that we correctly push our
athletes to always challenge themselves. In a society where
sometimes people withdraw from challenges because of the
fear of failure, coaches should embrace the fear of the challenge. Coaches should do so because a challenge can help
keep the interest of his/her athletes, strengthen the relationship between coach and player, and gives players “ownership”
of their future. But, coaches need to be aware of the negative
side effects of pushing kids to far such as burnout, stress, and
bad behavior. While there are negative side effects, this does
not mean that a coach should not have a high bar for each
athlete – of course they should but it should be flexible and
workable. By that I mean coaches should be able to tailor each
bar to athletes potential.

INTEREST
Let’s examine the first reason to use a positive approach –
that of keeping them interested. If your player fails a challenge then many coaches use two forms of punishment – berating and reinforcing. Berating a player, especially a young
player, will make them less inclined to continue and certainly
less interested. Instead reinforcing the good things can help
them overcome the mistakes and keep them interested in improving their skills as an example and involved in team sports.

COACH/PLAYER RELATIONSHIP
The second reason to use positivity is because of strengthening
the player coach/relationship. Children are sponges and soak up
every little bit of information given to them and as a coach you
are a role model for them. As such, you are a “second” father or
mother to these players and should act accordingly. Just as any
relationship – strength comes from trust and working together
and in the case of sports its very important. A player who sees a
coach that is constantly trying to h