Role of the Coach

It is important for the coach’s role to be defined at the outset of a season, practice, game, or even time-out or fifth end break.

This is nothing new! It is the same in any sport. What is unique in curling is the fact that the coach of a competitive curling team has less responsibility in "arbitrarily" identifying the role. Successful curling teams are very self-directed – we build them that way! They usually have very distinct opinions as to the areas the coach will be asked to work in and how the input will be delivered. Even with our junior teams, the goal is to encourage independent thinking in competition. Part of the process to encourage this can involve asking for team input on the role of the coach.

There are some traditional areas where curling coaches are usually expected to function. These include technical analysis and fault correction in practice, as well as observation of games for feedback on strategy etc. What needs to be determined is whether the coach is a director of the team’s season or a consultant. Anyone who has moved from coaching "adult teams" to "junior teams" or vice versa will recognize the differences in coach responsibilities. It is very important to sort this issue out before you get started with either a season, practice, or game, or even a time-out. As with all other aspects of the game, communication is the key to settling your role as coach of a team.

Some of the many questions that need to be answered are:

       
• How often do you expect the coach to attend games?        
• How often do you intend to practice as a team? As individuals?        
• Do you agree on the potential benefits of keeping competitive data   (statistics) and their role in establishing practice plans?        
• In competition – do you want the coach to call time-out if they see a   situation that they perceive as warranting a discussion? Not all teams   do!

The coach’s role must be clear to all. It must also be accepted and agreed by all. Ken Bagnell works as Colleen Jones’ team coach and has been extremely successful in the role. During games, Ken (who is actually a Sport Psychologist with a background in volleyball) pays attention to cues he has identified as indicators of the team’s mental readiness to compete at the highest level. The team looks after the strategy and technical execution details themselves. They are successful because the coach and each team member know their job and focuses on it without interfering with the others.

There are many strategies teams use in practicing and refining the communication necessary for efficient teamwork but until the roles are defined and accepted by the group, the team will struggle with the challenge of becoming "GREATER THAN THE SUM OF ITS PARTS". With clarified roles comes accountability. If a job is not being done properly it may be a result of nobody or everybody trying to take it on. Whether the job is technical analysis and corrections or arranging for travel and accommodations – everybody should know  "who owns it".

As team successes grow, so does the number of details that require attention. It is critical that these increasing demands be met with the same process of job assignment. If that means that the team expands (which it usually does) then the new members of the team must be made aware of just which areas they are wanted/needed in and which areas they are not.

A seemingly natural tendency of coaches is to take on all the "new stuff" that comes up when a team reaches its "next level". Be very careful that the new stuff doesn’t replace the fundamental old stuff that got you there in the first place. For example - If you are suddenly spending your time co-coordinating media interviews instead of preparing game plans, perhaps that media co-ordination should be assigned to a new team member (and I don’t mean one of the players). This kind of stuff creeps up on a team and it’s easy to get away from normal routines so coaches must be diligent in paying attention to changes and the potential pitfalls of letting things slide. Don’t be so focused on "protecting your territory" that you forget what you planted there. Start out knowing everyone’s role and, if new demands appear, assess whether you or someone else can best handle increases.

The bottom line to all this:

Start out with a clearly defined role – then when new demands arise, take time to assess those demands and whether they can be added to your role or whether the basics that got you there in the first place would be compromised by adding the new stuff. There is an excellent article on the National Training Center website entitled  "Where Do We Find a Coach?". In the article, Bill Tschirhart advises teams to consider using teams of coaches to meet their varied demands. This wonderful advice will only work if the coaching team is made up of coaches that truly accept that "it’s not about the coaches". They must set the egos aside and accept that others may be able to provide assistance to the team that may compliment their own efforts.

Enjoy working with the athletes and take pride in your place in their shadow.