I am by no means an expert. And nor do I pretend to be. But I have been asked in the last few weeks to talk to undergrads thinking about time post graduation, about what it is I do. Yes, I have a unique job. AND I LOVE IT. I like to think that I have had some level of success to make it 10+ years in this career. Sure, there are days that I am frustrated, disappointed, but in general, and you can ask my wife… I love getting up and going to work. I love the teams I am with, and the projects that I am involved with. And I have said this before, and well, I will say it again, the road that I have traveled is a shitty one. I have been asked to be at a career fair in January to speak to a student body and the coordinator asked that I be as honest as possible. So this is a little start to the preparation. There are situations as I move forward in this career that I wish someone would have sat me down, and said, “this is how it is. Suck it up, get used to it or don’t do this at all.” And here we go…
1. Your hours in the first stage of this career will suck.. most cases you will work when others do not. You need to put in extra hours proving you want to be in this career. And at no point should you ever thing a job is below you. I was done my masters, had 8 years of experience and I still did shifts manning a fitness desk handing out equipment. You know why? Because it had to be done… it is called work. Be grateful you are doing what you are doing. The hours can get better.
2. This can be tough on your family. And with the tough hours comes the strain on the family. I was lucky enough to marry a saint who has been patient with me, my career choice and has been one of my biggest supporters. Be realistic and understand the rough spots of the job because you need to be…
3. Patient young grasshopper. If you do all the things that need to be done… put in the time, shadow, volunteer, sacrifice good things happen. Every one wants the corner office. We dream of it. But guess what? There are only 4 corners. There are only so many jobs at the top. And sure you have the skills, the swagger what ever you want to call it. There are still alpha dogs running the show and you have to wait your turn to eat. You do not walk out of school and get handed a team and say run with it. You need to shadow, put in your time learning the dynamics of working with athletes or clients. Things are not just given to you be cause you deserve it, YOU EARN IT. So with that you have to…
4. Champion something… do not be a jack of all trades, master of none. What gets you out of bed in the morning and excited to go to work. And what is going to set you apart from the next kid who just got their degree and is going to be a coach. It is fine to be well versed in the trades but there is a point at which you are dabbling in so many things that you are unfocused. That is what I was like when I was young. It was great to experience many theories but do not try to be so versatile that you become handcuffed by your inability to focus on what matters. Learn to recognize the fly shit from the pepper.
5. Be humble but be confident. This is the one that I wish someone would have told me day one. There are a lot of good people out that and there is more than enough people to work with. There is no need to be guarded about who is working with who. This is one that I still struggle with today and from time to time I need someone to call me out. Be confident in your skills but do not at anytime think what you are doing is so unique that you have to keep it from others. All good coaches are doing something similar… with their own flare. So with that it sometimes means that you need to be a…
6. Coaching ninja – you are a coach. You are not the front and centre of the athletic universe. You are there to help that athletes be the front and centre of the athletic universe they are in. YOU ARE SUPPORT STAFF. In reality at the higher levels that athletes is world class for a reason and your contribution yes, plays an important role, but is not as grand as it is in your mind. Coach, but do not look for the immediate glory of coaching. Your glory will come when you see those athletes you are working with compete and be successful.
7. EVERY program needs some form of individualization. You cannot write one program and hand it to a team. It would be beautiful, but your athletes are all different. They have different training ages (years of training) structural tolerance to training loads, etc. So you have to find a way to make that program individualized to each athlete. I work with national water polo and although the program appears to look the same across the board, there are variations for each athlete to accommodate for their individual differences.
8. If you do not understand the program or the athletes back ground, ask. Do not assume that you know. And do not assume that you know your program is working. If you cannot measure it you do not know what the out come is. If you think your programs is successful, measure it and prove it…
9. So there for you cannot believe everything you read on the internet. There are a lot of experts out there. You have to be able to critically evaluate what you read. Any asshole can post to the web… why the best example is the fact that you are reading my material right now.