#26 Coaching during Lockdown

Anyone else tearing their hair out now? I know we’ve had a few ‘relaxations’ but this #lockdown scenario is really starting to get to me.

Thank goodness for netball because I honestly think it is the only thing that is keeping me sane at the moment.

I decided to see if there was any need, firstly for 1:1 sessions, then small group sessions when groups of 6 was allowed, about 3 weeks ago. The response has been mind blowing! I’m a little worried that I’ve created a monster and people may start getting annoyed that I can’t fit them in, but that’s a worry for another day!

I’m leading the sessions around my husband’s shifts because, if you didn’t know already, I have a couple of daughters, aged 7 & 2, who need looking after! In the nicest way possible they are why I need to get out to netball! Anyone who is homeschooling, looking after a toddler or both during coronavirus, will know where I am coming from!

These sessions have had a fair amount of planning put into them, as always from me, to be honest! ‘Preparation prevents piss poor performance’ is one of my most favourite mantras!

The 1:1s have been pretty straight forward in terms of coronavirus, it’s been the creativity thats had the most consideration needed. Planning 45 minutes of netball work with just 2 people at a 2m distance is quite a challenge but manageable with some thought! I’ve had a fair few re-bookings though, so to keep thinking of new ideas, keep the participant engaged and for it to beneficial has got me thinking outside the box! That’s no bad thing. I am definitely learning lots!

The small group sessions where social distancing must be adhered to and equipment sharing ‘kept to a minimum’, has been the most challenging! It took me best part of a weekend to plan an hours session that I thought was appropriate, advantageous & can tick all the coronavirus criteria safety boxes. I am normally a perfectionist it’s true, but making sure everything is as right as it can be is even more important during these turbulent times! It’s a heck of a responsibility.

The most important thing of course is that the participants are as safe as possible. There has been an unprecedented demand since I ‘opened’ these opportunities. I did wonder if they would be popular given the potential ‘risk’ involved. I needn’t have worried!

Just from my experience in the last two weeks, I can share that the positive impact emotionally and mentally on these social Netballers far outweighs the physical benefits, as well, I guess, as the risks of picking up Covid 19.

You can literally see the difference from ladies walking in with the weight of the world on their shoulders to walking out, a bit taller with a spring in their step!

There is a real mixture of experiences as well. We’ve had ladies attending who are key-workers:  nurses and Police Officers to those working in domestic violence settings and teachers. There have been a lot of Mums, many open about their struggles with home schooling, toddlers and children with additional needs - sometimes all three. We’ve also had ladies who live alone, either furloughed or working from home and admittedly really struggling with the isolation.

The 55 minutes they spend with their team mates, or 45mins they spend just with me in a 1:1 is seen as a bit of a lifeline for them. They can ‘escape’ from their reality and it visibly, really gives them a lift.

We can only have the 5 participants in a group at the moment, but the banter, cameraderie and spirit comes back almost immediately and something you only really get with team sports and in my opinion, a certain style of it with women! Without getting too deep and meaningful it’s almost spiritual, women can ‘tune in’ to each other so perfectly.

So, as much as I am delivering a service and netball is mine, and my participants passion, it’s not the actual sport or coaching that’s given me an incredible buzz this week. It’s been the beautiful picture walkers by have experienced, the laughter and banter ringing in my ears on my cycle home and the wonderful messages of appreciation and support received.

After all, there is no community like the netball community.

#25 Lets here it for the Non Volunteers!

This week has been National Volunteers Week and I’ve been pretty busy on social media thanking and hi-lighting the incredible efforts netball volunteers go to to make our great sport happen!

I am a true believer that without this fabulous army of volunteers across the globe, netball just would not be in the great place it is currently. Whether it’s someone offering to wash the bibs each week for the local, social team to the Regional Chair dedicating so much time and energy to the governance and administration of netball, as well as everyone in between. You are all worth your weight in gold and ‘thank you’ will never be enough.

It has also got me thinking about the ‘non-volunteers’ and the essential role they play in netball across the globe.

A ‘non-volunteer’, in my eyes anyway, is someone who is paid to do a task or tasks. Volunteers do not get paid.

Until quite recently I think payment in netball was quite controversial. Especially at grass roots.

I remember in my previous role, strongly backing a local league organiser against a plethora of criticism from my colleagues and local netball volunteers, because she made a bit of money for it!  She was (and still is!) doing a fabulous job. It wasn’t by any means paying her mortgage or even a small percentage of her bills but she saw a niche and went for it. We should be celebrating a women’s entrepreneurship. She was clearly doing a much better job than her competitors (corporate and voluntary run) proven by the fact so many teams went from those competitions to hers! It also continues to grow and I say good on her!

I had to really fight her corner to the ‘powers that be’, many of whom didn’t like the evolution of netball or something done differently. I say ‘embrace change, or be left behind!’

I also remember the angst I felt, before I asked for remuneration from the club I had been coaching voluntarily at, for a number of years! It was such a big decision for me to ask and I felt so guilty even contemplating it!

The facts speak for themselves though. For every £20 I earned coaching a 90minute session, I offered (and still do!) free planning & prep of those sessions, review and reflection, out of training communication with players (mostly at times not convenient to me!) as well as more CPD undertaken than a lot of my coaching peers! Coaching at games wasn't (and still isn’t) paid for, so the majority of the work that went in to ‘paid for’ coaching is still voluntary.

My point is this. Yes, we have an amazing army of netball volunteers who should be much more appreciated than I feel they currently are. We also have a spectacular array of ‘non-volunteers’ - those netball stalwarts who do so much for our great game, get less then a little in return, but still go above and beyond to make netball happen!

What is amazing, to me at least, is that these ‘£20 per hour’ coaches, those league organisers who make a little extra for their holiday funds or ambitious umpires who travel the country for expenses, for more court time experience, think they are the luckiest people ever for ‘getting paid’ for doing something they love! It’s the participants they are coaching, the players who compete in their leagues and the athletes these umpires officiate, who are the lucky ones, if you ask me!

I’ve been thinking about this a lot more during lockdown as my ‘little project’ that’s been around for a couple of years, ‘Netball in the Community’ has had more time dedicated to it and as such is just starting to get a bit busier!

Before lockdown I offered some freelance coaching and organised fun  & friendly festivals within the ‘Netball in the Community’ project. What I made didn’t warrant registering as self employed, but I do like to do things properly! Most of the festivals I organise are for Children in Need,  Sport Relief or local good causes anyway!

The netball void in recent months has been vast, but the 1:1 sessions and more recent small group  restrictions being lifted, has seen my coaching engagement go from  0-60 in a matter of hours! I have never been so popular on Facebook!

Even the fact that I’m ‘providing something that local players want and charging for it’  is completely out of my comfort zone!

But, you see, that’s what I think myself and my fellow ‘non volunteers’ have in common: we’re still volunteers at heart and like all volunteers do it for ‘love’ first!