I LOVE being a netball coach, it’s the best role ever and I wouldn’t change it for the world! Like many coaches I wear a lot of hats, have experience of coaching different ages, different abilities; varying groups of people with different needs - more mature ladies at Walking Netball & those who have never played netball or haven’t played for a long time. I LOVE delivering Back to Netball!
For the benefit of this blog though I’d like to discuss Club Coaching. Just for the sake of argument I am going to define ‘Club’ as more than one team, training regularly, competing & having a development emphasis within the ethos.
I’ve been a Club Coach and whilst it definitely has its ‘ups’ and many of them, I believe it can also be an incredibly isolating job. Sadly, under appreciated - the burden of expectation from those around you, heavy on your shoulders.
As we tentatively return to court with the hope all competition restrictions will be lifted in 2022, I am becoming increasingly worried about the lack of coaches and perhaps, more concerning, the loss of coaches in netball.
For example, there are three ‘main’ or leading clubs in my area. They have varying ambitions and structures but one thing they all have in common is they have all been advertising for Coaches before this season commenced.
There was a lack of Coaches before the pandemic and the problem is only going to get worse - unless we do something about it! I propose starting with appreciating what we have!
Research amongst my peers clearly indicates that whilst we’ve all missed our great game during lockdown, it’s also given coaches plenty of time to reflect.
Female coaches, with childcare, education, career progression and work / life balance issues (still more of a consideration than our male counterparts sadly) have decided that coaching no longer takes priority for a number of reasons.
Disappointingly, ‘it doesn’t make me happy’ is front and centre.
I realise this is not a scientific, geographic or official ‘poll’ but surely, just in my small square mileage of the South Coast of England, it’s a very sad state of affairs. It is bound to have an impact on the wider netball community.
My tentative questioning of netball coach friends elsewhere in the world, does see a similar trend. I wonder if it’s the same in other sports? Is it a trend in both male & female coaching and for those at different stages of their Club Coaching journeys?
So, what do I mean by ‘under appreciated’?
What players see at regular training sessions is normally the product of voluntary planning - analysis, thorough consideration of a teams’ needs, feedback from players (often ‘out of hours’) the list is endless. In a nutshell, the training session delivered is the tip of the iceberg for a Coach. So much more goes into delivery & the art of coaching!
10 years ago, when I first started being paid to coach, the National Governing Body’s ‘best practice’ guideline for Level 2 Coaches was £20 an hour.
Guess what? That hasn’t changed!
I was asked to take on a Back to Netball session in the New Year - at a venue not too far away from the very first Back to Netball session I delivered nearly 12 years ago. I would ‘take home’ less now than I would back then! Whilst the £20 coaching fee hasn’t gone up, train fares certainly have!
I have fond memories of Club Coaching and wouldn’t rule out a return in the future - time and a thicker skin dependent! I made the decision to step away before the pandemic hit and am very happy concentrating on other coaching avenues.
I total understand and appreciate where these Netball Club Coaches are coming from though. It was tough before Covid-19 so far more difficult now. Who do you think has taken on all those extra Covid-19 responsibilities?!
To coach any club side properly & successfully takes time & dedication, if you don’t have the wider support to make it work, it’s always going to be difficult to prioritise.
It’s not an easy decision for those leaving club coaching behind, what are we doing to change their minds though?
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