Global Sport Stories

Throughout my life, coaching has never really interested me. Why would you want to try and teach others a skill when there exists so many ‘know it alls’ in our world? 

With so much coverage and media attention now surrounding professional sport, it is not outside the realms of possibility that you have some middle aged bloke from Grimsby sat in his front room critiquing the bobsleigh when the Winter Olympics roll around.

About two months ago however, I realised the nature of my cynical ways. Take tennis for example, I love the sport and have played it since the age of 11. I fancy myself okay on court and thought I could make a half decent mentor. So, the next thing you know I’m signed up for my Level 1 Assistant Coaching qualification. 

On reflection, I suppose I delved into the unknown – with no real expectation, just a new racket. The differing outlook on the sport I thought I knew however, I couldn’t have predicted in a thousand years.

As the course was the first stage of coaching, tennis as a game was stripped right back to its basics. I began to learn how to engage and encourage the development of red/beginner players – spongeballs and mini courts, the lot. So much for using my new racket…

Ideas and concepts were explained, which seemed so simple but also contradicted my naive pre-course mindset. For example, topspin, low to high, stroke the dog – all of the usual tennis jargon – forget it! This was about teaching and growing the game of tennis. And how do you ensure players keep returning? By experiencing success. What does success look like? Hitting the ball over the net and in the court. Therefore, before any technique comes into it, achieving a rally by any means possible is priority number one.

Simple yet simultaneously mindblowing.

Admittedly, the concept of the idea isn’t all too mindblowing. However, believe me there was so much more. And as someone who learned to play tennis so long ago, learning to coach the same sport has allowed me to view it from a completely different perspective.

This idea of perspective concerning sport is one that I had never properly considered, yet am learning to do so more and more – something I now find fantastically captivating.

Putting coaching aside for a second, I recently had the opportunity to be the venue announcer at a local basketball fixture – illustrating another completely fresh perspective from which to ingest sport.

Suddenly, I found myself having to think of basketball from an event point of view, as opposed to the specific sport. As venue announcer you are the link between the entertainment and the paying spectators. As you may now be sensing, you would be totally correct if I was somewhat of a bag of nerves before diving into my new, unexpected role.

The game flew by, with so much to process and act upon, it really did seem as though the match lasted five minutes. Although being totally thrown in at the deep end, it turned out to be a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

So what is my point from these anecdotes?

Sport offers us so much. Experiencing a new role within a game in which you thought you knew, can transform our understanding and outlook on both that sport and the industry as a whole. These blogs usually preach the value of physical participation, which of course I still advocate wholeheartedly. However, this piece proves another string to sport as a whole’s bow. 

It provides countless opportunities; physically yes, but mentally also. Coaching and announcing has actively changed my prior perceptions. Allowing and encouraging reflections and development of one’s own thoughts for me seems invaluable, and just another reason to add to my ever growing list of why I love sport and activity. 

So yes it’s a gigantic cliche, that as the person supposedly teaching students, I am learning the most. But should you ever want to expand your mind, go on, give the Tennis Level 1 Assistant Coaching qualification a bash. You’ll be writing blogs singing its praises in no time.