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Supreme Being
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: Today @ 08:49:15
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Can somebody convince me why a coach needs to sit on selection?
For several years I have coached various senior squads... and never sat on selection for a variety of reasons that made it unfeasible. I would add that I - at a distance - provided feedback on players or units where approrpiate for selection to use.
I now coach a squad where I was pleaded to sit on selection. Despite there being EIGHT members of the selection panel including myself (captains, managers, selection chair and coach) and skippers/managers speak to players that move teams from the previous week it is seemingly ME that gets all the moaning and bleating about how unfair it is if a player gets "dropped".
(I use the word in quotes because the reason may not always be because that player is playing badly - bigger picture stuff may be the reason).
I now hear that an assistant coach - who has NOTHING to do with selection and has NEVER done so (aside from the feedback type stuff) - was continually questioned regarding selection recently.
It seems to me that the further a coach can get from team selection the better - thus permitting him/her to actually COACH and not get embroiled in what is effectively bottom wiping and ego massaging. Or is this a part of award courses/CPD that as yet (L3M1) I have to come across? (that isn't a dig at the award courses/CPD incidentally!)
Not to forget all the extraneous queries regarding where the physio is/when he'll turn up, or who is doing teas on saturday, or whether we should book a coach to an away game, or what colour shirts we should wear (FFS!) or a myriad of other areas totally unconnected with improving players and preparing them for games.
So - who can convince me that I as a coach really need to waste my time considering players' fragile egos and wiping their bums for them, as opposed to just concentrating on making players BETTER players?
didds
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Forum Newbie
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 31/12/2008 01:20:02
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| I am not sure you need to waste your time massaging fragile egos. On the other hand being on the selection committee does allow you some input into providing certain players who might be ready for it opportunities to reinforce what you are doing at training, thus making them better players. For example - this week you are set to play team "X", who are not particuarly strong. By being on selection you could provide arguments for providing 2-3 players who might not normally be selected for first XV an opportunity to play there as it would be good for their development as players. In addition, you are often one of the few on such a committee that sees a player at all opportunities throughout a training period and not just at games, thus being able to provide valuable input when it comes to making decisions about players who are very close with respect to playing ability for any given game plan. By rewarding the player who has put more work into getting themselves into that position you often provide an incentive to the other player to improve their work rate at the training sessions. Just a couple of reasons to continue to endure the unenviable task of helping to select players as part of your role as coach for those players.
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Supreme Being
Group: Moderators
Last Login: 06/01/2009 10:43:29
Posts: 142,
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| Coaching and selection are interwoven I fear. However if you can clearly define your exact role with the players then some, but not all, of the misunderstandings over selection can be smoothed out. No one likes not playing. The challenge is to find ways to tell the bad news and keep the player happy in the long run. As a coach, the further challenge is to delegate the "bottlewasher" jobs to allow you to coach as much as possible. The art of delegation is an article coming very soon to Rugby Coach! A couple of thoughts though: 1. Get the players to agree to the selectorial policy at the start of the year. 2. Don't be drawn into promises for future selection. 3. Don't promise that you can communicate selection face-to-face, because in a busy life this may not be possible and it is worse when a player hears bad news in a way he is not expecting. 4. Players' reactions to "bad news" are outwardly and inwardly different. A quiet reaction outwardly might be a volcano underneath. All from bitter experience this. Didds, if you didn't make the selection and were the coach I expect you would still be blamed by someone...c'est la vie!
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