​Having come out of the other side of some kind of time loop, from 2019 it is now apparently 2021. With that comes the fact that it is five years since I undertook a coaching trip to America. This became apparent to me whilst listening to the ‘Rugby Revealed’ podcast (thanks David Sharkey for the recommendation) featuring USA Eagles coach Greg McWilliams who I was fortunate to spend some time with whilst on my trip. The rest of my drive was spent fondly reminiscing on the experience and reflecting on what I had learned that had impacted my coaching in the five years since.
 
By 2016 I had been coaching full-time, self-employed since January 2014 and was keen to try to get into new environments and meet as many coaches as possible. Having forged a career in coaching, I knew I had to take it seriously and learn at every opportunity possible. This manifested in a series of interview blogs on this website, ‘Coaching Conversations’, with people such as Jamie Taylor, Peter Jeffrey, Vanessa Keenan, Miguel Rios and more. These were great but I wanted to get more hands on – joining environments for sessions, discussing the plan/reflections and being part of it. A trip to Las Vegas with my wife and a group of friends presented the perfect opportunity to expand my trip so I sent out loads of emails to coaches across America. It began to take shape: Las Vegas, New Haven in Connecticut to visit Yale and then Princeton in New Jersey.
 
Las Vegas
On the morning of Tuesday 5th April 2016 I was buzzing to get through breakfast and into the afternoon. I had arranged to spend time with Leonard Nel, a South African expat, and his Las Vegas Black Hawks high school rugby club. The uber came and immediately admitted he had no clue where we were going but that the SatNav should work. After a brief detour through some of the back streets that Vegas keeps tourists away from, we were soon pushing away from the Strip and into the suburbs towards a local park. Upon arrival there were some teenage boys starting to gather and then I spotted Leonard unpacking some rugby balls. The Natal Sharks rugby shirt was the giveaway and I went over to introduce myself and discuss the session ahead.

I loved it.

Leonard had set the rugby club up, in part due to his two rugby-loving sons who were at a local High School. He was trying to establish a rugby club…in the desert…with local American Football coaches not particularly keen to share their players or facilities. But Leonard’s sheer vision and enthusiasm had created something pretty cool. There were soon between 25 and 30 teenagers warming up, throwing rugby balls around and having a great time with their mates. Leonard welcomed me in, introduced me and got me involved with the session as we worked on some handling, tackling, split forwards and backs and then had a team run and game combination to finish. What shone through was how the boys were drawn to the experience, to Leonard and his family as much as they were to the sport. Talking to some of the boys, they spoke about long Sunday BBQs at the Nel household where they’d watch 6 Nations games together and hang out. They loved the opportunity to throw a rugby ball around, reveled in their participation in a contact sport “without pads” and loved trips away against opposition in different states.
​
The key lessons for me:

• Have a vision, build it and commit to it
• Sport and coaching is more than just training
• As a coach you have to let the players in – get to know them, let them get to know you.
• Connection and shared experiences are king

​
Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut

As my wife and friends, a little worse for wear, boarded their flight home to London, I was on my way to Hartford, Connecticut, Via Philadelphia. A delay meant that I was sprinting through Philadelphia airport to catch my connection and just about got to the gate in time. My bag did not. Fortunately, there was another flight slightly later so I waited in Hartford airport for it to come in, picked up my car and headed for my AirBnB in New Haven. Having been sitting by a pool in Vegas I was now needing multiple layers - icicles hanging from the street signs in April came as a bit of a surprise.
The next day Yale had an early-season home fixture and I was to meet their Director of Rugby, Greg McWilliams at the playing field. He had been there a year or two at this point and was in the process of trying to make the environment a bit more special for the boys. Lacking a proper changing room, he had converted a shipping container into a changing room and kit store and had the outside painted with the Yale Bulldogs logo. Congenial and welcoming, Greg soon had me pitching in checking the pitch for any stones or disruption from recent storms. Soon James English arrived, another Londoner who was their forwards coach, and the boys soon after.
​
Yale won the friendly convincingly but my main memory came during the first half when I was watching from behind the posts. Someone had wandered over and was stood nearby and soon we were talking. He was a kiwi and looked very, very much like Robbie Deans the former Crusaders and Australia coach. Soon enough, Robbie was explaining that his daughter attended Yale as she was a keen rower and he visited every year and had become involved with helping Greg’s development and coaching the boys.

The following day I headed to the Yale campus for a classroom based day. Greg had booked out a grand looking meeting room for the coaching staff to go through the detail of their playing philosophy that season – defensive systems, attack shape, language, training schedule, culture and more. I was fortunate enough to spend over 3 hours digging into incredible detail with Greg, James, Robbie and Craig Wilson who was, at the time, the Women’s coach but has since replaced Greg as DoR. It was a fascinating insight into how Robbie Deans (and all the coaches) viewed the game, players and coaching and something that was hugely enjoyable. Plenty of it I would end up using or adapting with my own University students the following season. This was then followed by a squad meeting to lay out the plans for the short, medium and long term and to talk through the shapes, frameworks and language that they would be introducing at training the next day.

First up, Craig had offered to meet me on campus for a coffee. He was coming towards the end of a Performance Coaching MSc with the University of Stirling and I had expressed interest in doing something like that, so he insisted we meet for a coffee and he’d show me what it looked like, how it worked and talk me through it. Understanding what was in store really motivated me and I started the same course 5 months later. I loved studying it, now considerably more engaged and enthusiastic than I had been as an 18 year old undergrad. I learned so much from it and there is every chance that I might not have done it were it not for the coffee with Craig. People have asked me about the MSc since and, when location allows, I’ve insisted we go for a coffee to discuss it.

The afternoon was a fun session, a good chance to see the personality of the boys come out a little bit more. What struck me was the need to be really careful around language and the use of jargon. Most of the players hadn’t grown up in a rugby environment like we had, which meant our language whilst coaching had to be really accurate, specific and something they would understand. I was soon struck by a familiar feeling from Las Vegas. I was coaching in such a different environment, thousands of miles from home and loving every second, trying to absorb and appreciate it as much as I could. There was to be another training session the next day and I was going to spend some time with the scrum halves, something I really thought I’d be able to add value to. I couldn’t wait.

Best laid plans and all that...

I walked out of my AirBnB and my rental car wasn’t there. Nowhere to be seen. Having walked up and down the street hoping I had completely forgotten parking elsewhere, the panic was well and truly setting in. Such was my state of confusion that I can’t even remember how I eventually found out that there was always street cleaning on this day each week, for which the roads had to be clear. Greg would later tell me that at the same time every week the tow truck companies all meet up with the street cleaning trucks and then clear the way for them. So now, on a British phone with a British credit card and no car, I was going to have to work out how to fix this. Greg was, at this point, receiving regular updates that it was looking less and less likely that I’d get there. Eventually I was able to locate the company that had my car and get an uber there to find it closed. So I sat in the cold and waited for the person to return and, having paid the fine, now had my car back. But the session was missed and it was getting late. I no longer had an AirBnB and I needed to get driving as I was bound for New Jersey.

Lessons:

• “Don’t take a job for what it is, take it for what it can be”.
• If you’re committed to building something special, be prepared to spend time picking stones out of the pitch.
• Encourage the personalities, let players be themselves and mould the rugby to them. As Greg said on the ‘Rugby Revealed’ podcast: “You’re going into the environment, the environment isn’t going into you”.
• Don’t take your coaching language and jargon for granted, make sure you are speaking in a way that they can understand.
• Share your time and experience with people. Go for a coffee.
• Keep an eye out for street cleaning dates in New Haven.

​Princeton University, New Jersey

The drive down was pretty cool, passing right through the hustle and bustle of New York and back out the other side into countryside. I found my AirBnB and carefully clarified all parking restrictions with the owner. The next day the temperature had picked up a bit and it finally felt like Spring had arrived on the East Coast. I walked into Princeton and explored the town and campus ahead of meeting their Head Coach, Richard Lopacki later in the day. I had had some unfortunate news, he wasn’t able to get permission from the university for me to attend training as he had hoped, so a coffee would have to do. Both Yale and Princeton are older than the country in which they are based and the history and tradition could be felt as I explored the campus. I soon happened upon the stadium which was in the middle of campus and seemed to be open. So in I went, waiting for someone to send me packing, but nobody did and I wondered the stands imagining what they would be like packed to the rafters with inebriated college students on an Autumnal Saturday. Soon I found the Yale basbeball team in the ball pen next door and in pre-season training ready for America’s favourite Summer sport to begin in earnest. So I sat down on the grass verge and watched the session, trying to pick out the coach’s language and doing my best not to judge his session design (about a sport I know nothing about, of course).

​Richard kindly gave me a couple of hours of his time, talking coaching and the rugby landscape in America. He had been coaching at Princeton for a long time and had seen how things were starting to change. It may not have been the training session I’d hoped for, but it was an interesting insight and opportunity to talk about the differences and challenges with coaching in America. It brought a close to my trip as the next day I was returning my car, getting the bus into New York and hurriedly exploring for 24 hours before my flight back to London.

Lessons:

• Resist the urge to judge other coaches, especially when you don’t know the intentions behind their session design and planning!
• Have more coffees with coaches to learn, discuss and aid personal reflection.

​

​Conclusion

​If it isn’t obvious, I still remember the trip so fondly and believe I took so much from it. It was a rare opportunity to see how rugby is growing in a competitive environment with a different sporting culture, and by extension, how plenty of foreign coaches are adapting their practice accordingly. It has strengthened a desire in me to engage with as many coaches as possible in as many environments as possible to share experiences and learn from each other. It is so important to be open, share your knowledge and your time and welcome people in. It means you get to meet new people, build connections and gain an outside perspective on your practice. You may never know how impactful the experience could be for you or for the people you welcome in. For Greg, James, Robbie, Craig, Leonard and Richard they just had some random British guy spend some time with them in their environment for a bit. For me, it was a journey outside my comfort zone, taking on unexpected challenges, meeting new people, learning loads about rugby and life, challenging my ideas and building connections. It wasn’t just the rugby, it was the Lobster Grilled Cheese in New Haven, wondering the Princeton campus, the lights of Las Vegas. The learning and life experience was richer because of the new surroundings and reliance on myself to solve problems. As I drove down the Garden State Parkway through New York I felt inspired to be more ambitious and have confidence in what I was doing. After all, I had managed to get that damn car back from the impound.

What Steve Hansen can teach leaders about empathy, on McAlpine Coaching
- Empathy is more than to sympathize, it allows people to use their knowledge to improve their companies in subtle but important ways.
- How to cultivate empathy?
1. Listen deepy and actively
2. Be curious
3. Be vulnerable
4. Work on your self-awareness
5. Put yourself in other people's shoes

Why do you make stupid decisions.... on TheConversation
- One reason for making stupid decisions is our inbuilt cognitive biases = we make quick decisions then seek to prove ourselves right.
- Humans tend to avoid Cognitive Dissonances = if a fact doesn't fit our beliefs, we seek to change the fact rather than our belief.
- A further reason to ignore experts us to avoid social discomfort, it is easier to rely on the judgments of our peers instead.

Leadership lessons from the All Blacks, on i-l-m
1. Build a "We" culture
2. Empower your teams. Individual responsibility. Create a self-managing, self-improving environment.
3. Create an environment where individuals learn to make great decisions.
4. Make it fun.
5. Get the mindset right.

Captaincy: Why authenticity matters, on espncricinfo
- Many different approaches to leadership. "Only prerequisite is a degree of authenticity. So long as the captain is being himself, he has a fighting chance".

Why cultures beat policies every time, on growingleaders
- A new culture creates a new normal
- Culture is shaped by:
1. Action and behaviour of leaders
2. What leaders pay attention to
3. What is rewarded and punished
4. Allocation and attention of resources

Seven tools for thinking....  on learningspy.co.uk
This is a series of 7 blogs commenting on Daniel Dennett's 7 Tools for Thinking.
1. Use your mistakes
- trick to making good mistakes is to not hide them. Savour your mistakes and delight in understanding what led to them.
2. Respect your Opponents (Principle of Charity)
- The Principle of Charity is to assume, until proven otherwise, anyone who disagrees with us is as intelligent, informed and ethical as we are, and we should strive to interpret their claims and evidence in the most positive way possible.
3. The "Surely" Klaxon
- Use of the word "surely" often indicative of weak point in argument.
4. Answer Rhetorical Questions
- Rhetorical questions show willingness to take a short cut. Pursue the line of reasoning, is there an unobvious answer to be considered?
5. Employ Occam's Razor
- "All things being equal, simplest solution is usually the best one"
- "It is pointless to do with more what is done with less"
- Remember it is only a heuristic device and proves nothing
6. Don't Waste Time on Rubbish
- there is plenty of substandard if you look for it. Don't waste time with it, focus on the best stuff you can find and critique that to learn.
- Don't trust sweeping statements. In a complex system, average isn't very useful.
7. Beware of "Deepities"
- Deepity = proposition that seems important, true and profound, but achieves this by being ambiguous.
- Something may sound profound but is it bland to the point of being meaningless? Avoid ambiguity.

Perception-Action Podcast, Episode 18a with Mark Upton
- Interesting area of research is coaches and pressure - mood profiling, sleep, physiology. How coach manages self is increasingly important. The "less is more" of high performance goes against prevailing sporting culture of "more is more". An example might be Olympics, prep starts months out. "Choking" may start then, really early rather than in the event itself.
- Strategies for better managing self = sleep, exercise, hobbies
- Constraints approach and dynamical systems. Players need to self organise under constraints. Manipulate the task, emotional state, physical intensity, environment, social etc.
- Complexity Theory. Complex vs Complicated. Complicated requires blueprint to get it right, Complex involves social interaction and uncertainty (eg. Raising children). It is hard to forecast ahead so stay in the moment and focus on how to manage the complexity. Coaching = grey and uncertain.
- Obliquity = aim for something but discover something else en route. Goals best achieved indirectly.
- Skill Acquisition. Important thing is engagement. Big question is what will engage them, not just the practice design.
- Phil Jackson. Players need to disconnect from coach so they are perceptually attuned to teammates and game. Players have to figure it out alone.
- When addressing a problem, define it and tidy it up. Observe well, have good conversations with many people.
- Put self in the player's position - what are the perceptual demands and common situations they face?

Relearn 3 - Perspective, on Drowning in the Shallows
- Gain insight into athlete's perspective rather than enforcing our own.
- Seeing their perspective, we have better chance of developing buy-in and commitment in a way not reliant on compliance, manipulation and persuasion.

How Thomas Tuchel turned around Borussia Dortmund, on FourFourTwo.
- "The team is the star, not the coach"

Glasgow's Gregor Townsend the leading light.... on the Guardian.
- "good coaches always look at ways to evolve and learn".

Overcoming fear in sport: Creating a mastery environment, on BelievePerform
- Research: highly ego oriented towards sport can have negative consequences with performance anxiety and fear of failure. Task oriented takes greater enjoyment and play for personal satisfaction, learning and developmental purposes.
- Goal orientation influenced by the environment players are subjected to.
- Mastery environment = winning is a bi-product rather than the sole aim.

Game Sense Coaches, by Dan Cottrell on Coach-plus
- Good game sense coaching:
1. Have a structure
2. Clearly define rules
3. Allow time for game to develop
4. Adapt rules to include players
5. Play right length
6. Allow chance to reflect
7. Prevent consequences of sloppy play
8. Return to the game in the future.

The effect of physical and academic stress on illness and injury in Div 1 College Football players
- weeks of the season categorized into three levels:
1. High physical stress (eg. preseason)
2. High academic stress (eg. weeks scheduled with exams)
3. Low academic stress (eg. regular season, no exams)
- Results:
A) Odds of injury restriction greatest during high physical stress
B) Odds of injury restriction during high academic stress are double that of low academic stress
C) Difference in injury rates in all athletes for high physical stress and high academic stress disappeared if only consider those playing, suggesting high academic stress may have increased effect on playing athletes

Championship coaching starts with relationship building, Dr Wade Gilbert, on ASEP
- Relationships a top priority
- Jill Ellis US Women's Soccer lauded for her open and honest communication style. Emphasis on learning to connect with players in a way meaningful to them
- Steve Kerr of Golden State Warriors: Xs and Os is relatively small part of coaching, 80% is relationships and atmosphere
- Building relationships is an act of courage - the courage to be vulnerable

Hidden Brain Podcast, Episode 22. Originals with Adam Grant, on NPR
- Differece between the great and the ordinary isn't that the great have great ideas, but simply have more.
- Greatest originals are those who failed the most because they tried the most - not that originals have higher hit rates, just more volume with more variety so have a better chance of success
- Many people fall in love with their first idea, which are often the most conventional. You need to weed out the familiar to get to the original. Furthermore, it is hard to judge own findings - need to put our ideas out there for judgement and feedback.
- Fostering creativity = values over rules. High standards.
- Rules = people learn to follow and accept status quo.
- Downside to originality = too much of a good thing and everyone marching in different directions. "Pioneers need settlers".

A coaching system that will help you C the light, on connectedcoaches
- 5 main elements: Connection, Confidence, Competence, Character and caring, creativity
- Jon Woodward = on connections "You have to relate to the person and the sport. If there's no connection there, there will be very little development".
- STEPS framework = Space, Task, Equipment, People, Speed

Let the creative sparks fly, with Richard Cheetham, on connectedcoaches
- Create an environment where it is safe to fail
- Players take ownership and devise/adapt sessions
- 3 stages = Discover, Develop, Consolidate
- Environment where they make mistakes and learn from them encourages them to be robust and resilient
- "Direct instruction equals less coaching"

Formal vs Informal Coach Education, by Mallett et al, 2009
- Ongoing issue about most efficient and effective means of aggregating and accrediting the coach's varied learning experiences.
- Research has shown that coach ed/accred is less valued than experiential learning and other less formal opportunities
- Learning mediated by Knowledgeable Other so learners have less control over what is delivered and learned.
- Debate of F vs In has little value as coaches need access to varying educational opportunities
- Growing evidence that coaches "feel" more learning taking place in informal situations

Formal, Nonformal and Informal Coach Learning: A Holistic Conceptualization, by Nelson et al, 2006
- Formalised learning episodes were found to be relatively low impact endeavours when compared to informal, self-directed modes of learning

Sources, topics and use of knowledge by coaches, by Stoszkowski and Collins, 2015
- Results revealed coaches preferred coaching knowledge from informal learning activities, especially with social interaction.

Emotional intelligence integral to becoming a great coach, on connectedcoaches
- Emotions drive thoughts, thoughts drive behaviour, behaviour drives performance
- The more you know your player, the better you can coach them.
- Emotional Intelligence is the ability to understand and control emotions to be able to perform to absolute potential (Catherine Baker)
- A key term in Emotional Intelligence is Self-Awareness.
- Top tips:
1. Understand your EI make up
2. Work on behavioural agility
3. Reflect!
4. Practice adapting behaviour to the person you are coaching.

No foul mouths on this field, on NYtimes
- Jimmy Graham on Carroll's Seahawks = "here, they feel like you guys are already men and we're going to treat you like men. It's literally all positive reinforcement."
- Gervais' psych and emotional input possible as Carroll built a team that valued keeping an open mind.
- Carroll and his staff are "supportive and nurturing"

How to increase mental toughness: 4 secrets of Olympians and Navy SEALS, on Bakadesuyo.com
1. Talk positively to yourself.
- Optimists have the view that bad things are temporary, bad things have a specific cause and aren't universal, it's not their fault.
2. Set goals
3. Practice visualization. Don't seek perfection, try to see problems you may encounter and how to solve them
4. Use simulations

Billy Bean on making better decisions... , on farnamstreetblog
- When he hired he looked out of sport to someone who didn't have his biases - Paul dePodesta was a Harvard Econ major.
- Remove the emotion from decision making - your own experiences are tied to an emotion. Take blind eye and look at things fresh. Don't make assumptions.
- Always analyze your process, make sure you weren't correct through serendipity but because the process is good and you are doing things properly.
- "I think, if anything, we certainly didn't fear failure, because we felt like going a traditional path was certainly the surest of failure based on revenues and the payroll we were on"
- Always analyze your foundation as culture and tradition are ingrained quickly. If you wrongly assume you are correct, it can really go awry.

Importance of friendship groups in sport, on SCUK
- understand young people's motivations for coming
- take time to understand friendship groups
- Encourage more/bigger/new friendship groups
- Allow time for social (media) breaks

The Rocky Road of Excellence, on changingthegameproject.org
- You must risk being uncomfortable to achieve something worthwhile
- Alan Stein = "Do the habits you have today match the dreams you have for tomorrow?"
- As coach, give players and team accountability. Hold to high standards. Make it tough, then be there after to debrief and understand outcome.

Greetings from Cub Med, on si.com
- Joe Maddon's Cubs Spring Training they seek to go about work with a collegiate confidence, a rapport in which the joy of playing together is greater than the burden of having to meet expectations individually.
- "Embrace the target". They welcome expectations.
- Joe Guru stressed Individuality and Authenticity. Spring Training isn't about reps but to think properly.
- 1st week Maddon has meetings with all players and he gives players the freedom to be most relaxed self.

Jameis Winston: What I learned, on MMQB
- A lot of what we did was just developing good habits

Drills. Why not? on rightbackonthebench
- Games based training works due to amount of touches, "players practicing everything the need to improve at football - practicing assessing the football situation, making a decision based on that assessment and then executing that decision all at the same time"

Is your feedback process false and failing?, on Coach Logic
By Allistair McCaw.
- A lot of coaches not consistent enough in providing honest feedback - regardless if nice or not.
- Many talk of 5:1 ratio in favour of positive comments, AM is more like 3:1 as need to be honest and realistic
- Eastern Euro coaches brutal honesty compared to US or UK
- Not 'criticize' but 'information'.
- Feedback centres around
1. Timing of it
2. Feedback based on facts, with proof
3. Feedback that is honest
- Lying to athlete and self if not giving the info they need
- "You don't improve with criticism, rather you improve with the right information"
- Effective communication 80% how delivered and 20% what.

Old Trafford kids buying into my philosophy, on DailyMail
- Louis Van Gaal - "I think being a teacher is part of my function as manager"

Kate Boyd is a cheer leadership coach — giving cheerleading coaches the expertise and know-how they need to competently and confidently build their teams. She cheered from junior high to college and has coached on nearly every side of the industry — all-star, recreation league, high school, and camp instruction. Through Kate Boyd Cheerleading, she provides practical, online resources that fit into coaches’ busy lifestyles so they can build the program they want and give their teams the season they deserve. In 2015, she was named one of the 50 most influential coaches by CoachSeek.


Did you compete in cheer originally? If so, how did you find the transition from athlete to coach?
I started as a gymnast then switched to cheerleading when I realized I wasn't going to the Olympics so thought I might as well spend some time with my friends and keep up my skills. I cheered from junior high to college and completely fell in love with it. I started coaching it early on in high school, and I found it a little challenging to switch from athlete to coach. I had to learn to teach what I knew and not just do it. It was difficult at first, but after a couple of years it came a lot more easily as I watched others teach, which I did obsessively, and starting learning more of the mechanics of the things that came naturally to me.

What lessons did you learn along the way that are important to your coaching today?
I learned that you always have something to learn and I learned that establishing boundaries is very important. One of my first coaching jobs out of high school was for my alma mater. So I was coaching old peers. It made it very tricky, but we came through after a rough patch. That taught me that healthy boundaries and good communication are the key to just about everything.

You say Heart + Vision + Know-how = Hero. What made you settle on these ingredients? 
I took a little inspiration from Coach Taylor and Friday Night Lights here, but I really believe it's true. You need the heart, the passion, the desire to be better at what you do for your team. You need vision, a clear picture of the future of your program and your goals, especially what you want for the character of your athletes. And you need know-how, credibility, and coaching skills to make it happen. When you put those together you end up becoming the kind of coach people remember because you make a difference in people's lives, and those are the coaches I love working with.

How would your athletes describe you as a coach?
I haven't coached athletes in a few years, but I think they would say focused, creative, and passionate.

You mention running a practice, teaching stunts effectively etc which all require excellent communication skills. What do you think are the key things to keep in mind when communicating with and coaching athletes?
I think it's most important to communicate expectations at all times, and it's important to consider your goal when communicating. Are you trying to inspire, educate, inform, or something else? Then you can frame the communication properly. 

You describe travel as your number one hobby. Why is this? Do you think it has had any impact on you as a person and as a coach?
I can't explain my love for traveling. It's just been one of those desires that I've had since a child. Recently, I've had the opportunity to travel to quite a few places, and I absolutely love it and want more! It has certainly had an impact on me as a person to be someone who has more grace for others and focuses on what's important long-term and not just what seems important in the moment. 

Your website kateboydcheerleading is aimed towards helping coaches - what were you seeing out there that made you feel you could be of assistance? 
I was a rare case that was able to coach cheerleading part-time at a school. Many coaches I encountered were full-time teachers who happened to be cheerleading coaches, and many of those were handed cheerleading whether they had experience or not. I knew that I had a unique combination of skills that could help them with their trouble spots as a professional communicator, skilled teacher, and tech-savvy person. So they could get the education they desired from their home or their classroom in an affordable format.

Your website helps to educate coaches. Is there any form of official/formal Coach Education within the sport of cheerleading?
There are a few safety certification programs for school coaches through National Federation of State High School Associations and American Association of Cheerleading Coaches and Advisors. However, these aren't required or formal. All-star coaches have their own certification programs through the US All-Star Federation that are level-specific, and this is a very formal process.

Are there any common themes that you see younger and less experienced coaches seem to struggle with?
Younger and inexperienced coaches tend to struggle to get organized at first, especially for such a long season. They usually have a lot of questions about stunts and they are encountering cheerleading parents--famous for their passion--for the first time. So they're learning to communicate, teach, and be administrative which can be tough all at once.

Interesting that you released your Guide to Problem Parents. I'm sure this is something coaches in all sports have struggled with at times. It mentions, among other things, how you introduce yourself, expectations of both you and them too. I know of a few schools and Academies within Rugby here in the UK that run parent forums to do a similar thing and it works really well. Why do you think it is so important to establish that 'working relationship' with parents?
Most of the time in cheerleading, you're relying on parents to get your athletes to and from events, practices, and games, and you need their permission for their child to participate. So it's important to have them on the same page from the beginning and also try to establish a relationship with them so they trust you and want to work with you rather than against you.

Really enjoyed one of your blogs called "3 Keys to Your Parent Plan", think it would be a good read for any coach who works with young athletes. Particularly agree with the points of over-communication and trust. Do you think there is any aspect of dealing with parents that you still need to work on and improve?
I think there is always room for improvement! I'm not always the best connector and tend to shy away from reaching out without a good reason, but I still worked on it because I know it's important for me and for athletes to have solid parent relationships.

Reading the Game, by Ed Smith
- Team sports could do with more mentors and fewer touchline tyrants
- Standard assumption in sport that solution to under-performance is to focus on effort. Professional athletes as often try too hard as too little
- Best way to enhance team is, nearly always, to raise performance of individual players. Skill is the ultimate currency.

The X Factor, by James Counsilman, on foxsportspulse
- The Coaching X Factor is ability to see what needs to be done and doing it: cut through all the detail and get to the heart of the matter
- Great coach must have two basic abilities - good organizer and good psychologist

Pete Carroll Embraces Everybody, on Seahawks.com
- Let players experess themselves - "helping players be the best they can be"
- Not to do with sports, more parenting, mentoring and coaching.
- Person has much greater chance of reaching true potential if true to who they are
- Pete Carroll very demanding, but DEMANDING AND SUPPORTIVE

The Psychology of Success: Strategies for Coping on the Big Occasion, on connectedcoaches
- Everyone has psychological breaking point
- Simulating pressurised situations and discussing scenarios that may trigger fight or flight response is critical
- Learn to expect natural bodily response and devise routine to stay calm
- Champions don't raise game in defining moments, they maintain it
- High threat situations sees perceived challenge increase through negative self talk and lack of self belief

No Pressure, No Diamonds: GRIT, on medium
1. No pressure, no diamons
2. Grit composed of willpower, mindset and passion
3. Someone always chasing you
4. Be your best when it matters most
5. Creative Grit - reframe exhaustion as a positive
6. This is Water - gap between thought and emotion, replace with positive thought
7. Fear is your constant companion

TED Radio Hour Podcast: The Money Paradox, on NPR
- Dan Pink talks about Candle Problem by Sam Glucksberg - incentives. With the first group they set norms, second group had financial incentive to be faster BUT they ended up taking longer
- Financial incentive dulls thinking and inhibits creativity: not aberration, constantly the same results appear. The "If-Then" Incentives either don't work or do harm
- "If-Then" Incentives gets attention and is easy to organise, but money narrows focus
- Approach better if based on intrinsic motivation:
AUTONOMY, MASTERY, PURPOSE
- "If-Then" have been effective but less so nowadays

3 Simple Yet Effective Ways To Teach Team Resilience, on fastcompany
- Resilience "process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats or significant sources of stress" - American Psychological Association
- 1. BE AN ALLY, NOT A CRITIC. Social support essential to buffer their collective stress
2. REMIND THEM WHY YOU'RE ALL IN IT TOGETHER
3. LET TRUSTED TEAMMATES CHOOSE THEIR DUTIES

The Semmelweis Reflex
= "reflex-like tendency to reject new evidence or new knowledge because it contradicts established norms, beliefs or paradigms

7 Ways To Embrace Pressure, by John Haime, on playerdevelopmentproject.com
1. Close gap between practice and play. Targets and goals in training.
2. Thinking ahead to what you can't control creates fear
3. Align expectations with ability right now
4. Build confidence proactively
5. Stick to the plan
6. Enjoy environment and activity around you
7. Remember why you play

Hidden Brain Podcast Episode 15, on NPR
- Itzhak Perlman was teaching Mya Shankar Violin, she remembers him often asking "What do you think you should do to make it better? What tools do you have at your disposal?"
- He explained "the more you learn to think for yourself and how to make decisions for yourself, better it is for the future"

Bruce Arians' philosophy comes from Bear Bryant, on ESPN
- Great coaches have two gifts = to be able to see, and to motivate/inspire
- "Coach 'em hard, hug 'em later" Bryant's parting words to Arians
- Bryant and Arians keen on work-life balance for their staff, "A happy family made for a better football coach"

Bruce Arians knows only one way, on ESPN
- BA "I'm having a blast every day....because I'm not coaching for my next job". Philosophy based upon "Coach it like you stole it"
- On his staff, "guys can do their job if you let them"
- Work-life balance crucial. "All that sleeping in the office stuff - guys can only learn so much"
- Encourages players to ask questions. If the coach can't tell you why you're doing the drill, don't do it.

TED Radio Hour Podcast - Courage, on NPR
- Margaret Heffernan:
"The most dangerous thing in organisations is silence - it's all those brains whizzing around full of observations, insight and ideas that are not being articulated"

Freakonomics Radio Podcast, on WNYC Studios
Episode How to be Less Terrible at Predicting the Future
- Philip Tetlock's 10 Commandments for Aspiring Superforecasters
1. Triage = focus on the questions where hard work is likely to pay off
2. Break seemingly intractible problems into tractible sub-problems
3. Strike right balance between inside views and outside views
4. Strike right balance between under and over reacting to evidence
5. Look for clashing causal forces at work in each problem
6. Strive to distinguish as many degrees of doubt as problem permits but no more
7. Strike right balance between over/under confidence, prudence and decisiveness
8. Look for errors behind mistakes but beware of rear view mirror hindsight biases
9. Bring out the best in others and let others do the same to you
10. Master the Forecaster Balancing Bicycle: can't learn to ride a bike by physics books, learning requires DOING with good feedback leaving no ambiguity about whether you are succeeding or failing.

Wax on, wax off: Way to movement Mastery? By Shawn Myszka, on footballbeyondthestats
- Early in career he bombarded athlete with cues - PARALYSIS BY ANALYSIS
- When athlete thinks about execution too deeply before or during movement, speed of execution and control of positions is greatly hampered
- Focus on EXTERNAL CUES rather than outcome goals
- Intention is the key to perfection

The 6 'Es' coaches need for every session by Mark Watts, on elitefts
1. Be an EXAMPLE - be vulnerable, honest, have integrity
2. Bring all your EXPERIENCE
3. Create an ENVIRONMENT - permeates right culture and attitude to enable success at all levels
4. Communicate EXPECTATIONS - consistent philosophy and methodology
5. Bring ENERGY
6. Have EMPATHY

How to spark creativity in children by embracing uncertainty, on KQED
- if students can be made to feel comfortable with uncertainty, they are more apt to be curious and innovative in their thinking
- Recommendations for how:
1. Address emotional impact of uncertainty - FAILURE IS PART OF INNOVATION
2. Assign projects that provoke uncertainty = invite students to find mistakes, present info for alien viewpoints, provide assignments that they'll fail.

"I desperately want to be coached", on MMQB
- "any time you are raising your team's intelligence level, you're going to be able to be a more well-rounded football team"

How the Rams built a laboratory for Millennials, on wsj
- Use of technology
- Cater to shorter attention span = short meetings (purely informational) then out for run through
- Relaxed wake up times
- Emphasis on how to get players to focus and listen
- Focus on visual cues

How Nick Saban used psychology to build a dynasty, on UKBusinessInsider
- Saban focuses on "The Process" = simple but profound way of breaking down a difficult situation into manageable pieces
- "The Process" born in 1998 with team under-confident before a big game. It focuses on step-by-step thinking. The average play lasts 7 seconds = win those seconds then have a break, no focus on the scoreboard or end result.
- Keeping an eye on past or future creates either anxiety or dangerous comfort
- Rosen = "the most destructive phenomenon in sports is relief. It's typically followed by a decrease in performance"

Pep Guardiola an innovator and lateral thinker, on Telegraph
- Written instructions given to players to change tactics. Pep = "I needed to switch four players around, and rather than point out instructions to them 1 by 1, better they communicate with each other"

The key to coaching success: Love, on Whitehouse Address
- Vince Lombardi philosophy included a focus on Love
- "Mental toughness is Spartanism, with all its qualities of self-denial, sacrifice, dedication, fearlessness and love"
- "Love is...loyalty, teamwork, respect, charity"
- Quality of a great coach lies in ability to forge relationships with players while being able to persuade and convince the individuals to enhance their development"
- Modern society requires modern coaching
- Young people want to be talked to, not shouted at. They want to be respected. Yet above all they want to be loved.

The science behind effective coaching, on growingleaders
- 4 tools "new school" coaches can utilize:
1. Strength-based coaching = focus on developing their strengths
2. Visual-based = Visuals increase engagement and learning
3. Trust-based = give benefit of the doubt. Equations rather than rules
4. Relationship-based = connect with players individually. Cultivate personal power rather than use positional power

Successfully coaching today's player, on GaryCurneen
- Modern players are = highly confident, technologically savvy, independent thinkers, love variety, expect fast results
- Coaches should prioritise = constant feedback, individualised program, enjoyment, meaningful relationships

"To know when to intervene and when to say nothing is an art", on ESPN
- Mike Hesson ethos: emboldening players while remaining unobtrusive
- Playing at highest level need not be prerequisite to coaching = "If you haven't played you need to be able to look, learn, watch and absorb".
- "If you can't pass on the knowledge you have, it doesn't matter if you played 100 tests or none"

Arsene Wenger details philosophy, on Guardian
- "I'm a facilitator of what is beautiful in man"
- "The only moment of possible happiness, is the present. The past gives regrets. And future uncertainties."

Win Forever Chapter 12, by Pete Carroll
- Lane Kiffin and Rocky Seto young coaches tried to emulate the older coaches around them, but were "acting outside of themselves"
- PC encouraged them to stay true to their personality to be "most authentic and effective coaches possible
Chapter 13
- "Learn your learner". Create connections and relationships, observe and listen carefully to communicate in a way that best suits your learner

Role of the Coach : Learn and Develop, on lineoutcoach
Develop your coaching...
1. The right mindset
2. Appetite to learn
3. Learn from other sports
4. Practical is best

What is the role of a coach?, on lineoutcoach
- Know your role and do your job
- Player development
- Train to play the game
- Understand the players responsibility
- Provide core life skills

7 skills for becoming an emotionally intelligent leader, on General Leadership
- Daniel Goleman says five areas of emotional intelligence:
1. Self-Awareness
2. Self-Regulation
3. Motivation
4. Empathy
5. People Skills
The 'Big Seven' of the Emotionally Aware...
1. Patience
2. Compassion
3. Flexibility
4. Able to communicate more than just words
5. Trusting and trustworthy
6. Authentic
7. Respectful

The Sports Gene Chapter 2, by David Epstein
- Ackerman = skill acquisition, practice and improvement depends on the task. Simple task = people closer together, difficult = further apart.
- Variance = statistical measure of how much people deviate from the average

The Sports Gene Chapter 3, by David Epstein
- importance of vision and eyesight. MLB players may not have better reaction time than average population, "they do have the superior vision that can help them pick up the anticipatory cues they need earlier, making raw reaction speed less important"
- 2008 Olympic Games study by Laby and Kirschen: softball outstanding depth perception and better contrast sensitivity than any others. Archers had exceptional visual acuity but not great depth perception (target is far away but flat). Fencers very good score on depth perception (make rapid use of tiny, close range variations in distance).
This implies visual hardware is increasingly critical the faster the ball is moving. Good hardware increases download speed of software (practice)
- Future professionals traits also behavioural - practice more but also take responsibility for practicing better
- large and growing body of evidence suggests early specialisation not only is NOT required to make highest level but should be actively avoided

Tom WIlliams Interview, on fifteenrugby
- Good practice to open it up to players and ask them questions
- Primarily on the lookout for attitude in young players as a lot can be taught/learned in time

Steve Hansen on the art of coaching, on NZ Herald
- Coaching is an important balance of tactics/coaching and man-management/emotional intelligence to understand people
- Get to know people's culture to help understand them as individuals
- If you can acknowledge pressure if present then you can start to work out how to deal with it
- So many things can be learned when you lose, so long as you're open to it
- Job as coach is to create environment that inspires players to use motivation to get better = right balance of stimulation and fun

The Brave New Coach, on AFL Community Club
- There is a lack of bravery in coach and player development
- Elite coaches and X Factor players, bravery summed up in areas of Drive, Boldness, Colourfulness and Imagination. Also have accompanying factors of Care, Outstanding Preparation and Resilience
- Just because something has always been done that way, doesn't make it right
- Becoming a Brave Coach:
1. High Risk/High Reward. Accept mistakes. For every mistake, identify one excuse and two plans
2. Devil's Advocate role in all planning
3. Brave in appointments
4. Bold and imaginative coaches
5. Bold and driven coaches. Quality over quantity
6. Imagination. Atmosphere of optimism, smarts and inspiration
7. Feedback
8. Fun
9. Sports Science. Link of emotion to thinking/performance
10. Music
11. Care. Anxiety clouds learning
12. Time. Value those who do extra or different
13. Less training, more improving
14. Food
15. Medicos
16. Expertise. Don't be conservative
- Always try to learn and improve, surround self with best people and best ideas