The Power of Emotional Intelligence: Enhancing Performance & The Coach-Athlete Relationship

Lorraine Gouin – Ottawa – Figure Skating

“I’ve used self-assessment for my athletes to track their emotions at practice and competition but I hadn’t thought of tracking it myself, even though I did reflect on it after practices.”

Julie Multamaki – Peterborough – Field Hockey

“Never really gave it much thought, overtly, but I do try to be very even keeled when I coach to provide a positive environment. This certainly gave me more things to think about. A very interesting and educational webinar.”

Asif Farooq – Toronto – Multi-Sport

“I haven’t really used it to assess myself, but from time to time, would sit back and reflect on how I can emotionally connect with the players and become more impactful on and off the court.”

John Curtis – Thunder Bay – Volleyball

“I really haven’t thought about it that much. I am a new coach to the system and this seminar was very informative. I learnt quite a bit and will continue to learn for years to come.”

Kimberley Hart – Harrowsmith – Ringette

“I typically assess how I represented myself as a coach emotionally after every session I have with my team. Asking myself how I reacted in a situation, was it the appropriate reaction and how was it perceived by my players.”

Pierre Laframboise – Amherstview – Gymnastics

“I did this sometimes in the past, but after this webinar I will not only self-assess more often, but also be better equipped to do so.”

Ruth Moriana – Oshawa – Gymnastics

“All the time. I always use my 40min car rides to and from work to reflect and assess my own coaching performance and emotions. I have being making more of an effort to control my emotions and found this webinar very encouraging and helpful. I am a work in progress. Thank you!”

Jennifer Keller-Nelson – Cobourg – Basketball

“I utilize it frequently but it more depends on what age bracket I am with at the time. I coach kids as young as 4 up to 14. I am aware of emotions but pay a little closer attention when I’m with the younger ones because they are so much more impressionable. The older kids are impressionable but you can better explain things to them and have them understand.”

Benjamin Guthrie – Ottawa – Figure Skating

“While I have checked in with myself, I have never tracked my emotions. Looking forward to seeing what tracking my emotions as a coach can reveal and show areas of improvement for better EI strategies.”

Aloka Wijesooriya – Iqaluit, NU – Special Olympics

“Anytime I sense my emotions will negatively impact my coaching philosophy I used self-assessment strategies. I also practice these skills during my day-to-day life too. I find the more I practice the easier it is when I am on the ice. Today’s webinar added more tools to my knowledge toolbox.”

Mateo Diaz Granados – Quebec – Soccer

“Being a coach tends to involve leading by example, specially when dealing with young children. Therefore, I constantly use self-assessment to ensure I am portraying and reacting with positive emotions throughout game and practices. As you get to coaching older children/adults I am always impressed by the coaches that can keep their cool when setbacks occur instead of reacting against a referee for example and leading the way for the whole team to react in a similar way.”

Mike Stinson – Chatham – Hockey

“As a first responder outside of coaching – I learned very quickly that one of the most important things that can define your success is the reaction you give. Coaching is no different. There are a lot of athletes looking to you for an idea of how to respond to the event that just happened. As we develop and progress, it’s important to keep them positive and looking forward.”

Geoffrey Johnson – Stittsville – Curling

“I sometimes reflect on my emotions as a coach but after attending this webinar now believe I should be doing self-reflection after every practice, competition, etc. so that I can better position myself to support my athletes.”

Lucien Peron – Toronto – Basketball

“Your emotional state is picked up by your athletes, therefore it is critical to self-assess and reset before every practice. Open acknowledgement of emotions is important, which could take the form of a huddle before the start of the practice for all to briefly acknowledge their own emotional state, and the factor that might have triggered it, before a reset. Also important for all athletes and coaching staff to understand that the practice venue is a “safe space”, which means that the athlete enters it leaving behind the worries that the environment outside of practice may be triggering.”