Your Own Coach Development

  • February 04, 2015

Coach Responses

Staying up to date on developments in coaching is key to staying on top.

As a coach, how do you improve your own coaching skills and abilities?

Share your tips and best practices!

See what Coach-2-Coach is all about!

Coach Sarah M. – Soccer – Ottawa

“Talking with other coaches is where I have learned the most about coaching. You get to tap into years, sometimes decades of experience. Especially when struggling with the soft-skills stuff, connect with athletes, team building, etc. Coaching seminars and conferences have probably had the most impact in terms of improving as a coach. “

Coach Sean Ferguson ChPC, RGP – Swimming – Region of Waterloo – 17 Years

“The field of “coaching” is an interesting field to have a professional career in.

In my opinion, coaches constantly try to go above and beyond to obtain any edge they can get, to stay on top of their profession (which is not necessarily a career that is secure, steady, or well paying and can be extremely stressful at times, but can also provide a lot of fulfillment that other roles just can’t fulfill).

For myself, I use my background in sports, recreation and community services, to my advantage as these professions have many governing bodies that I am required to, and/or choose to belong to; this allows me to stay current on certain topics through newsletters, e-blasts, webinars, conferences, magazines, courses & e-learning, etc.

I also, actively seek out news, magazine, & journal articles (within and outside of my specific sport as well as from alternative areas around the world); I believe there’s always something you can learn from others and sport often advances by its leaders (coaches) looking outside their direct sport of choice and seeking information.

You can also find me contributing my own perspective to groups on social media (such as LinkedIn, Facebook and others), and volunteering my time to develop sport policy within one of my chosen professional fields with Canadian Parks & Recreation Association (focusing on things such as Para-sport, Capacity & Leadership, and Physical Literacy).

Inside and outside of my yearly professional development requirements as a coach in Ontario and Canada, I often make it a point to do a few PD courses in a calendar year; this not only builds my qualifications & keeps me current, it also gives me a broader perspective and makes me a much better critical thinker.

Oh, and last, but not least, confer with other professionals by engaging yourself in discussions. *For myself, one person that I often have great discussions with is my sister, as we are both in very similar fields (she has fitness and physical education background), and conferring with each other, often proves to be very helpful.”

Coach Jeff Klein – Hockey – Mississauga – 4 Years

“Well because hockey is so big in Canada, there are so many outlets that hockey coaches can use to learn more about the skills and abilities side. I am involved in hockey in my day-to-day life so I am lucky that I have the opportunity to learn all about the game and the behind the scenes of a hockey team. There are more traditional ways that I improve my skills and abilities through research and the web. I also like to ask other coaches in our league how they make themselves a better coach.”

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