Looking into the future

Although i am certain in stating i have gained an extensive amount of knowledge at WW, i still feel i need to dramatically improve my sport specific coaching knowledge. I am hoping that i will be able to gain an additional placement at Rochdale AFC as i have previous knowledge of football drills etc. However, if im unsucessful at gaining a placement there then i may have to go into a different sport where my knowledge of sport specfic drills is limited. I do accept that its almost impossible for a coach to know every single aspect of every sport and most coaches obtain knowledge and skills through experience at previous internships/ placments.
Within the next 12 month i aim to gain an additional placement within a different sport with the intention to gain a knowledge across other sports. I intend to start a masters degree september 2014 at loughborough university but in order to be able to get a masters at this university i have to get a first class degree. I do believe i am capable of gaining this grade but regardless, i need to gain as much work experience as i can to enhance my CV.
I believe that if i can get a first class degree and have two placements under my belt then i will be at a huge advantage over other candidates which i may be competing with for future work. I hope that a MSc degree will allow me to seem more desirable to employers and therefore myself and make myself more employable.
I will never forget my first placement at WW and i feel this placement has motivated me to strive to achieve. I really am grateful for the insight into what is required of a S&C coach and i now am very eager to compare my experience with WW with another club as a sport scientists. This will give me an even better insight into the diversity of roles which a sporting club can offer.
I hope you have enjoyed reading my blogs and hopefully some readers have found my experience useful. I did not intend to group Feb and Aprils sessions together but the sessions was so similar i was worried the reader would become less interested. Most skills i obtained over april and may was simply skills which only come with time and practise.

Connor

Have i achieved what i intended to?

Before i gained the current placement i had to build a rationale to why the chosen placement is appropriate. I knew i wanted a placement within a professional sporting club working with elite athletes. I wanted to gain an insight into the roles and duties which a sport scientist or strength and conditionist underwent. Now i have completed my 60 hour placement i feel i have achieved what i intended to. I feel i have a realistic, educational idea of what is required of a S&C coach and i have experienced both the great and bad aspects of the job.

I feel that by working closely with such a great professional team of coaches i have had the opportunity to learn from the best. I was very low on confidence when i first arrived at WW because it is known as being a professional establishment. However, from shadowing the coaches and listening to their feedback i gradually became more confident in my capabilities. One thing i was keen to observe and adopt is professional conduct. I feel that once i was given the opportunity (through leading sessions) to demonstrate what id learnt i was able to proove to myself that i had infact adopted this professional conduct.

One thing i am worried about is that i became familiar with the protocols that WW required of me and therefore the weeks became routine. None the less, i still believe i continued to progress simply through the increase in comfortability. I do however believe i would benefit from working with different coaches in a different sporting club to see if the skills i have obtained over the previous weeks can be as easily transferred as i hope them to be.


Connor

 

How this blog has helped

I am new to writing blogs, i have never wrote one before and therefore have never understood the purpose of a blog. Regardless, i found them very easy to write as it was my own personal feelings.

These blogs have enabled me to set goals and targets for the following sessions. This has consequently meant that i can view my progress which has helped with my motivation and enthusiasm levels.  This blog also has helped me realise how i actually feel towards becoming a S&C coach. I can note my feelings down on here and read through them when im reflecting upon the session. The reflection models i adopted have been extremely useful but without a blog to evaluate on these models i dont think i would have progressed as much.

I will continue to write blogs with future placements and i will use them to reflect upon different challenges and experiences.

Connor

Feb, March

I decided to group numerous sessions together as the training has been repeated recently but the coaches are now adding more resistance onto the circuit based exercises. As my hours are accumulating, the coaches are giving me more responsibilities and giving me more duties and roles. This is really helping keep my motivational levels high as i now feel apart of a team!

I have built many relationships with the coaches and players which is enhancing the enjoyability factor. Now i am seeing the advantages of this placement i am beginning to realise that this is a career in which i would love to work towards. I have to continue observing the coaches and keep pushing myself out of my comfort zone in order to progress.

 

As this placment is coming to an end i am wondering what my next move will be. I feel i would be best looking at placements for an S&C coach as i now have my 60 hours experience. However, i feel i would benefit from gaiuning additional experience in other fields such as sport science or sports management. I think im just worried about limiting my options and i am interested to see what other jobs i could also look at.

 

Connor