Sports Coaches and Outdoor Adventure Guides
Coach, instruct and guide participants in a range of sports and outdoor adventure activities.
Saturday morning at the netball club
You are a netball coach for an under-fourteens team, running training and match days for a group of players who all want something different from the game. It is 8:30am on a Saturday. The team plays at ten, one player is missing, a parent is already telling you who should play where, and the courts are crowded with other teams.
Choose what you would do. Then see what happens. There are often good reasons for each choice.
My daughter should play centre today, not wing. She's the best you've got and everyone knows it. You're wasting her. I'll be watching and if it doesn't change, I'm taking her to another club.
Give in and put her at centre, to avoid trouble before the game
Other players notice and the team goes flat. The coach's job is to make decisions that are fair for the whole group, even when a parent is cross.
Listen, explain how you pick positions, and invite a chat after the game
Mr Evans is not happy but he calms down. His daughter plays wing and has her best game. After the match you talk about her goals, and he leaves less angry.
Tell him that coaching decisions are not up for discussion and to move to the other side
He storms off and tells other parents you were rude. You protected your decision, but you also turned a worried parent into an opponent.
I don't want to play today. I missed that shot last week and everyone saw. I'm rubbish. Can I just sit on the bench and watch? Please don't make me.
Tell her that everyone misses shots and that she should just toughen up and get out there
Zara plays but is stiff, avoids the ball and cries afterwards. Telling someone to toughen up rarely helps them feel more confident.
Let her sit out the whole match, since it's her decision
Zara relaxes on the bench but feels worse next week. You respected her wishes, but she may have needed a gentler push.
Sit with her, ask what would help, and offer a small role like the second quarter
Zara chooses to come on in the second quarter and passes the ball well. She leaves the court a bit taller. Small steps rebuild confidence faster than big pushes.
Your team has only six players and the rules say we can't start with that. Do you want to forfeit, or do you want to borrow someone from the other team? Your call, coach.
Forfeit the game straight away, to avoid any complaints about a borrowed player on the court
No one complains, but nine players go home without a game. A forfeit is allowed, but there may be a way to keep them playing.
Ask the other coach to lend a player, and tell both teams before starting
The other coach agrees, and a girl from their side joins you for the game. Both teams enjoy it. Asking openly kept it fair.
Play someone who isn't registered with the club and hope no one asks
The other team's parents notice, the match is protested and your club gets a warning. Hoping no one notices is not a plan.
How it went
The final whistle goes and the team packs up the cones. Coaching is as much about people as about the sport: patience, fairness and knowing when to push and when to wait. Would you like being the person players remember years later?
This is a simplified, fictional situation to help you explore. It is not professional instruction or a test of your ability.
Case study: The summit they did not reach
A fictional case set in a community netball club and an outdoor adventure program run from a fictional regional school camp.
The situation
Lena, an outdoor adventure leader, was guiding a group of fourteen teenagers on a day walk to a ridge lookout. The group had trained for weeks and was excited. Two hours in, clouds were gathering faster than the forecast had said. The group was still fresh, the lookout was an hour away, and a couple of students said they'd come all this way and could not turn back now. A teacher was walking at the rear.
What they did
Lena stopped the group at a flat spot and spoke to them honestly. She said the weather was changing quicker than planned and that her job was to make sure they all got home. She asked the teacher for a second opinion and checked the radio. They agreed to turn around. Lena used the walk back to ask the students to name what they'd learned about reading the sky.
How it turned out
The storm arrived forty minutes after the group was safely back at the bus. The students were disappointed that evening and proud by the next day. The school invited Lena back the following term, and the group completed the lookout walk on a clear day.
What would you do?
- Why was it hard for Lena to turn the group around?
- How did she turn a disappointment into something useful?
- What would you say to a group that is angry at you for keeping them safe?