For today's coaches, Coaching Edge is a convenient and time-saving form of CPD that you can access when it suits you. As the official magazine of sports coach UK it's perfect for picking up new ideas to improve your coaching, as you get the chance to learn from other coaches.

1. SUMMER 2010 ISSUE 20 WWW.SPORTSCOACHUK.ORG
EDGE
COACHING
UNG ’s
I
K
LEADHING
AC E
CO GAZIN
MA
ADAPT
AND
THRIVE
How cricket coaches have
embraced lessons of Twenty20
INSIDE: Football’s Masters • Making Mentors Work • Surviving the Credit Crunch

2. 2 COACHING EDGE |CONTENTS|
CONTENTS
04 Learning from the Masters –
Peter Shilton and Nobby Stiles
11 On the Way to Wembley
Mark Pointer
28 In The Running for 2011
Sam Hawcroft
Martin Betts and Craig Smith
Pooling Experience
14
08 Do Captains Set the Course?
John Goodbody
Howard Foster
One Moment In Time –
18
© sports coach UK
Norman’s Wisdom
Sam Hawcroft
21 20:20 Vision
© Darren Walsh/Action Images Limited
Richard Gibson 31 Credit Where it’s Due
Lynn Allen
24 Let the (Friendly)
Games Begin...
John Goodbody
Power and Influence
32 David Bloomfield
Take a Bow
35 Jeff Thornton
Getting the Most from
26 Your Talent
Jeff Thornton
© Getty Images
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3. |EDITORIAL| COACHING EDGE 3
EDITORIAL sports
coach UK
Welcome to the latest issue of Coaching Edge.
For issue 20 we’ve given Coaching Edge a fresh new look and hope you find something which, in the
NEWS
best traditions of journalism, will inform, educate and even entertain.
Most importantly, it’s designed for you, the coaches.
BURSARY SCHEME
We know that the very best coaches never stop learning, thinking, talking and – perhaps most
importantly – listening, and within each of the features in this magazine there’s something you may
pick up from seeing how others approach their sport and use as a tip for your own work, something
which could be adapted to make your own athlete or team stronger, and you even better.
As coaches, there may be ideas and examples you want to add to any of the features in this issue,
and we’d be delighted to hear from you (our email address is below).
In this issue you’ll see how a new approach helped one small football team come oh-so-close to their
dream, how coaches will use the Commonwealth Games to prepare for The London 2012 Olympic
and Paralympic Games, how cricket is evolving thanks to the Twenty20 format, and so much more.
Sports coaches are in demand, especially in
As a young hockey goalkeeper, I was glued to the TV every time Norman Hughes’ Great Britain the capital. SkillsActive’s London Coaching
side, which claimed bronze in 1984, took to the field – a team which laid the foundations for the Bursary Scheme pays two thirds of the cost of a
sides of 1986 at Willesden and 1988 in Seoul...and to see Norman urging coaches to get involved coaching qualification course for people new
at grass-roots level is inspirational all over again. to coaching, or coaches who want to become
We’ll be building on the great job done by previous editor Anne Pankhurst and wish her the best in qualified. More opportunities are likely to be
her coaching career and academic work. offered as the Mayor of London announces
further initiatives to boost training and
Summer’s here, for some it’s the key time of their season, for others it’s the moment for pre-season qualifications in coaching and officiating,
training and all those hard miles to begin... backed by the Olympic Legacy Fund. Visit
We hope you enjoy reading it as much as the team here have enjoyed putting it together...see you in www.skillsactive.com for more information.
three months!
UK ANTI-DOPING
Tim Hartley, editor, Coaching Edge
UK Anti-Doping, the national body
editor@coachwise.ltd.uk responsible for the implementation and
management of the UK’s anti-doping policy,
has launched a confidential Report Doping
YOUTUBE CHANNEL in Sport hotline, and is keen for anyone
within the sporting community to help
ensure all sport is clean.
The line provides a platform for anyone to
report any information they may have on
doping, trafficking or supply of
prohibited substances.
UK COACHING
The line is hosted by Crimestoppers, which has
AWARDS 2010 years of experience handling calls of this
nature, and all information received is fed into
the UK Anti-Doping intelligence team for
It’s time to think about those inspirational
coaches, and have your chance to say thanks. analysis and investigation. Callers will not need
to disclose their personal details if they don’t
This year’s UK Coaching Awards will take sports coach UK has produced a series of
want to.
place on Tuesday 30 November at The video clips for parents and carers who
Brewery (www.thebrewery.co.uk) in London. are interested in becoming coaches. The number to call is: 0800-032 2332.
Hosted by sports coach UK, the Awards The films provide information on how to
honour coaches and coaching organisations become a coach and what steps to take.
that have achieved outstanding success over
the previous 12 months. Visit the sports coach UK YouTube ‘channel’
Updates on the event, including categories and www.youtube.com/sportscoachuktv and the
how to nominate, will be posted on the sports Coach Zone section of the sports coach
coach UK website. UK website.

4. 4 COACHING EDGE |THE MASTERS|
LEARNING
FROM THE
MASTERS
It’s often said you can only plan for the future by understanding your history, so anyone
who has the arrogance of youth would do well to listen to two of football’s grand masters
– Peter Shilton and Nobby Stiles, men only too aware that coaching analysis and
psychology have long played a part in their beautiful game,
as Martin Betts and Craig Smith discovered.

5. |THE MASTERS| COACHING EDGE 5
T
hough he currently saves
anecdotes for after-dinner
speaking rather than
25-yard thunderbolts
destined for the top corner
of the net, it’s difficult to argue with
Peter Shilton’s views on the beautiful
game and coaching.
Having made more than 1,000 professional
appearances and won 125 caps for England
during a 30-year career, he plied his trade
under legendary managers Sir Alf Ramsey,
Shilton on Robson: Brian Clough and Sir Bobby Robson on a
professional journey which took him from
‘If you’re talking Leicester to Leyton Orient, with nine clubs
in-between.
about a great While his list of medals and caps may blind to
manager and great the fact that he doesn’t hold any significant
coaching qualifications and that his own foray
coach, then into football management with Plymouth Argyle
was unspectacular at best, there’s no doubt
I probably would have that one of the world’s greatest ever
to say Bobby Robson, goalkeepers has some useful insights and
advice for today’s coach.
because that’s what he His career spans four decades, from a
was. He loved to get black-and-white era where a cigarette in the
dressing room before kick-off wasn’t
on the training pitch uncommon, to the dawn of the Premier League
and the arrival of the continental manager,
and he loved to join in sophisticated training, nutrition advisors
the coaching.’ and psychologists.
When Coaching Edge catches up with him he
is sitting in a pokey dressing room in the bowels
of the Savile Rooms, an exhibition venue in
Leeds. Even aged 60 he is an imposing
character and looks the part in an England
goalkeeper’s jersey and tracksuit bottoms
ahead of a corporate event that will see him
face penalties from an array of star-struck
businessmen and women.
‘When I first started out on the early part of my
England career, people like Sir Alf Ramsey
were basically managers,’ explains Shilton.
‘They had coaches – Harold Shepherdson and
Les Cocker – but the coaching was a lot
simpler, a lot of playing games and letting the
lads have a bit of fun at the right time, a bit of
shooting practice, a bit of running.
‘But coaches started to think of new ways of
doing things and it got more complicated.
‘I think there is a danger of overdoing things:
there’s a desire to improve, to coach better, but
better doesn’t have to mean more complicated.
Implementing more complicated drills where
professional players have to really think, day-in
© Getty Images
day-out, can jade them.

6. 6 COACHING EDGE |THE MASTERS|
‘With kids, certain drills can improve their ‘If your body is in the right position, your feet
concentration, improve their technique, get are in the right position and you have your
them thinking. But with professionals, if you weight in the right position, you can be better
complicate coaching too much, they can get balanced and quicker to react.
tired mentally because they’re thinking too
much about training. It can be that, when you
come to a match day, players can be a little
stale rather than being mentally fresh.’ ‘I don’t think a lot
It’s the pervading message from Shilton of coaches know
throughout the day: keep it simple.
However, that’s not to say he doesn’t believe in
about the
analysing coaching, nor taking the radical step importance of
of taking a coaching lead from one sport and
incorporating it into a session plan for another. getting the
He’s also quick to underline the importance of fundamentals of
an area of coaching sports coach UK has
been trying to promote in recent months: the
movement right.
FUNdamentals of movement. I learnt my
‘I think I was probably the first goalkeeper to
start to develop alternative exercises and drills
footwork and body
specific for my position, like footwork exercises positioning off a
and quick-reaction exercises, and practising
punching and analysing different areas of ballroom dancer.‘
goalkeeping in order to improve in
certain areas.
‘I don’t think a lot of coaches know about the
‘When I started it was “catch the ball at its importance of getting the fundamentals of body
highest point” and “get your body as near to, movement right.’
or behind, the ball as much as you can”– two Nobby Stiles was part
very basic things. I developed my footwork and Shilton, as his posture and demeanour of the success of ‘66
body positioning, which I learnt off a fellow suggests, is a very relaxed man, and his
called Len Hepple, an ex-ballroom dancer, favoured coaching style is laid back rather
who started to teach body positions. than dictatorial. He has no time for the rant-and-rave approach
of some managers and coaches, and he cites
‘Uncle Bobby’ Robson as the best
manager/coach he worked with.
‘It’s important coaches appreciate that if you
make a mistake it’s not always a bad thing as
long as something positive is learnt. People
don’t make mistakes on purpose; a coach has
to man-manage those people and get their
thought processes positive again.
‘The worst thing a coach can do when things
go wrong is to scream and shout, because you
then have even further to go to pick people up
for the next challenge.’
But if Shilton’s greatest moments on the pitch
were during Italia ‘90, it’s another World Cup
which springs to mind when Englishmen say just
one word...‘Nobby’.
Norbert Peter Stiles, ‘Nobby’ to football fans
over the last 50 years, was one of the unsung
Nobby Stiles, George Best and
© Getty Images
heroes of the 1966 win.
Bobby Charlton lining up for
Manchester United in 1968 Mention his name and images of a toothless
wonder dancing on the Wembley turf with the

7. |THE MASTERS| COACHING EDGE 7
Stiles on Ramsey:
‘Tactically, Sir Alf
was so far ahead.
As a manager, he
was tremendous.’
© Getty Images
Jules Rimet Trophy are often conjured up. This position we have a certain Bobby Moore”...
THE COACH’S EDGE
jig following the 4–2 win over West Germany that was how Alf spoke to you,’ says Stiles. Don’t overdo things: there’s a
only touches upon the success of the diminutive desire to improve, to coach
ball-winner who plied his trade under the A boyhood Manchester United fan who thinks better, but better doesn’t have
perhaps the nearest player to him these days to mean more complicated.
stewardship of some great coaches.
would be someone like Owen Hargreaves, Develop alternative exercises
‘I joined (Manchester) United in 1958,’ Stiles believes communication and listening and drills specific for positions,
recounts Stiles, who made his first-team debut to the manager was, and remains, the key such as footwork exercises and
to success. quick-reaction exercises. If your
against Bolton in October 1960, having athlete learns that their body is
originally being signed as an inside-forward... in the right position, and that
‘I tried to balance their two opinions (those of
the Frank Lampard of his day! their feet are in the right
Busby and Ramsey). Alf cemented a great
position and they have their
bond within the England team of ‘66, which is weight in the right position,
Stiles, who along with Bobby Charlton shares
still there today.’ they can be better balanced
the distinction of being the only Englishman to
and quicker to react.
finish on the winning side in a World Cup Final After earning 28 England caps and following a
and European Cup Final, considers himself Coaches must appreciate that
spell at Middlesbrough, Stiles moved into if you make a mistake it’s not
‘very fortunate’ to have worked under management with Preston North End, whom he always a bad thing as long as
footballing knights Matt Busby and Alf Ramsey, had originally joined as a player-coach. something positive is learnt.
whom he calls two great managers, but with
For more on the
very different philosophies and personalities. Jobs with Vancouver Whitecaps and then West FUNdamentals of movement,
Bromwich Albion followed, and the last visit www.1st4sport.com where
‘Alf picked me for the under-23 international v coaching job for the 68-year-old was back at you can purchase An
Scotland in 1965. My dad had told me my Old Trafford from 1989–1993 under Alex Introduction to the
best position was playing at the back, so I Ferguson, helping develop a new generation of FUNdamentals of Movement
asked Alf to see if I could revert to the back talent which would include David Beckham, resource and DVD.
and he said “you may if you wish, but in that Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville.

8. 8 COACHING EDGE |CAPTAINS|
DO CAPTAINS
SET THE
COURSE?
How important really is the captain? Are they simply the ones who toss the
coin at the start of a game, or are they the ones who organise the coaching
sessions and whose turn it is to provide the bacon butties and ensure the kit
is clean? It varies between sports, between levels of those sports, and is
often dictated by a sports club’s finances.
But, as John Goodbody points out, at the top level the role has
certainly changed...
The role of the rugby captain – such as British
and Irish Lions’ leader Paul O’Connell – is very
different to that in other sports

9. |CAPTAINS| COACHING EDGE 9
T
he era of the god-like captain would have coped with a director of cricket. This will follow extensive consultation before
Not well I suspect. the game.
is over. In team sports, the
captain used to be regarded However, I could see Mike Brearley, so acute Lord says: ‘The shift in recent years has been
as the fount of most as a captain of England 30 years ago, as the increased amount of performance analysis.
knowledge and would plan the being far more amenable. This is trawled through by the captain and
manager or coach. Previously, strategies were
strategies and tactics, and often the Still, unlike shorter and more fast-moving games, based on intuition. Now they are based on
training and preparation for games such the captain in cricket remains responsible for facts. Captains now go out on to the park with
as football, netball, rugby union, hockey, decisions on the field, such as the change of very clear plans.’
bowlers and the field placing.
cricket and lacrosse.
Asked if messages are still sent out, in the
However, gradually over the decades, with the Gordon Lord, the head of elite coaching
traditional manner, through the 12th man with
increasing professionalism of sport, the role of development at the England and Wales Cricket
the drinks, he replied: ‘Yes, there are occasional
coach and manager has become more and Board (ECB), talks of the ‘clarity of role’ of the
messages but these might sometimes be in the
more significant. captain and the coach.
form of a question rather than a statement.’
Now the emphasis is on the partnership of
coach and captain. ‘In 2009, there Michael Fordham, a former lecturer at
Loughborough University who has worked
Think of Sir Clive Woodward and Martin were seven new extensively on the managing and coaching of
cricketers, points to the structure of many
Johnson, architects of England’s 2003 Rugby
Union World Cup-winning team, or Duncan county captains counties who have a director of cricket or
cricket manager, the person responsible for
Fletcher and Michael Vaughan of the victorious
2005 Ashes squad.
but two had ‘getting the team to win’.
What matters is not only the ability of the
relinquished their Below him, he has several coaches. At big
players, but the way in which they are prepared
physically, technically, psychologically and
posts by the end of counties, such as Yorkshire and Lancashire,
these may number six-plus others for younger
nutritionally for their matches. the season.’ teams, whereas Worcestershire have three
full-time coaches plus part-timers.
Cricket has remained a sport in which the
captain has continued to have a major role, He says: ‘The ideal model, to which the vast Fordham, who has been
despite the arrival of, at county, let alone majority of coaches aspire, is for the captain to instrumental in the Level 4 awards
international level, the director of cricket or have the information to make all the necessary at the ECB, says that the
cricket manager. decisions on the pitch. The job of the coach is relationship between the captain
to prepare the captain and the team in such a and the director of cricket is
One wonders how celebrated ‘absolutely crucial. They must sing
way that the captain is totally in charge on
martinet captains of the past, from the same hymn sheet’.
the field.’
such as Douglas Jardine of
England’s Ashes-winning
Bodyline team or
Warwick Armstrong
of Australia,
nicknamed The
Big Ship,
© Darren Walsh/Action Images Limited
England netball captain Sonia Mkoloma
fights for the ball against Aussies
Sharelle McMahon and Alex Hodge

10. 10 COACHING EDGE |CAPTAINS|
England captain Charlotte
Edwards lifts the ICC Twenty20
trophy at Lord’s
However, it is also important that the captain A footballer, hockey or rugby player will always Simon Drane, a performance psychologist at
is worth his place in the side. Fordham have a partial view of the game, even if that the English Institute of Sport based at Bisham
explains: ‘If not, he will start getting worried. view may be most illuminating, whereas someone Abbey, believes one of the great
Even the power base of Mike Brearley used watching from the touchline is better able to disadvantages of the player/coach is that ‘he
to fluctuate.’ is trying to do two jobs at once, whereas
appreciate the ebb and flow of the match.
modern sport demands 100% focus’.
The other players also like to see their captain
in form. It gives them confidence. In rugby union, you now often see the captain ‘In cricket there is an enormous strain on the
or player looking to the touchline for advice on captain because an outfielder can switch on
Much of Fordham’s work has been with and off. But a captain has to be switched on all
directors of cricket and county captains, and he what they should do when, say, a penalty is
the time and if he drops a catch or misfields,
points to the pressures of the modern game. awarded in the latter stages of a game, the mistakes are so much more explicit than in
querying whether they should go for goal, kick many other games, when you may be able to
‘In 2009, there were seven new county to touch for a lineout, or take a scrum. In make up for it very quickly. It is simply very
captains but two had relinquished their posts by demanding to be a captain.’And also very
general, therefore, it is better to separate the
the end of the season,’ he says. demanding to be a coach or manager.
two jobs of player and manager/coach.
Fordham has also worked in football, where the
concept of a player/manager or coach has
disappeared from the top flight in England,
THE COACH’S EDGE
How to make the most of the role...
although there have been many celebrated
The successful partnership of a captain and his manager/coach is a matter of
names enjoying both roles – such as Terry
chemistry. It is like a marriage. They have to have similar ambitions and ‘sing from
Venables, Glenn Hoddle and Ruud Gullit. the same hymn sheet’.
Probably the last really outstanding success In cricket, their knowledge has increased greatly in recent years because of the
was Kenny Dalglish, who led Liverpool to the development of performance analysis. Captains now go out on the field having a
Double while having both roles in 1986. much better factual and statistical basis of the strengths and weaknesses of their
own players and those of the opposition.
Fordham says: ‘The advantage of a Captains in any sport must be worth their place in the team, otherwise their
player/manager is that he can lead from the confidence will suffer and the players will no longer believe in them.
front. However, nowadays it does put a huge Player/managers are no longer commonplace in top-flight football because the
burden on the individual. A good coach uses pressures are too great. Modern sport demands 100% focus. However, further
their background as a player in their work but, down the levels in the game, the player/manager role still exists and, financially or
of course, you don’t have to have been an practically, it is worthwhile for the club.
outstanding player to be a successful manager If a player/manager is appointed, that person must lead from the front and set an
– look at Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger.’ example to the rest of the team.
Managers/coaches on the sidelines will better be able to see the pattern of the
Of course, lower down the leagues, game as a whole than the captain. This is why in sports such as rugby union, you
player/managers survive, but this is often often see players looking towards the touchline to get guidance on what particular
for financial reasons. Doubling up simply tactics to adopt.
saves money.

11. |LIVING THE DREAM| COACHING EDGE 11
ON THE WAY
TO WEMBLEY
How many millions of children have played in their back garden and dreamt of Wembley?
For most it remains just that, a dream, but one small club in East Anglia showed that with
great planning and the right spirit, nearly anything is within reach. Mark Pointer spoke to
the coach who masterminded their run to the big stage...
© Archant
G
ood communication more than £3.5 million and is a national leader
with your players is ‘The time you have in sports teaching for children.
fundamental to with the players is ‘How to communicate with the players and to
communicate in the right manner – how to
sustained success.
So says David Batch. The man who guided
precious and you do impart our message to the players is really
important and is probably more important than
Wroxham, a small village club on the edge of
the Norfolk Broads with an average
not get much of it football-specific knowledge at this level,’ says
Batch, who cites José Mourinho and Aidy
attendance of less than 100, to last season’s
FA Vase final at Wembley.
and you have to Boothroyd as two managers who have
mastered that particular art.
The Yachtsmen have been Norfolk’s dominant
take into The successful entrepreneur applied some core
force at Eastern Counties level for the past 20
years – or step five of the non-league
consideration that business fundamentals to the task of guiding
Wroxham to Wembley – after first establishing
football pyramid. people have been with the Trafford Park club’s board the FA Vase
was their top priority last season.
Until Batch’s close-season arrival, national
success had eluded this well run club. But he
working all day.’ ‘It came totally out of the blue when Wroxham
asked if I wanted to become their manager,’
brought with him an impeccable coaching
he says.
pedigree: a UEFA ‘A’ qualified coach and the
youngest-ever to achieve the FA advanced Batch gained experience in the professional ‘Most of the time you get asked to become a
coaching licence when he was just 20 – the game with Cambridge United at youth level manager when that club is struggling.
same year he became the youngest manager before founding his own company, Premier Wroxham has a great pedigree and were far
in Norfolk senior football history at Downham. Sport, which now has an annual turnover of from struggling, but they felt they

12. 12 COACHING EDGE |LIVING THE DREAM|
needed to step up a level, which made it quite
an interesting challenge. FACTFILE
‘I wanted those priorities and that remit
because there was going to come times when I David Batch, Wroxham Football
would need to give players a rest. Therefore, if I Club manager
knew what their criteria were, it would make it  Youngest-ever manager in Norfolk
easier to work to.’ senior football when appointed
boss of Downham Town aged 20
Batch surrounded himself with backroom staff
 Youth team manager at Cambridge
whose complementary skills he could blend as United when they were then a
he built foundations off the field before the key League Two club. Developed
task of player recruitment. He knew he had a several academy players who
decent base to work with and that would make graduated to the professional ranks
attracting the right players a little easier. – including Trevor Benjamin who
Wroxham brought in players from their own joined Leicester City for £1.3m in
league and the best local talent from the lower 2000
leagues which might have been overlooked in  Cambridge City manager at
the past. Southern League level for a year
‘We had certain player criteria – but probably  Only the second manager to guide
a Norfolk football club to the FA
the most important thing for me was what they
Vase final when Wroxham reached
were like as people,’ says Batch. ‘We wanted
Wembley this season
people who were hungry to improve and
hungry to win. We made no promises to the  Chief executive and founder of
players at the start, apart from that they would Premier Sport, which is a
be treated the most professionally they could nationwide coaching company with
be treated at this level of football.’ an annual turnover of £3.5m–£4m
specialising in sports teaching
Before a ball was kicked, Batch sat down with and instruction.
his playing squad to find out what they wanted
from the season ahead and what keywords Whitley Bay v
would form part of a collective blueprint. ‘So there are different factors involved. ‘We Wroxham FA Vase final
tried to design our sessions to have an impact
Batch would refer frequently to that agreed
on as many people as possible. My style has
template during the campaign. The players
now evolved into setting up the sessions with
wanted to create a ‘family’ environment at the ‘We have had to coach in different ways and it
restrictions to coax things out of the players that
football club – somewhere they liked going, might mean not even putting on a session, but
I want, and then letting the game and letting
seeing their teammates and where their families coaching people into our way and how we
the players find that – rather than saying you
liked to accompany them. want things done, to educate them away from
do this and you do that.
the pitch.’
‘The time you have with the players is precious,
you do not get much of it and you Inevitably, given the desire for a successful FA
have to take into consideration Vase campaign, preparations for those games
that people have been differed from the league, mainly because of
working all day,’ he says. time and budget. Batch had every FA Vase
opponent watched.
‘We trained to expose any weakness
they may or may not have and
organised ourselves for specific
situations that may arise,’ he says. ‘As
for budget, if we went away we
would stop and have a pre-match
meal or stay overnight if we had a
long journey to make.
© Archant

13. |LIVING THE DREAM| COACHING EDGE 13
© Peter Cziborra/Action Images Limited
‘We trained and prepared like you would do horrible experience, but one I would take Last month, Batch, along with his staff and
at a professional football club – we might not again – because not many people have players, again sat down to devise a fresh
have had much time, but we dealt with it.’ done it. blueprint for the new season that looks to
evolve the ‘family’ ethos which underpinned last
With Wroxham’s progress to within touching ‘I would rather be in the ring than watching as
season’s achievements.
distance of Wembley, Batch also had to an outsider. Losing in a game like that hurts and
manage the rising expectations and pressures we can do something about that this coming ‘I am really proud of the environment of honesty
affecting his players who were on the verge of season and when we do beat teams we will we have created and the biggest word that
making history. do it in the right way and be professional about
came from the blueprint was trust. Trust between
it with humility.’
‘It was great testament to the players that they the players and the management staff,
kept referring back to the blueprint and the Batch believes Wroxham Football Club now which hopefully we can use to our benefit
words that kept coming up were improvement has the foundations for sustained success. in the future.’
and humility,’ he says. ‘Winning each round
was good, but we knew we had not won
THE COACH’S EDGE
anything and needed to step it up and improve
in order to compete.’ Good communication with your players is the number one priority.
David Batch says: ‘How to impart our message to the players is really important
Wroxham’s memorable FA Vase run ended
and is probably more important than football-specific knowledge at this level.’
without the fairytale postscript as holders
Whitley Bay proved too strong on the big day. Core business fundamentals are needed – establish the top priority/target.
But Batch knew his squad had done everything Choose your fellow coaches wisely. Work with staff whose skills complement
they could to prepare. And he learned another your own.
invaluable lesson from the Yachtsmen’s If changing players, consider what they are like (as Batch says) ‘as people’.
humbling 6– defeat.
1
‘We wanted people who were hungry to improve and hungry to win.’
‘The journey was a brilliant one,’ he says. Establish what the players want to gain from the season ahead and ensure they
‘I am sure I will look back on it fondly and I buy in to a ‘collective blueprint’.
am really proud of the players for doing it, but
the biggest thing is I hate losing – that was a

14. 14 COACHING EDGE |MENTORS|
POOLING
EXPERIENCE
Coaches are meant to inspire their athletes and teams, to always be there for them with a word from the wise.
But who is there for the coaches themselves? Howard Foster examines the importance of the mentor, and
© Austyn Shortman
what qualities they ought to possess...

15. |MENTORS| COACHING EDGE 15
edication, perspiration ‘Nowadays, with coaching courses and the
D
Internet, coaches can get access to techniques
and…inspiration. We
all have sporting idols
and things of a more technical nature. Mentors
provide the help for troubleshooting, the things KEYQUALITIES
whose methods and you don’t find in a textbook.’
achievements spur us on. Christine Nash’s research states
Dame Kelly Holmes, who founded her own
But a poster of Muhammad Ali, or a mentoring scheme ‘On Camp with Dame Kelly’
the top qualities a mentor should
possess are:
worn-out VHS of the Barcelona 1992 recently, told The Sunday Times: ‘For me, it’s
1. Effective communication skills
Olympic and Paralympic Games aren’t about an exchange of knowledge and learning
2. Knowledge of their sport
much use when it comes to rolling out of to benefit a person who’s on the same journey 3. Experience
as you. But it’s as much about nurturing
bed in the dark for yet another 4. Approachability
self-belief and confidence.’ 5. Enthusiasm
uninspired early-morning training 6. Qualifications of the mentor
session, or helping you realise why your One of her ‘mentees’, athlete Laura Finucane, 7. Success in their sport
most talented protégé’s competition said Dame Kelly’s help was invaluable when 8. Organisational skills
she suffered an injury: ‘When I hurt my calf last
times don’t match up to their year, having just recovered from another injury, The top three qualities identified by
training sessions. having her there gave me the extra self-belief I student coaches in a study by
Nash were:
needed to stick with the sport.’
You need real-life inspiration to fill the gap 1. Effective communication skills
2. Approachability
between training courses and job experience –
which is why more and more coaches are
being encouraged to work with mentors.
‘For me, it’s about 3. Enthusiasm
Mentors ranked different skills in
an exchange of their top four:
Long-established in the business world, a
mentor is defined as a ‘wise and trusted guide knowledge and 1. Knowledge of their sport
2. Experience
and advisor; a teacher or counsellor’.
learning to benefit 3. Organisation
4. Leadership
In his pioneering 1998 book A Guide to
Mentoring Sports Coaches, Bill Galvin points
a person who’s on Key ways in which a mentor can
out the vital role the mentor plays – stressing:
‘Mentoring is a powerful tool in the education
the same journey as assist a coach are:
1. Being a resource
and development of sports coaches at all you. But it’s as 2. Building confidence
3. Developing knowledge and skills
levels. Successful coach education
programmes change the behaviour and much about 4. Being challenging and questioning
5. Being a role model.
practice of coaches – whether they are novices
or (at an) international (level)’. But he adds:
nurturing self-belief
‘The process of mentoring is difficult to pin
down; this is a strength, not a weakness.’
and confidence.’ to work together. What we need to do is share
techniques and advice. We are now working
together for the common good.’
This view is endorsed by Christine Nash, Austyn Shortman is widely acknowledged as
lecturer in sports coaching at Edinburgh Napier one of the finest swimmers Britain has ever Shortman – who cites his own father as his
University: ‘Mentoring can fill the gap between produced. His record speaks for itself: Double coach/mentor during his competitive career –
a good training course and on-the-job Commonwealth silver medallist in 1990 in the has these tips for mentors to impart to coaches:
experience, offering a mixture of both. A lot of 4x100m freestyle relay alongside the likes of ‘Stick to your beliefs – don't be distracted.
coaches, when they finish doing a course, don’t Mark Foster, and in the 4x100 medley relay Young inexperienced coaches need to have
always see the direct relevance of what they when teammates included Adrian Moorhouse. the courage of their convictions and not be
have learned, and being able to have And, until recently, Shortman was World swayed by other influences, especially parents.
someone to talk to about it is a very Masters record holder for 50m freestyle. He is
helpful thing.’ now the county swimming development officer ‘The strength of conviction comes with
for Carmarthenshire County Council. experience, and a mentor can take the
‘Some people learn better practically than in a pressure off by reminding the coach of their
classroom environment. The difference is Shortman is in the process of developing a qualities and supporting their right to coach in
having someone who has been through the formal mentoring scheme and currently mentors their own way.’
same thing.’ his junior coaches on a more relaxed, ad hoc
basis. He says the advantages of the new Echoing what Shortman tells us about a key
Nash, who has coached swimming at scheme are clear, with a pooling of experience mentoring role of allowing less experienced
international level in both Scotland and the the obvious benefit. coaches to find their own style, and to have
US, gives the example of a training course confidence in their abilities, Galvin says:
role-playing exercise where other course ‘We are getting cooperation between three ‘Mentoring means different things with different
members take on the role of, say, a group previously separate regions. Where once coaches at different levels. With novice
of 10 year olds. However, such a group in coaches jealously guarded their techniques coaches, mentoring may be about
a real-life coaching situation can act and information, now, crucially, they are empowering and helping coaches to control
very differently… sharing – perhaps not everything – but enough the learning process for themselves.’

16. 16 COACHING EDGE |MENTORS|
Nash states the relationship between the
mentor and coach should be based on mutual
trust and respect, and allow both to develop
their respective skills.
‘Initially’, she says, ‘the mentor has the relevant
© Sandra Teddy/Action Images Limited
experience and generally more power, or
influence, within the organisation. The success
of any mentoring relationship relies on the
mentor allowing the beginner to extend their
knowledge and play a more dominant role Great Britain’s Kelly Holmes
than at the outset’. celebrates after crossing the finish
Nash firmly believes mentoring should be a line to win the gold medal in Athens
process, with the end product seen as the
empowerment of the coach. those with a less notable record on the world the 1st4sport Level 3 Certificate in Mentoring in
sporting stage. Sport, developed in partnership with sports
‘You are looking for the development of the coach UK, is the qualification for you. The
person who is being mentored. Older coaches shouldn’t discount the need for qualification is being used by a growing
mentors too, although Nash believes many number of governing bodies of sport as the
‘They should eventually be able to give advice already have a mentoring system in place, benchmark qualification for mentors.
to the mentor. In the beginning there is a flow of albeit an informal one: ‘At a higher level they Alternatively, you can take your support skills to
information from mentor to novice. Then it develop networks. They don’t use the word the next level and attend the sports coach UK
becomes more reciprocal.’ mentor. They know who has been in their sport workshop ‘A Guide to Mentoring Sports
quite a while and that they have someone to Coaches’. To find your nearest workshop, visit
But she warns: ‘In some organisations and
talk to.’ the workshop finder at www.sportscoachuk.org
mentoring situations, the idea of the mentor
relinquishing authority, especially to a beginner, Coaching is a long road – there will always be
is a difficult concept to introduce.’ room for development. And the way to ensure
you are always moving forward and staying on
‘The strength of
Choosing the right mentor – and choice is the
operative word – is vital to a successful
top of the game is to choose a mentor who is conviction comes
doing likewise. The support they will provide
process. Nash stresses: ‘Difficulties arise if a
mentor is imposed. It should be someone you
could provide that crucial extra five per cent with experience, and
know and respect. If you know next to nothing
difference between coaching the gallant
contenders or the gold medallists.
a mentor can take
about who they are it’s very difficult to get into
that situation. After all, it is very hard to tell
Where to go next?
the pressure off by
someone your weaknesses, and a lot of
coaches see mentors as having an impact on Clutterbuck, D. (2004) Everyone Needs a
reminding the coach
whether they are seen as a good or
bad coach.’
Mentor. 4th edition. London: Chartered Institute
of Personnel and Development.
of their qualities and
Vital attributes for a mentor are, she believes:
ISBN: 978-1-843980-54-4. supporting their
‘Someone you trust, admire and respect, Galvin, B. (2005) A Guide to Mentoring right to coach in
Sports Coaches. Leeds: Coachwise Business
someone who has knowledge and the ability
to communicate that knowledge.’ Solutions/The National Coaching Foundation. their own way.’
ISBN: 978-1-902523-03-2.
Getting a mentor can be a tricky business,
Kay, D. and Hinds, R. (2004) A Practical Austyn Shortman’s key
THE COACH’S EDGE
however, especially if you are in a minority tips for mentors to impart
sport or already the most senior in your local Guide to Mentoring: Play an Active and
Worthwhile Part in the Development of to coaches:
field. However, Nash believes you can search
for your mentor across other sports – many Others, and Improve Your Own Skills in the Stick to your beliefs – don’t
techniques, psychological tips and injury Process. Oxford: How To Books Ltd. be distracted.
problems will cross over. ‘If you’re talking about ISBN: 978-1-845280-18-5.
Have confidence in your abilities.
someone who is just starting in coaching, Pegg, M. (1998) The Art of Mentoring.
there’s an awful lot of transfer between sports A huge part of what a mentor can
Gloucestershire: Management Books 2000 do for a coach is to enhance their
at the early stages. A lot of team sports are Ltd. ISBN: 978-1-852522-72-8. ability to self-reflect, but with the
very similar, so are a lot of athletic sports.’ determination to analyse what you
Zachary, L.J. (2000) The Mentor's Guide: do and change as necessary.
You can also broaden the field – we can’t all Facilitating Effective Learning Relationships.
have a Commonwealth silver medallist as a San Francisco: Jossey Bass. Young inexperienced coaches
coach – but it is respect that is vital. In Galvin’s ISBN: 978-0-787947-42-2. need to have the courage of their
words ‘the technical knowledge of a coach convictions and not be swayed by
who has competed at a high level’ can prove If you’re interested in developing your other influences, especially
invaluable. But it does not bar the way for skills in the area of mentoring other coaches, parents/families of team members.

17. Give your
coaching
the edge
with sports coach UK workshops
WHATEVER LEVEL YOU COACH,
SPORTS COACH UK HAS A
WORKSHOP FOR YOU.
For more information visit:
www.sportscoachuk.org/improveyourcoaching

18. 18 COACHING EDGE |ONE MOMENT IN TIME|
NORMAN’S
WISDOM
Many of us enjoy a defining moment in our sporting career, a time when things come right either as a
coach or as a performer. For Norman Hughes, successful coach and businessman, it was an Olympic
Games which by rights his team should not even have qualified for, as Sam Hawcroft discovered.
N
orman Hughes was part friends at Crewe County Grammar School for As he reached his mid-20s, an international
Boys cajoled him into playing hockey for a few career beckoned; after becoming a senior
of the Great Britain
weeks, although Hughes took a fair bit of professional in 1977, Hughes went on to
bronze medal-winning become the first English male hockey player to
convincing – as far as he saw it (and to a
hockey team at the Los certain extent people still do), hockey was a reach 100 caps, and he captained the
Angeles 1984 Olympic Games. Here he girls’ game; he admits he didn’t really want to national team more than 70 times in a career
talks about his journey towards that be seen as a ‘nancy boy’, to put it bluntly. spanning nearly a decade. At Los Angeles
1984, he was initially awarded the
defining moment, and how it has However, another of his fellow pupils, David
Swallow, who went on to be a leading vice-captaincy, but finished the tournament as
influenced his highly successful coaching captain – leading a team seen very much as
career since then. international hockey umpire and who is now
outsiders to an unprecedented bronze-medal
the head teacher of Barry Comprehensive
victory against Australia, who had been
Hughes, now 57, somewhat reluctantly School in South Wales, finally managed to
favourites for the gold.
embarked on a career in hockey in 1968, at persuade him to play – and Hughes realised
the age of 16 – relatively late in life compared that he did, after all, have a bit of a natural flair The road to the 1984 Games wasn’t a
with today, he points out – after his football for the sport. ‘I had a go, and I thought – “I straightforward one, however; Britain’s hockey
teacher told him he was too short to forge a can play this”. You know pretty soon if you’ve players had been due to go out to the
career as a centre-forward. A couple of school got the knack of playing a game.’ Moscow Games four years earlier, but their

19. |ONE MOMENT IN TIME| COACHING EDGE 19
© Norman Hughes
Norman Hughes and the
Wakefield girls celebrate
another success
(including five golds) – but field hockey bosses spent a lot of that time at Lilleshall getting very,
‘Play with a smile at the time decided to support the
government’s stance and stay at home.
very fit.’
on your face – For the Los Angeles Games, Britain’s hockey
In a lot of senses, this meant the pressure was
off. Hughes said: ‘Nothing was expected from
because life’s too team did not initially make the cut, but were
made first reserves. Fortunately for them,
us, but deep down as a squad we realised that
we were in with a shout – we wouldn’t be far
short to take sport however, in what appeared to be a clear off the mark. But people outside the squad
too seriously.’ retaliation against the Americans’ 1980
boycott, the Soviets refused to turn up to the
obviously didn’t realise that, and with us being
first reserves, they’d pretty much written us off.
1984 Games – meaning GB hockey were set They thought we’d probably come 9th or 10th,
challenge was scuppered by a boycott of the to play a part after all, earning a very late but no better than that.’
event by Margaret Thatcher’s government, call-up a little over two months before the start
along with the US and many other countries, in of the tournament. ‘We thought we’d blown it However, Great Britain’s men won through to
protest over the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. about nine months earlier when we went the semi-finals, topping their group above
Most UK sporting governing bodies defied the through a qualification process in Hong Kong eventual gold medal-winners Pakistan, but then
ban, and Great Britain ended up coming an and lost out to Malaysia,’ says Hughes, ‘but narrowly lost out to that familiar sporting
impressive seventh in the medals table, with 21 now we’d got 10 weeks to prepare – so we nemesis, West Germany. Their performance in

20. 20 COACHING EDGE |ONE MOMENT IN TIME|
COACHING
THE HUGHES WAY
‘Hard work, in the end,
pays off.’
It may not be a particularly flashy
motto, but it’s the overriding lesson
Hughes has learned from his numerous
achievements, and it’s the main
message he tries to get across to the
youngsters he works with daily – as
well as their parents. ‘The mums and
dads may get agitated about their
children not having made the various
squads, but I just keep urging them to
hold on; it comes in waves, and if you
keep working and working, you’ll get
where you want to go. It’s
determination never to give in –
maybe a selection might go against
you, or the ball might not run for you,
but keep going, keep working hard,
and over time, things will level out.’
Hughes also has a message for elite
coaches, whom he says have a ‘duty’
to give something back to their sport
at grass-roots level. ‘Some of the top
coaches and performers get so
involved in the elite that they don’t
have time – or they don’t find time –
© Norman Hughes
Norman Hughes coaching at to work where they’re most needed,
and that’s with kids. A lot of sports, not
the National Seminar for just hockey, put their so-called top
Lithuanian Coaches performers and coaches working with
just the elite 30 senior internationals in
the group stages – drawing against Pakistan, give it all out there – guts and everything – the country – when really, if the next
crop coming through is going to be a
and beating the Netherlands, New Zealand don’t bring anything back. Don’t leave anything
healthy crop, they should be working
and Kenya – was the best ever by any British on the pitch.” The game should have been with the eight to 12-year-old kids,
hockey team in the Games thus far. ‘We just completely beyond us – but we managed to instilling in them the right habits
lost the wrong game!’ says Hughes. turn it around and won 3–2.’ and skills.’
The battle for third place was not just a Though this was undoubtedly the pinnacle of
formality, though – it was to be another Hughes’ career, what he has gone on to the England Hockey Cup for the past three
gripping contest among old rivals, and one achieve since then – and, more to the point, years in a row.
almost worthy of the Olympic Games’ final
what he has helped others achieve – is, in his
itself. Hughes adds: ‘Without a shadow of a ‘To be honest, that’s just as inspirational as
eyes, equally as important.
doubt, the best team there were Australia – but playing in any Olympic final or World Cup
they lost to Pakistan in the semi-final, so we final’, says Hughes. ‘A young player might not
He retired from the international game after
ended up playing against them for the bronze think that at the time, when they’re, say, 24, but
playing in the World Cup final in London in
medal – and they absolutely pounded us for now, to see a bunch of young players grow
1986, when England lost 2–1 to Australia, and
35 minutes. The game should have been and achieve their potential is really inspiring – it
later coached Great Britain’s men to sixth
dead and buried – but we dug deep, and becomes a lot of fun.’
our goalkeeper, Ian Taylor, was place in the Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games,
absolutely outstanding. and England to bronze in the European And despite the fact that Hughes – now the
Championships in Paris. Since then, he has owner of West Yorkshire-based equipment
‘Just before half-time, when we were 2–1 down, returned to club-level coaching with Wakefield specialist Wasp Hockey – has played and
we sensed that the Aussies’ legs had gone – Hockey Club, becoming involved with both the coached at the highest level, he insists that fun
that they’d given everything to get the game senior men’s and women’s teams, as well as is what sport should be all about.
over with. At half-time, several of us senior pros leading the girls’ teams – aged from six to 15 –
got the lads together and said, “Look, they’ve to a series of impressive victories. Under his ‘Play with a smile on your face – because life’s
gone – they’ve absolutely gone. Go out and guidance, the under-16 team has triumphed in too short to take sport too seriously.’

21. |CRICKET LESSONS FROM T20| COACHING EDGE 21
20:20
VISION
Even a year ago, could you have predicted England’s men would be
cricket world champions? But that’s precisely what happened in the
Caribbean this May and, as Richard Gibson discovered, it’s no
accident... coaches throughout the sport have been adapting to a whole
new discipline in the grand old game.