Failure made me take a good hard look at myself

In 2006 I was appointed coach of the Wellington U19 team. I was over the moon to be appointed because I was into my fourth year as a coach and I was working hard to become better. I felt my appointment was a show of faith that I was on the right track and doing things well in the coaching space.

I was lucky in the fact that the previous teams I had coached (U15s for two seasons and U17s for a season) had been successful and the majority of the players had started to develop and improve. This would have played a big part in my appointment I would imagine.

Once appointed I sank my teeth into this role and begin working during the winter with these players. Like other teams I had coached there was a lot of talented players in this group. We went through selection trials with all the players, then selected an experienced side to compete at the national tournament in Lincoln.

Arriving at the tournament both players and staff were confident. Then…..after losing three games in a row that confidence had gone. We lost another three games before winning our last game against the eventual tournament winners. We returned to Wellington as losers and I had overwhelming thoughts of letting down the players, the Wellington region and the people that had shown so much faith by appointing me to this position. I wasn’t in a good way.

In the subsequent days upon arriving back to Wellington I remember getting some sound advice from Christie Van Dyk, who at the time was the Elite player manager at Cricket Wellington. His message was simple; if you take the lessons from failure then you will be a better coach for this and the players will be better too. These wise words got me back thinking positively.

Christie and I came up with a plan to get player feedback, tournament organiser’s feedback and he asked some hard questions of me. A lot of the feedback was hard to take, but I had to accept it if I was to get better as a coach. I did receive some positive feedback and that made the negative feedback easier to take.

What did I get from going through this process?

Areas to improve:

·??????I had not prepared these players skills to a sufficient level to compete at that level

·??????I did not have an alternative plan or approach when things derailed on the field

·??????Tactically the players needed assistance from me before and during games

Areas of strength:

·??????I was well organised

·??????I had created a good feel within the team despite loosing

·??????The reality of past Wellington teams being poorly managed had changed

A real mix of positives and negatives and this feedback gave me the best possible preparation as a coach for subsequent teams I took charge of. Some key points I took from this experience into my coaching in the future were:

1.??????Don’t get involved in the blame game – I took responsibility for the poor performances by the team and sought out to understand what I could have done better so it didn’t happen again. Easy in this situation to point the finger and blame others. That approach gets you nowhere.

2.??????Create a Culture of getting better – This came down to how I reviewed and debriefed individuals and games. Prior to this I would run a debrief and do all the talking. You need to use the players and ask key questions both in a team and individual forum to get all the critical feedback to move forward as one.

3.??????Failure will test your determination – By failing it made me more determined to get better and insure I am doing these players justice. By going through the process after the tournament I was even hungrier as a coach. In hindsight I needed this determination earlier when we had lost one or two games. I needed to employ point no2 above which is what I didn’t do.

I learnt so much during this time, not just about coaching but also about myself. Don’t get involved in the blame game, create a culture of getting better, and failure will test your determination are all constantly present in my life now and assist me with reviewing where I am and where I'm wanting to go.