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The other thing about coaching the girls is that they’ll often defend their positions until the cows come home! When you tell the boys where they’re going wrong, they’ll generally think about and then come back to you a few days later to say they can probably do it that way. The girls were often a bit more problematic and it’s a matter of finding their individual triggers to achieve the desired result.
When I was coaching a pair, I often had to look at them and treat them as individuals. Stephen and Danielle were brother and sister so we always had to take that relationship dynamic into account alongside the very stressful, competitive situation as well. They were Olympians in 1992, 1994 and 1998 and took advantage of all the opportunities they were offered.
KNOW YOUR ATHLETE The advice I have for people coaching multiple genders at once is to ‘know your athlete’. Forget who you are as a coach and figure out each person to the best of your ability. I don’t think the actual genders matter all that much – it’s about the person and their individual traits and learning processes. It can help to know the parents and home situations as well if you’re coaching children because they will be a product of their environments. Their personalities will be fairly formed by the age of five and it will be difficult to make major modifications after that. To other female coaches having to manage the demands of family and the profession: you absolutely have to get a team on board to help you cope. Doing it alone it doing is tough and definitely not a recipe for success.
Belinda Noonan is the figure skating consultant for the Olympic Winter Institute of Australia. A former National Champion herself and international competitor, she now turns her talents to coaching elite skaters and has spent many years commentating for Australia’s Winter Olympic TV coverage.
www.coachinglife.com.au
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