Graduate Assistant Volleyball Coach

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My time spent as a Graduate Assistant Volleyball Coach at St. Catherine University provided me with many opportunities to learn and grow as a coach. I have been challenged in ways I could not have imagined. One experience has inspired me to research more into the development of athlete’s self-efficacy. Since I began as an assistant coach, I have believed in these athletes and want to help them believe in themselves, too. The way the defined their success was strongly based on if they achieved the result they wanted, no matter the effort they put into the task. This left them feeling inadequate at times, and as though their efforts were insignificant. It required attention and energy from the coaches to continuously praise them and identify …show more content…

She began organizing weekly mindfulness sessions for all student-athletes to participate in. At the time, I was around 20 years old and had just suffered a season ending injury which would keep me sidelined for 10 months before I could compete again. I initially attended these mindfulness sessions under strong recommendation from my athletic trainer. She claimed I did not know how to breath correctly. I began attending these sessions and eventually began showing up on my own decision. After attending these sessions regularly, I found myself enjoying the game even more. I started taking my rehabilitation one day at a time, rather than getting overwhelmed by looking into the future. I was less impacted by things outside of my control such as my coach’s feedback, a teammate’s error, and even the fear of the future. This state of mind has benefited me on and off the court. Throughout the MAOL program, it was an area of focus for myself as I enter the world of collegiate coaching. Through my research, I found a connection from mindfulness and self-efficacy and from there, developed this action project. I hope to influence youth athlete’s lives by providing coaches some tools they can implement into their everyday practice plans without any prerequisite …show more content…

Many would define this word or position in many different ways. A strong definition I found comes from a unknown author, “true leaders empower you to do what you're afraid to do, don't know how to do, or have never believed you could do.” Similarly, when searching for a definition for the word or position for coach, many thoughts come up. Cote and Gilbert (2009) define coaching as “the consistent application of integrated professional, interpersonal, and intrapersonal knowledge to improve athletes’ competence, confidence, connection and character” (p. 316). I believe both definitions are powerful, however, the way the individual in these roles executes their duties defines the position more than words. The definition that Cote and Gilbert lie out goes far beyond the X’s and O’s of the game. Coaches have an opportunity to develop the body, spirit and mind of each and every athlete on their team through their coaching. It is also coaches duty to keep their athletes safe. This does not only mean injury free but also mentally, emotionally and spiritually safe. It means each athlete concludes the season more confident, sensible, and capable than before it started. Implementing mental training into coaches’ tool box will help them in the development of their athletes physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Providing coaches with this tool will help them empower their athletes to do what they were afraid to do,

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