IN Jim McGuinness’s book ‘Until Victory Always’ there is a chapter labelled ‘2014’. Within that chapter there is a great abstract where he talks about his time at third level education in Tralee, Jordanstown and then his masters in Sports Psychology in Liverpool at John Moore’s.
Jim talks about the end of those years when he was left with an unbreakable conviction in the power of education.
He went from someone who didn’t lift a book to someone who loved reading and just wanted more information. For me though this abstract is my favourite:
“Education empowers people. It can actually make you a different person – more rounded and cultured and self-confident.
“If I ever met someone in those years who mentioned that they were thinking of going back to school or college, I would do everything I could to try and convince them to.”
I can relate to that paragraph above because during my career as a teacher I have consistently hammered the same message to my current students. I say the same during the regular phone calls or messages I get from past pupils.
I remember the advice of my own father, who left school at 14 to become a welder, a profession he thoroughly enjoyed, and it always stuck with me.
He said that education adds strings to your bow. Get as much of it as you can.
I studied my masters in Sports Psychology back in 2001 in Bangor University in Wales. I had enrolled in the course and was ready to start but the opportunity of full-time teaching employment came about and I took that path instead and it’s a decision I don’t regret.
Coaching is exactly the same. It’s an education, a journey. You are always learning and if it’s not from books or webinars, right now in our current climate – when things have slowed considerably and people for once have more time – it’s a great opportunity to interact, learn and share ideas with other coaches. This is something I thoroughly enjoy.
Just last week we had a Zoom call with current Longford senior manager Padraic Davis, a hugely knowledgeable coach. What I really enjoyed throughout the Zoom was Padraic’s honesty about coaching and the journey he has travelled with plenty of ups and downs.
Just last weekend I got a call from a local man, an Armagh man in fact, by the name of Chris Black. Chris is Bessbrook native (just outside of Newry) and is living in England and has a seriously impressive CV in Rugby League coaching.
Chris was Head of Physical Performance as the Leeds Rhinos won three Challenge Cups. He was also head of Performance at England Rugby League.
It was great to chat to Chris and learn and share ideas about the conditioning element of our game in comparison to other sports.
Chris is hugely into developing movement principles which allows players to get stronger and quicker while still retaining enough mobility and power to meet the demands of the game.
His emphasis on promoting a high performance culture is based on work ethic and developing systems that allow young athletes to maximise their athletic potential.
It’s all very interesting and no doubt very relevant for our own sport.
Chris plans to return home soon to raise his young family and I have no doubt a club or county team will most certainly benefit from his experience and expertise.
We still don’t have a definite return date for our games right now, and at the moment for coaches it can be very frustrating, but why not spin it around and use this time as a positive?
Take Jim McGuinness’s mantra of education empowering people and continue to add strings to that bow of yours.
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