{"id":1195,"date":"2019-05-21T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-05-21T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/reports\/why-coach-wellbeing-matters-in-high-stakes-chaotic-sporting-environments\/"},"modified":"2025-12-15T05:12:33","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T05:12:33","slug":"why-coach-wellbeing-matters-in-high-stakes-chaotic-sporting-environments","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/why-coach-wellbeing-matters-in-high-stakes-chaotic-sporting-environments\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Coach Wellbeing Matters in High Stakes, Chaotic Sporting Environments"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
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\n May 21, 2019 <\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>Articles<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

Why Coach Wellbeing Matters in High Stakes, Chaotic Sporting Environments<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n \n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Category<\/div>\n Coaching & Development<\/a> <\/div>\n
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The pressure elite coaches are under is akin to that experienced by surgeons and soldiers.<\/p>\n \n \n \n

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By John Portch<\/h6>\n
As athlete wellbeing has started to come to the fore, the same considerations should be made for coaches, many of whom trot the globe to work with athletes and most, if not all, have careers that live or die by their athletes\u2019 performance and results.<\/h6>\n

It is bound to take its toll. \u201cThere is growing evidence that the stress under which performance coaches operate is only comparable to that of the military in combat or surgeons in theatre,\u201d says Sergio Lara-Bercial, whose university, Leeds Beckett, offers an MSc in Sports Coaching that attracts elite coaches year on year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a high stakes environment with lots of moving pieces. There is a lot of uncertainty and it\u2019s not a stable environment. Another problem is that high performers are few and far between and so these coaches become like nomads.\u201d Burnout is an ever-present risk, let alone depression or anxiety. \u201cThere\u2019s no getting away from those stressors \u2013 they are always going to be there \u2013 but we can do more to build coaches\u2019 ability to deal with them, to cope with stress, to be able to reframe stressful situations, being able to look at things more as a challenge than a threat. We have to find a way to facilitate some kind of normality in what can be an abnormal lifestyle.\u201d Lara-Bercial accepts that can be easier said than done.<\/p>\n

Often, says Matthew Wilkie of the IRFU, coaches lack the means to open up and share: \u201cIf you look at the typical professional team structure there\u2019s limited opportunities for coaches to have conversations with anybody. If I\u2019m a professional assistant coach two or three years into my career, I\u2019m not really going to speak to my head coach because I\u2019m not giving away any perceived weakness there \u2013 I don\u2019t want them thinking I am not doing a good job because I\u2019ve got other issues going on. I\u2019m probably not going to share with my assistants either because I don\u2019t want to be perceived as weak with that group. Who can you talk to? We\u2019re starting to make inroads into that by evaluating what good coaching looks like and their ability to perform when they\u2019re not at their best.\u201d<\/p>\n

We look at some of the steps being taken to break down the stigma around coaches admitting they may need help, as well as the proactive attempts of our respondents to spot red flags before something becomes a problem for their coaches.<\/p>\n

What can you do to guard against burnout and ensure wellbeing?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Michael Poulton, coach development consultant<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWellbeing is on a spectrum but coaches are in the best position to manage that. I say to coaches if you\u2019re serious about your athlete wellbeing then you\u2019ve got to be able to model that and demonstrate good behaviour. Coaches also have the responsibility to educate CEOs and boards around wellbeing in their sport and the athletes and staff that work within that. We\u2019ve got to move beyond this sense that everything is based on performance because we can be the best team and lose on a bad day. We have to influence the key decision-makers that winning silver is not losing gold \u2013 sport has a lot more to offer than the win or the loss.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paul Lubbers, USTA<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe set limits on how many weeks are national coaches should be on the road. It driven by budget and the work-life balance and part of the reason is the promotion of player independence. It\u2019s fine for players to have time on the road by themselves and maintain remote contact with their coach.\u201d<\/p>\n

Darren Holder, Cricket Australia<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI have been supporting, observing and then providing feedback to our coaches about the way we create and optimise learning environments as best we can. We\u2019ve got tools built into our Athlete Management System, which our coaches can use at their liberty; then we\u2019ll send them reflective surveys to complete at the end of a coaching cycle. They\u2019ll send that back to me and we\u2019ll arrange an interview. The framework we\u2019ve created will also be used by our state level counterparts to continue this process more widely and develop the standards across the system. We\u2019re doing mental health questionnaires with players and coaches; this includes education around mental health with different groups of coaches. We try to build an awareness of their own energy levels and trying to bring the best versions of themselves to the table every day. It\u2019s giving them coping mechanisms and being able to identify red flags with a psychologist at either national or state level.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matthew Wilkie, IRFU<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe perception of high performance coaching is that you need to be first in and last out, that you\u2019re not coaching well unless you\u2019re doing 12 or 14-hour days consistently and cannot have a day off. Part of my role is getting to understand that when they\u2019re evaluating their success as a coach then hours spent at work isn\u2019t a useful evaluation tool; you can argue that if they\u2019re spending a lot of time then they\u2019re not actually being efficient in what they\u2019re doing. I try to provide daily wellbeing of our full-time coaches.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tom Morris, Fremantle<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s very individual and a very personal area because what can be a red flag for one individual could be the complete opposite for another. The way that I would summarise burnout with our coaches is how often do they feel under mental and psychological anguish and pressure and when do they let that go. One of the interesting things I\u2019ve notice is that coaches in general love what they do so there\u2019s no issue with the hours that they work and they wouldn\u2019t be able to tell you how many they work. But when they\u2019re under real psychological pressure I think that\u2019s what becomes the hidden burnout. We work with coaches to ask what things create those scenarios for them and then, when they\u2019re occurring, how do we discuss, identify and talk about it and bring it to the forefront. The AFL Players\u2019 Association has encouraged our coaches to take mental health first-aid training, which gave them tools to work with players but also skills for themselves, so they\u2019re verse in self-management. If a coach is sliding on our scale of mental wellbeing or wellness, they can feel comfortable saying they\u2019re sliding or struggling. Then there\u2019s steps we can take, people to help pick them up. We want to nip things in the bud before it reaches the point of crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n

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