Written by When I was a young coach, I used to push athletes to their limits and beyond during practices thinking that it was the best way to physically prepare them for competition. It was a learned behavior from coaches when I was an athlete and as an assistant coach. Sure, my athletes and teams had more endurance and speed than almost any other athletes or teams out there, but the athletes were always exhausted from workouts and were not performing at their peak levels because of this. The athletes appreciated type of training as they were confident it made them better, which it did to a point, but the risk was not worth the reward as I quickly learned. Parents, coaches from other sports within the same organization, and even coaches within the sport would reach out to me to tell me how well the athletes were developing and would ask for some tips.
One day, a teenaged athlete was hospitalized for a heart problem shortly after a practice. I immediately was concerned for the athlete and the athlete’s family was extremely generous and quick to provide continuous updates. After the athlete was stable and there was no fear of things getting worse for the athlete, or long-term health issues forecasted as long as the athlete remained healthy and took care of himself, my fear and concern quickly turned to me looking into my own actions. I thought that my actions landed the athlete in the hospital, and rightfully so as I was pushing the team too hard. It was my fault and nobody else’s.
It turns out that the athlete’s heart issue was due to a defect when the athlete was born and had nothing to do with my actions as the coach. That did not deter my introspection into my own coaching methods. Why was I coaching this way? What were the merits and negatives? What could I do better? What negative, hurtful, and wasteful drills and sets could I get rid of? My thinking did not stop there, as I started asking myself about athlete’s mental and emotional health as well. How can I become more focused on each athlete and the team’s mental, physical, and emotional health? What type of culture was I developing at my organization?
While I would have not been ever able to forgive myself if the athlete was permanently hurt, disabled, ill, or worse off because of my poor choices in physical training the athletes to the point of no return, I used this athlete’s condition as a wake up call for myself as a coach. I had to be better as a coach and every day I must be a better person, coach, and trainer for my athletes than the previous day. I must cultivate a culture where everyone is a stakeholder and has a voice. And that voice must be heard by the coaching staff. As coaches, our sole responsibility is the safety of each athlete and the team. We would not let someone else physically hurt one of our athletes, so why would we hurt athletes by overtraining them?