HAPPYFISHZ

HAPPYFISHZ;

快乐鱼

JingJie
19 // Athletics
Faith. Focus. Finish

November 2012 December 2012 January 2013 February 2013 June 2013 August 2013 September 2013 February 2014 May 2014 August 2014 February 2015 March 2015 June 2015 August 2015 January 2016 February 2016 March 2016 July 2016 September 2016 July 2018

Tuesday, 9 February 2016

❛ Fail to plan. Plan to fail. ❜

2 years ago, I started my poly life in Republic Polytechnic. I'm in school of sports, health and leisure, studying sports coaching. At the beginning, there were some people who disturbed me. They would say remarks like, '' RP stands for rejected poly. '' Some would even say RP is the ITE of poly. Honestly, it hurts a little bit but it doesn't really affect me because I have a goal and I know what I want at the end of the day.

In RP, all students have to do a reflective journal every single day. One of the first few reflective journal I wrote was about having philosophy. Ask any coach out there, we all have our own coaching philosophies.

The question was, '' Write your life philosophy and your coaching philosophy.''

'' I’m only 17 years old and I know I have not been through a lot but I can say that life definitely has ups and downs. It is impossible for someone to have a perfect life throughout.

My life philosophy is that negative things can happen in our lives but we have a choice whether to let it affect us or not. Some people allows it to affect them and they do badly in other stuff too. I choose to be positive and keep moving forward regardless of whatever is happening. Even if I fall from the negativity, I will get back on track and keep moving. That’s the true spirit of a champion. When you are positive, you’’ll be amazed by how much you can actually do compared to someone who is negative.
I also believe that I can learn something from someone I meet. I feel that everyone has something we can learn from, just that we are able to learn more from certain people.

I have many coaching philosophy but I’m going to talk about 3 which I think is the most important. They are are teaching the athletes values through sports, long term development and to build and nurture relationships with athletes.

Firstly, I feel that values are the most important thing that an athlete should learn. Some of the core values I personally feel is the most important will be respect, integrity and determination. These are just some of the values that will not only help them become a better athlete but also a better person in their lives and being a better person among the people around them. When they learn to respect their teammates, coaches and athletes, they will naturally respect their family and friends and teachers in school too.

Integrity is also very important and it should be taught since young. If integrity is not taught, they will grow up lying to people around them. The athlete might even take banned substance to enhance their performance.
I want my athletes to have determination and not people who gives up easily when faced with challenges. I want them to know that with determination, they will be amazed by how much their body/ mind can do to achieve things that they thought they couldn’t do.
If you realized, all these values which I have mentioned not only help them as an athlete but as a person. An athlete’s career is short but the values they learn will stay with them forever.

Secondly, long term development is also very important. There are some coaches out there where their philosophy is to win at a young age like the secondary level. Some of the athletes have not even had their puberty yet but the coach wants to win so he/she would put them through tough gym training. They may perform very well for their age but their athlete life will end very short, maybe before the age of 20. I will definitely plan out my training programme for many years. I believe that it’s alright that the athletes don’t win at the secondary will because they will do well in their twenties.

Lastly, building and nurturing a relationship with the athlete. A relationship needs to be formed so there would be trust. With a strong and good relationship, the athlete will listen to the values and advices I give. They will not feel frustrated when they see others succeeding at a young age while they’’re not because they know and understand my long term development plan. A strong and healthy relationship is the key to everything. ''

After being in this course for 2 years, I've been exposed to a few coaching opportunities both locally and overseas. I also had some conversations regarding the future prospects and the expected salary with my lecturers and friends. My eyes and heart have been opened ( larger ). The road ahead will be tough. The salary I earn at the start might not be something impressive. However, I have no regrets being in this course and my coaching philosophy have not changed. I still stand firm with what I believe in.

I've been to Indonesia and Malaysia. The culture and the way the kids behave etc are all very different. But one thing that is the same for all is the smile and joy they show when they enjoy the coaching session.

Just some of the photos taken locally.
Sadly, I can't find the photos from the trip to Indonesia. That was one life changing trip where many of us will definitely remember for life. I wasn't able to communicate with the kids there but I was touched to see the kids not wanting us to go. My friend couldn't bear to leave them that he was crying. It just goes to show the little things we do through a sport can make such a big difference in one's life.

" That's the beauty of coaching. You get to touch lives, you get to make a difference. You get to do things for people who will never pay you back and they say you never have had a perfect day until you've done something for someone who will never pay you back.'' - Morgan Wootten

But before we can coach, we need to be qualified to do so. Graduating from this diploma isn't enough. We all need to get more certs to enable us to coach. One of the cert I've always wanted since I was 14 is the International Association of Athletics Federation Level 1 Coaching cert. While many can't wait to turn 18 so they can enter clubs, drink, smoke etc freely without being afraid of the law. I can't wait to turn 18 so I can attend this course and get my hands on the cert. I'm even one of the 10 people who qualified for the level 2 cert.

However, coaching is very different from other jobs. The one with better qualifications doesn't mean is the better coach. Coaching is about what you can do for the athlete. I may be one of the 10 who is eligible for level 2 but I can say with confidence. There's people who can coach better than me even though they didn't qualify for level 2. In school, I also have a pretty bad GPA but I can also say with confidence, I can coach better than some who has a better GPA.

I'm not someone who plans. I hate planning and I struggle to do so. Maybe that explains why I'm always such a mess.

The photo below is a annual periodization plan. It's a basically planning out the year for the team/athlete. The plan I'm showing isn't that detailed. It has to be more detailed.

I was pulling my hair out when I was tasked to do this. I mean I can't even do a simple lesson plan. JUST ONE LESSON and I'm struggling. How am I going to plan a yearly plan. I can coach but if I can't plan then what's the point of coaching??
My class behaviour and the work that I submit during October-December were all terrible and I didn't cared. Or maybe I was too tired to do so, oops. One of my lecturer came into class on 2nd December and he said, '' I couldn't sleep well last night beacsue I had a dream last night and I was scolding you in my dream. Your performance in class has been very bad, so you better not make me angry today if not I'll scold you. ''

I was cautious but I still got scolded in the end. It was the first time I got scolded in my poly life? Ask around and I'm sure many people don't even get scolded because in poly, most lecturers don't even bother. I got scolded pretty bad and I was also quite defensive when I got scolded. lol please don't learn from me. I actually got scolded because my lesson plan was terribly planned and when I actually executed the lesson, it was so bad. My lecturer's dream came true. He scolded me ;(

Terribly planned.

The improved version after getting scolded.

I only took a section of the entire 5 page plan.
The improved version is actually my lesson plan for my exam. I managed to get 8.5/10 for this planning. I remember doing so much research just to do this plan because I have no experience in badminton. I really dislike planning and I found it so hard because I don't know badminton. Some of my friends asked me to switch a sport but I told them it's alright, I'm just gonna stick to what's posted to me. FYI, we can only choose between net-barrier sport/ invasion games. No track and field for me :(
Even when I had my practical exam, one of the lecturer even asked me, '' You know badmintion? '' and I said no. But after he looked at my plan, he told me to follow the plan and assured that I'll be fine if I stick to the plan.

True enough, I did quite well and I managed to get a B+ for my overall grade. I'm definitely very happy with my results and also I've learnt something new. As long as we have a clear plan of what we want to do and what we want the student's to achieve at the end of the session, we'll be able to execute it well. I have no experience in badminton but I managed to do it. It just goes to show that planning can make a huge difference.

Tomorrow morning, it's the final lesson for this module and we'll all be sent out to YioChuKang Secondary / YuYing Secondary to conduct a one hour PE lesson. I'll be going to YCK Sec to coach 20 secondary three students. Thankfully, I can coach athletics this time round. I'm a little nervous because this will be the biggest group of students I'm going to face. This time round, I'll be alone. I've made a plan that is quite detailed and I really do hope I can do a great job tomorrow. I'm not getting paid and I can screw up this entire thing if I want to. I can choose not to turn up too but I really hope I can offer something for the kids there tomorrow. I really do hope they'll enjoy the lesson. Kids of YCK Sec, I'm definitely not the best coach in the world, definitely not one of the most confident but I really really hope you guys will enjoy the session tomorrow. #letsgo

Let tomorrow be a training ground before I head out for intern. Hopefully Bedok View contacts me soon!!

10/2/2016 *update* No photos of me coaching because Ms Josephine Tay never send............

Woohooo, the coaching session at YCK sec went well! There are just some things I need to get used to and also improve on.

I'm still not used to people calling me, '' teacher''. When the first student called me that, I said, '' HUH?''. I then took a few seconds before I answered him. I'm just not used to such terms yet. Call me coach leh. Also, when I ended the lesson, the students said something like, '' Thank you teacher and have a wonderful day. '' I was so awkward!!!

A few moments before my lesson, I was told that I would be getting all the female students. I wasn't sure what exactly I was feeling. I actually thought it was a little weird because I didn't know what to expect from the girls but I'm glad it turned out well. The girls were all well behaved. Sometimes a little talkative but they're all very very nice students. Thank you students, y'all made my day :)

Anyway, its the first time I said this, '' Ok class, we shall not continue until they stop talking.'' HAHAHAH. In the past, it's always the teachers saying it to me. Now, I'm using what I learnt from my teachers. It works pretty well, you know!! HAHAHA

As a student, many of us thank our teachers at the end of the lesson because its like a routine. Many of us don't really mean it when we say it. But somehow, when they thanked me yesterday, I felt very happy even though they probably don't mean it. I'm just very happy they enjoyed my coaching session and they were all laughing and enjoying during the session.

People really need to realize that being a teacher/coach is more than just an occupation. The students under our care are like our children. I'm not saying we have to babysit etc but we treat them like our kids where we want them to learn and we want them to do well. Don't coach / teach just for the sake of doing it/ just to get paid. If you simply want to get paid, please go somewhere else where no lives are involved. Being a coach/ teacher simply means changing lives. If everyone understands this, the standard of teaching and coaching will definitely improve.

Oh well, just extremely thankful for the opportunity. I'm still not very confident but this experience has definitely allowed me to be more confident as a coach. Looking forward to more coaching opportunities.

I AM IAAF LEVEL 1 CERTIFIED COACH. CAN SOMEONE PLEASE HIRE ME ALREADY. I NEED A JOB.