GUNN TIPS FOR COACHES #13 - 365 DAY PROJECT 2019/20 - How do YOU Reflect?

G’Day ‘learners’.

Today’s blog will help sports coaches (and all caring adult stakeholders) to:

Consider the idea of habitual reflection to better inform the practice and future of your own and peers’ efforts with learners…

“💭 How do you reflect & what do you use? I’m looking at getting better at this as a person, coach & mentor. Please share/retweet 👊🏻👍”

— Dave Lote, 2019

Thinking about a response to the above TWEET was how this present Blog was conceived. Of course my answer was this 365 days of committed blogging. I mean, the kind people who reappropriated John Wooden’s ‘Pyramid of Success’ for teachers a decade ago, showed how important “COACH” saw both ‘intra’ and ‘inter’ personal qualities. Thanks Wade Gilbert and friends.

The ‘Gunn Tip’… They are more important than subject matter knowledge!!! Not saying that technicals aren’t important. Just not the foundations…

Look too how the great coach has ‘connection before content’ as the bottom layer? What a great TEACHER! And, of course, I operate under the principle that “Kids learn teachers NOT subjects!” So I will express my bias VERY clearly now as always…. I am a relationships person!

In any case, Dave got the ideas coming to him in buckets which is the great strength of social media for learners. There were research models, reflective challenge cards, sections from books etc, AND, of course the all powerful but haunting “turn the camera on yourself” call.

Subsequently, I mentioned how this habit has forced me to dig much deeper and to me is like a gratitude diary. I know, it’s what I preach so I may as well lead and go harder… BUT more importantly, it’s allowed me the good fortune of revisiting old reflections to see where things have developed. The good and the not so…

The all ‘knowing’ and ‘seeing’ video of your coaching features below. If you are thinking I’m happy with how this session started then you’d be wrong. There was ‘argy bargey’ with a neighbouring coach over space just prior. Perhaps I was a little annoyed…

In any case, about 5 years ago I fell into the game of Australian Football run by the AFL. I am well documented in groups that I am involved in like “Grassroots Coaching and Consulting” Facebook group (not the page), in conference presentations and other formats that coach development in the sport seems to be an afterthought so I will not delve into it here. However, just so Dave Lote and peers plus any of my athletes know, here are some of my reflections from March 7, 2017 with a ‘talent’ squad and their coaches. I will intersperse with vision as always:

• I know I’m supposed to be showing them ‘THE SHOW ‘ for them to implement as a team of coaches later but… but in reallity we are getting through the equivelant of six hours of second year PE teachers work at university level (taking out all of the included reflection time). 

• There is a right answer to what they need but it depends on their objectives. I don’t think I’ve coached this well enough from ____________ (The Boss)

• Positives for the kids: exposed them to what they refer to as ‘chaos’, got them stuffed in a short time like they have never had before = maximal movement

• Also had them learn that it is OK not to do kick to kick. 

• Positives for the coaches: ‘Bang for Buck’ showed as much as I could to get juices flowing - there were rapid changes going on and have it all on paper for them  

• I was disappointed that the two coaches that I prepped to take a constraint-game were too scared to do it.  That was probably because of the GUNN SHOW but also because like always they are incapable without constant support by TOP Dogs watching

• Insights on field: I saw behaviours that affected the learning of all so brought in changes.  EG. once we went to full AFL rules the' ‘talls and kickers’ dominated.  Gave them a few minutes with their size to show-off AND got rid of the ball and used the vortex again so that if it was dropped it was a hand-over = made them run again but still play tight when they were passing with vortex harder to mark from the Hail Mary - A few other times I did this but I was just balancing it out so that coaches' and players' objectives were met. 

• Changes too quick? I did not get to know the coaches or players individually.  This is not good coaching in the long term!!!

• Provided good resource on paper.  Need to ask if they noticed that I didn’t read it? BUT This could scare them = Need to reinforce sure I am experienced but I try new things every session because I watch and feel. 

• Also, my questions were all about the tactics and space but I do not need it prepared. = REINFORCE unless they are a 10 year sports coach, they are wasting their time using questions. The questions are all there though for the coaches to use!!! Need to clarify!

• There are literally millions of things I could improve with them. HOWEVER as the BOSS says, "we are five years ahead of where the game is going!" THUS be HAPPY!

• Johan Cruyff says the top team and the grassroots should be trained the same way = learning first in pressure!!!  The AFL manual says to use Keepings Off for 12 year olds and over!!!  It is Tiggy???  CULTURE is SO SO HARD to work with…

•  Probably need to get them in touch with coaches I have mentored? They have learnt the WAY already with my help.   

• Need to show them how to MENTOR: Ask coaches what is one of your strengths and one thing (only) you want to improve on?  I guarantee when I get to watch the film there will be so, so many things that I got wrong.  However, if we don't have an observer or the film we overestimate what is happening (Cushion and friends).  Remind them that through the research that says the players’own assessment of the coach is far more accurate than the coach themselves (Gilbert, Cushion and others???).  Phew enough Crazy Gunny!!!

• Enjoying the confidence the confidence some coaches are starting to gain.  Having said that coaches should get down and watch any coach and any sport and discuss ...they will get way better. 

• Johan Cruyff - To play well, you need good players, but a good player almost always has the problem of a lack of efficiency. He always wants to do things prettier than strictly necessary. 

• Think this says a little about what they are calling ‘ugly’ from me?  Reminds that our focus is on the development of holistic humans and every single one of them important.  If we ever win because we have a couple of stars (ie _________ last year) we have done the better players and the poorer ones a dis-service.

That was a long reflection dear coaches… But if nothing else, you can see that I’m in the very least using the military’s ‘After Action Review’ (AAR). What was planned? What happened? How do we improve? But in my own eclectic way…

The important thing is to just keep doing it. Teachers know we were all taught reflection at university. Those of us who want to keep getting better (in my case as a coach) do it just like Dave Lote inquired about above. And it’s OK to just brain dump/stream of consciouness style OR ‘let it rip’. Woked better for Virginia Woolf than James Joyce though in my opinion!!!

Think it worked well for Mick Jagger too!!! My point though peers: Just DO it! Reflection that is… In any way you can.

Yours in learning,

Gunny

GUNN TIPS FOR COACHES #12 - 365 DAY PROJECT 2019/20 - "Have you kept any of your planning diaries over the decades Stu? If so I will buy them off ya!"

G’Day ‘learners’.

Today’s blog will help sports coaches (and all caring adult stakeholders) to:

Consider the idea of failing harder to better inform the practice and future of your own and peers’ efforts with learners…

The beauty of getting to know the great Dale Sidebottom over the past year (thanks Dr. Shane Pill the ‘go-giver’ for the introduction), is that I’ve been able to introduce him to different teachers from around the World whose work I rate, but, whom I haven’t really gotten to know well due to the tyranny of distance. Dale has a great way of getting people's story out which is intriguing, as he has ENERGY levels that are superhuman. Yet, unlike me, he can patiently contain himself. Indeed, my ‘Gunn Eangaement’ business partner Anthony says I’m easy to direct on camera as I’m always just “Gunny”! Have a look how I’m almost uncontaiinable when interviewing a great young coach at 43 seconds below.

Having forgone any plans of achieving anything higher than my Master’s Degree (FIRST World issues…), I have decided to write a post a day for 365 days to improve my learning journey. Clearly, Dale Sidebottom is doing the same thing through his podcast. For me, it's funny how the forced habit of writing/creating provides so much clarity. It's getting easier and easeir too. AND, in doing so, I hope to help fellow teachers with their own reflection on their own learning journeys.

Speaking of Dale and teacher/coach learning journeys, I once recently made sure that Dale met one of my favourite pragmatists on social media, the amazing, Stuart Wilkinson. Stuart has a way of cutting through the noise, especially within the current ecological psychology vs educational psychology debate. People have disagreed with me (probably Stuart even), but I believe that whilst this debate is very important, it’s also giving governing bodies and government departments an opportunity to sit on their hands at present. “Just awaiting clarification from the research” style…

I am not gonna speak for Stuart on this but I will say that I listened to his story with Dale twice and tweeted that, “This is probably the best sports coaching podcast episode I have ever listened too!” AND, it’s not just because Stu is a Rugby League man like me (although FAR more highly decorated), I again reckon it’s the way he cuts through to focus constantly on the unique learner. I also loved his description of teachers who can engage as coaches who": “Light up the grass!!!” Here is the great man in action.

I love hearing about sports’ coaches journies, especially the ones willing to try anything to improve. I asked Stuart if I could access more of his learning diaries and thankfully he’s writing a PHD and an accompanying book to help us all by way of these. AND there is a lot of it said Stuart, “not many electronic and when my son gets time to clean out the loft we did agree to burn them as there is 10x10m and 1m of boxes of records I’ve kept.” Yet here is one of the kickers for me from Stu, “over the past few years I’ve found I didn’t use my intended plans as I just coach what emerges from the players’ reactions.” This is teaching and being willing to fail too, just like we surely want our players to experience.

In contrast, let me give you an example of a teacher who has STOPPED teaching. I was once asked by a professional coach (of the television type) a couple of questions in a friendly face to face learning exchange. From now on, the ‘pro’ coach will be called _______:

_______: Gunny caught up with Shane Pill lately? I’ve often wondered about Game Sense. What percentage should your sessions be Game Sense, as well as Craftwork, Fitness etc?

Gunny: _______, there is no ‘correct’ formula if that’s what you’re asking _______.

_______: What do you mean Gunny?

Gunny: It Depends…

______: Depends on what?

Gunny: What you’ve got in front of you… Who they are. What they need. Your mood. Their moods. What they want. What you want… AND it changes moment by moment etc etc…

He then points to the team I’m helping, where in essence I was coaching their coaches.

_______: Give me an example. What’s the secret?

Gunny: Well first you encourage the coaches to get their players and then the leaders in particular to highlight a problem that needs solving. (I then explained it all in great detail). For example, at the start of the season, our very first session we worked on…

_______: We don’t work on that!

Gunny: Why?

_______: That just comes implicitly… (Gunny walks away in shock wondering, ‘whatever happened to teaching?’)

You see here is a coach that’s stopped trying and learning. Yet the coach more than likely shows videos of NBA players etc talking about ‘failing harder’. Stuart Wilkinson if you listen below seems the opposite. He just keeps trying and failing and improving just like we want our players to do. Have a listen yourself: https://energetic.education/130-stuart-wilkinson-coaching-relationships-inspiration/

AND the great man goes further in saying that most of the earlier mentioned training diaries could be ‘hopeless’… YES! That’s the point. Or as Stuart puts it, in response to one of the ‘epic fails’ I tried in coaching rugby union almost twenty years ago and trying to borrow from Rugby League structure:

“We all need to try this stuff until it finally dawns on us that self organised, collaborative & small communities of practice all enhance self determined & independent thinkers within our teams.”

— Stuart Wilkinson, 2019

Therefore, here you go peers! Compliments of Uncle Gunny. Below is an activity I designed for a ‘talent academy’ I was supposed to work at, but instead was laid up and recovering on my bed from one of my two different achilles snaps. It was designed (as were the other two untouched activities) to fit the problems that the coaches identified. Of course, they didn’t implement it. Not because they didn’t understand it. It was because they didn’t have the courage to ‘fail harder’. You see, coaching is a process of learning… Not a whole heap of flaky infographics and motivational quotes. This activity was designed to get support runners running ‘cut and angled leads’. I no doubt got inspired by a book by Shane Pill or other great PE teachers, let alone the teachers from my university days so feel free to use.

Handpass around on the ‘GO’ from coach with one defender who remains for three-six rotations – it is 3v1 – each side of triangle starts in order on attack – coloured markers line the outside lines – when coach calls a colour the ball player needs to try and hit a lead who is heading to a colour on another line from where they started – again I would bring in many constraints. However, I would always go from Keepings Off and then Endball variations but using the old rugby league waves in a grid even in 2v1 with you calling the side or a colour that they need to lead to would have them cutting. With other coaches doing and calling you could look for someone doing it right. When you spot it: “Did anyone see that? That was impossible to defend against. How did Joe put the distance between him and defence and give a clear option? (silence) Where not playing League are we? Where is the space?” Just keep at ‘em….

The coach who I am describing this to above in email was exceptionally experienced. Thus, I’m not sure why it wasn’t implemented. If it wasn’t understood, I was on my back looking for phone calls. I’d guess just too lazy to be prepared to follow the slogans that are flagrantly touted on social media… It reminds me of the term ‘Lifelong Learning’ that you will see in any syllabus document or university prospectus. However, it’s just a couple of words unless you are prepared to enact it through ‘doing’ like the great Stuart Wilkinson. Indeed, create a learning legacy whatever context you are in if you are prepared to really roll the dice and take a risk.

I would love to hear your thoughts on when you failed forward. Contact me at anytime via email: coachgunny@craiggunn.org or subscribe and find me in all the usual ways.

Yours in learning,

Gunny

GUNN TIPS FOR COACHES #11 - 365 DAY PROJECT 2019/20 - CAN VIRTUAL REALITY SIMULATIONS LEARN FROM PHYSICAL EDUCATION TEACHING MODELS?

G’Day ‘learners’.

Today’s blog will help sports coaches (and all caring adult stakeholders) to:

Consider the idea of inter-disciplinary sharing to better inform the practice and future of your own and peers’ efforts with learners…

Two of the great mysteries that I have come across since teaching in pretty much every context is these:

1) Why are university faculty with a research background expected to teach even though they mostly don’t possess a teaching degree?

2) Why do the big sports’ corporations’ leading coaches often travel on ‘junkets’ to USA and European professional set-ups, when they would learn so much from their neighbouring coach at the field over the fence in a different sport?

I have spent the best part of a decade working on finding answers to these questions… One day I might understand these bizarre processes but I fear it will not be until my death bed.
Here below is an example of a local AFL club in Australia looking at the rugby league club next door for help in keeping their players’ safe! Well done Wilston-Grange Gorillas of AFLQ where I have so far worked on ‘contact’ safety in teams and with coaches from U/11 right through to seniors including some of the senior women’s last year’s state flag winners! In any case cross code sharing seems oddly rare at the ‘coalface’ in Australian sport.

Although, I retired from a decade’s work teaching at universities last year, the Gunn household is very lucky as both Therese (my wife) and I have worked or in her case are still working as a university lecturer. It is of course, most unfortunate for our kids when our morning pot of tea questions turn to improving unique individual learning outcomes for students. Therese is not a trained teacher but may as well be as she has levels of EQ that I only dream of and is always looking at bettering her craft. As such, she is almost finished her PHD, and presents her final seminar this in June this year.

She is also very, very, very clever! Below is her sideline business that she has created and runs with three peers. It provides a virtual environment for student radiographers to gain confidence and skills before and after their hospital placements. The idea here of course is so that if the knowledge and manipulations of machines becomes more automated, then the students can focus on the ‘real’ stuff: patient care.

This I feel is akin to the first teaching practicums of school teachers where you are placed in a school environment with a mentor and learn more about the relationship side of the profession, rather than the actual ART of teaching. I remember it being in my second year for example, and you got to teach very small and rare segments only. AND of course. all the mentor really wanted to see was how well you relate and if you had presence. Well that’s what I got out of it and passed it on ‘in kind’ to the university students I taught at schools or universities!

This is the business referred to above! It’s called ‘medspace.VR’, http://www.medspacevr.com/ . In this clip you will hear the beautiful tonal treats of Dr. Peter Bridge from the University of Liverpool.

Which brings me to the point of this piece: can Virtual Reality (VR) simulations learn from Physical Education (PE) teaching models? Therese Gunn thinks so of course in suggesting that importantly for health educators using technology or aids:

“requires the educator to understand the technical possibilities of the technology as well as have a thorough understanding of the content. Awareness and the acceptance that “it depends” is the key.”

— Therese Gunn, 2019

You see, like any interventions in PE and many education interventions like computer laptops rolled out in schools, Therese makes the point that the unique learner is key, including the teacher. The quote above comes from an abstract that’s been accepted by an upcoming conference on the use of simulation in health. It does not feature in her PHD. However, a morning chat between us on Mosston and Ashworth’s (2002) ‘Spectrum of Teaching Styles’ alighted within in my great teaching mate a possible future direction on the learning journey to ultimately improve students’ learning and subsequent patients’ care outcomes.

YES, there are always ‘gimmicks’, ‘fads’ or better named teaching ‘models’ that are available for any educator or coach to use. Take the below work from the Australian Sports Commission, now Sport Australia. Not too long ago I believe we led the world in sports’ coaching research through engaging resources and interventions, like, “Playing for Life”, “Sporting Schools”, “Game Sense” and “Yulunga”.

A great teacher knows that ‘one size does not fit all’. It never has. It never will. AND of course, the dynamic nature of learning evolves moment by moment. Yet, despite not having a teaching degree, Therese through her research had worked out that just like in PE, Sports Coaching and all educational sectors, their are many well thought out interventions sitting idle and gathering dust… Because, ‘It DEPENDS’ on so many factors. For example, anybody who calls my own coaching here in Australia ‘Gunny Madness’ and “gunny Chaos’ or worse has not seen me teach contact. Here is where the beauty of Mosston and Ashworth come in!

Even on film my director mate, Anthony of AOB Media says, I’m one of the easiest presenters to work with. I’m just “GUNNY”! AND, even though I get into a ‘zone’ my 1000s upon 100s of sessions, contexts, students, changes etc etc leads to me sometimes using different parts of the ‘Spectrum’. That’s not to say I don’t plan. I elicit from coaches I work with what problem they want players to solve and I get them to bring all of this out in full colour. Then, like a MAD scientist, I splash a bit of this, and reduce the heat on that, and stir vigorously that etc… This is the ART of teaching. And of course it’s something that Therese will explore through Mosston and Ashworth’s legacy, including leaning on the shoulder of the odd PE teaching peers of mine like Dr. Sue-See and Dr. Pill. Probably plenty more too!

Of course, I firmly live in the ‘grey’ of no right or wrong so I am biased but I have a feeling my wife is onto something here. Knowing subject matter yourself doesn’t mean that you can get others to learn. And just as the GREAT Muska Mosston tried to show us teaching is a complex series of decisions to be REapplied, REobserved, REflected on and then REbuilt or REpealed or REvealed.

And yet again I wonder about REsearch. REflection:

Why the constant drive for ‘new’ contributions to knowledge? What’s wrong with a REturn to the ‘old’? How often are interventions REleased that are simple REhashes of things that worked or didn’t work many years ago? As a teacher, of course when was the most REcent time you truly REvolutionised your teaching through REspecting differentiation of learners. EXAMPLE: Some students will thrive in a VR environment just like some will prefer closed drills in PE. When has there been a moment where you REinvigorated your teaching through this REality?
As a REflection of my own and REminder of how this began I will retell an anecdote that leads High Performance coaches of the learning from the discipline next door:
I was once fortunate enough to work with an academy from a professional AFL team. I gave my feedback and one of my examples caught the Head Coaches’ interest. “This tennis ball technique of yours was taught by to us at _______________ by All Black, _______________ , when I played at ________________ (played over 300games). “Well,” I replied, “I first came across the method in 1986 and it was taught to us by Christian Brother _________________ (so long ago I forget).
Yes my teaching peers, when have you openly and genuinely sought out learning from your teaching peer next door? Whatever the discipline… There is GOLD I tell you over the fence OR around the kitchen bench!

Yours in learning,

Gunny

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7DAC5b2rZHlt8bxXHVgAHg?view_as=subscriber

GUNN TIPS FOR COACHES #10 - 365 DAY PROJECT 2019/20 - IS EX MATILDA JOEY PETERS AUSTRALIA'S OWN JOHAN CRUYFF

G’Day ‘learners’.

Today’s blog will help sports coaches (and all caring adult stakeholders) to:

Consider the idea of non-contested spacial use to better inform the practice and future of your own and peers’ efforts with learners…

As promised here is something from great learner of Dutch/World soccer:

When you play a match, it is statistically proven that players actually have the ball 3 minutes on average … So, the most important thing is: what do you do during those 87 minutes when you do not have the ball. That is what determines wether you’re a good player or not.  (Great Human (RIP))

Here I’m pretty sure he is is suggesting that dribbling practice around cones and the like makes no sense, especially for adept players.  What is the AFL equivalent?  Kick to kick or handball to handball in my opinion.  NRL and Rugby? Line passing without defenders. Not only are they unrealistic (in fact in the AFL suggestions you have two lines moving only to what's in front of you like league) but defy the idea that most of the stuff players in most any level do is find space, deny space or dispose of balls under pressure.

Now, I know he is an ‘outlier’ but the Don hit one six only in his career. Aussies are reared are reared on the tale of him with the golf ball, stump and water tank.  ThusI hope we remember that nurturing and environment are pretty important…

Speaking of environment, anyone who has ever seen me coach ‘contact’ knows however that there is a time for simplification and closed dills. Yet I am aware that many people refer to my teaching as “Gunny Madness” or “Gunny Chaos”. Thus, I feel that I need to have a look at my sales pitch.

For instance take a look at the below questioning to me from a former team-mate and Adelaide friend of Dr. Shane Pill:

Gunny, one thing I didn’t ask was, using last night as a template ,would you normally stop and add the layers as frequently as occurred, or, would you let the players have more time on a particular set up before moving on to the next layer?

The question is probably more aimed at coaches of a group for the year ( 2 nights a week 1- 1hr 15min) as opposed to teaching them new thoughts as in last night session.

Is it better to keep changing it up as rapidly to keep them on their toes, or, really let them settle into one segment without boring them, to try to get a particular part right?

Not sure if this is a right or wrong answer style question but just so I can get a feel for a coach who has the team long term.

An experienced PE teacher can tell that this human is a very experienced coach. For example, he picked up that the changes were coming rapidly and guessed correctly that they were probably for observing coaches. implementing them in a suite later He is also hinting that at times it’s important to stay where the learners are deeply engaged and that there is no right or wrong. Well that’s my reading of it anyway! In any case, it’s a clear example to me that maybe I should be called ‘crazy’. I mean here I am presenting things in such a way that even an experienced coach is confused. Not that confusion isn’t great for learning of course…

Which brings me to the point of this piece. You see, the coach interacting with me in questions above played a very high standard but was not absolute ‘elite’, like Johan Cruyff. I STRONGLY believe that this class of player are often the better coaches. In fact, apart from the amazing Simon Black, there are not many long-term ‘elite’ former male players of AFL in particular, who are as liberal minded as Johan. Of course, notwithstanding those with a teaching degree.

You see, the sub-elite spent more time on the bench. The ‘elite’ always got to play so often don’t really know why they are so much better than the others. Of course many will cite hard work but for us others, sitting on the bench allows you to be always asking questions about how and why these team mates are better. It also creates an opportunity to become far more observant and reflective. Now this is something that I find is missing with many ‘elite’ turned coaches that I have met.

Maybe it’s different in the women’s game? Well one thing I can tell you is the great Joey Peters of ‘Game Play Learn’ has coached at the top yet still does most of her mingling with the Grassroots!

This amazing national treasure is so so humble!!! Still keen to do the absolute best at learning whilst she can. For who? Her learners. Thus my fellow peers, Joey, who was probably the Sam Kerr of her day (but not lucky enough to be paid like Sam) gives us 10 very easy to understand coaching principles if you dare. They are practical and pretty much all any coach needs to rely on when wanting to improve.

What an amazing human being and of course lifelong learner. So yes, from what I have seen of soccer in Australia, Joey is our Johan: oozing passion, learning, and, care for our young people. Does it get any better than that? I don’t think so! Love walking alongside you in the journey now and again LEGEND! And my peers, seek her out and you will enjoy the learning too!

Find Joey at ‘Game Play Learn’ below. If you want a mentor coach, in any sport, there is none better in this country! I know this, as she is still prepared to give to the Grassroots like a local soccer club in my area and the AFL women I coach. What a national treasure! Please remember Gunny doesn’t drink… Thus, all true!

http://www.gameplaylearn.net/

And on Twitter her preferred sharing space!

https://twitter.com/joeypeters10

Looks like she was a fan of JC too!

Yours in learning,

Gunny

GUNN TIPS FOR COACHES #9 - 365 DAY PROJECT 2019/20 - Craig Can You Tell me WHY You Were at the Level II Coaching Course? I Just Found Out You 'Only' Coach U/11 Girls...

G’Day ‘learners’.

Today’s blog will help sports coaches (and all caring adult stakeholders) to:

Consider the idea of ‘teaching vs administrating’ to better inform the practice and future of your own and peers’ efforts with learners…

If you are reading this BLOG I guess that you are a ‘thinking teacher’. THUS, you may be reading the title of this piece and saying in the local vernacular, “Is this ‘fair dinkum’? Did somebody really allude to the U/11 gals’ coach not being worthy of a LEVEL II?” Yes indeed is my answer!!!

However, I am reminded that this is probably widely copied around the world. AND of course, those who are nowadays leading our coaching in our biggest sports are generally not ‘teachers’ BUT ‘administrators’ OR dare I say it, ‘certifiers’.

It was far worse too than this I can tell you on the course. In fact, I was asked to please stop asking questions and making alternative points… SO I did. I walked out with three sessions to go.

You see, it doesn’t matter that I have created and lectured through entire university subjects on coaching or PE it would seem. AND me pointing quietly in small groups that there are alternatives to the CONTENT presented via research rather than myth was also hard for the ‘BIG Dogs’ to take. However, in the end, ‘they don’t know what they don’t know’ OR are purposefully, professionally negligent… Who’s that bloke who wrote the ‘Davinci Code’?

In any case, I started looking for past ‘content’ I’ve given away, to fit in with my last post on sports’ organisations not always scaffolding ideas like ‘Coaching Philosophy’. Thus, I found an email to a friend from the sport titled: “Is this Gonna Get Me Banned for Life?” AND reading it, I’m not sure why again I was trying not to hurt the ‘Big Dogs’ feelings! Again they asked for an ‘outline’ of a ‘coaching philosophy’. Again, I’ve pushed grade 5 PE classes harder than the questioning ‘guiding’ my thoughts here. THUS, as always. I did my best to EDUCATE like below. I strongly suggest coaches investing in this COACH and STAKEHOLDER development program #ThinkTank2019 and I’m not just saying this because my thoughts on 'ENGAGEMENT feature! I promise…

#ThinkTank2019 has been highlighted as a Continuous Improvement Opportunity by the US Olympic Committee Coaching Education program! Half of our presenters in the COMPETE track come from national governing bodies. Check it out at https://t.co/FtZkX6C0MS. pic.twitter.com/jsCg2lhoB8

— Ruth E. Nicholson (@renicholson) April 13, 2019

This is my ‘outline’ that I felt I better justify (but not too much) to help the ‘certifiers’ among one of our best known sports… Begins Now:

Outline of your Personal Coaching Philosophy

I love any Long Term Athletic Development (LTAD) approach that espouses so many more holistic objectives than the ‘traditional pyramid’ approach or pure specialisation (Bailey et al., 2010). The ‘elite’ model found in Australian culture breeds poor competition and athletes with more injuries, lacking fundamental movement skills and players exiting from the sport far too early.  My philosophy is to put the individual athlete and their unique needs above all else.

As a holistic, athlete centred coach, in the past I been drawn greatly to Balyi’s LTAD model.  Its great strengths is the focus on building the engine first before the race through the many different stages: the incremental use of competition, and a true focus on the athlete learning basics and other important things like game play.  However, with experience I now feel that the Canadian inspired LTAD model is a little rigid and too linear let alone has a mainly physiological emphasis which leaves out much that affects performance (Gulbin et al., 2013).

Thus although I am an AFL coach for this assignment, my experience in philosophy finds a focus on sampling sports rather than specialisation on say AFL for our youth.  Yet to promote fun and excitement only in youth sport can not be the only objective (Gunn and Pill, 2016).  However, Gulbin and colleagues (2013) again would find the present AFL manual problematic: it is generic in regards to ages, is linear and also in our experience it does not consider the individual.  For example some kids want to be told what to do in a drill, whilst some like tactical games.

Thus I coach without a model/manual as with experience I am great at looking at the individual past an obedient military prospect.  Sadly (Kirk 1996) found that other PE teachers are unable to do much more than direct as per the acculturation of our military past that is so entrenched (Moy et al., 2009).  My coaching philosophy’s strength is the premier inclusion of psychological needs and a clear suggestion that skill acquisition is non-linear in nature.

Finally, to support my philosophy I favour the AIS FTEM model, as it: encourages sampling rather than early specialisation; groups athletes by standard rather than chronological age; allows greater movement between pathway; encourages gaining skills from fundamentals; and is more inclusive at all levels. 

However one must remember that any LTAD philosophy of coaching is a long term (10 year approach).  So what if we lose a few kids (parents) to other sports when they are learning the fundamentals?  Rather than weekend wins and losses I focus on retention and development.  Although my approach has proven challenging to important stakeholders, if you focus on true individuals, they will come back to athlete centred coaching than ego centric forms.

I explain a little more with one of my favourite educators below, COACH Reed in Podcast! https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/the-coaching-code/the_c0ach1ng_c0de-ep18-every-aQXIgS69py-/

Thus ‘administrators’ perhaps I can get you to think more like a teacher when it comes to coach development. This is about learners and not numbers you see…

Reflection:

Who’s in front of you? What do they need? Why? What do their needs look like and feel like? Draw it all out in full colour. How do you know that they are engaged? Be specific. What bigger problems are you solving through this teaching? How will you know when you have improved? What is it that your learners ‘don’t know what they don’t know? When will you know, that they now ‘know what they don’t know’? How can you support them to ‘know’??? And on and on and on it goes…

As I say (and John Wooden did too), if you’ve put your hand up to coach… THANKS! But… Please accept that you are a TEACHER!

Yours in learning,

Gunny

PS. Gunny and Dale Sidebottom ‘ENGAGEMENT’ tour of UK and Ireland coming September 2019!

PPS. Get around this amazing ‘Think Tank’ for coach DEVELOPMENT. I wonder is it better value than the Level II mentioned above? YES! Many, many, many times better…

PPPS. Contact me on all the usual platforms, anytime!

Speaker Announcement for #ThinkTank2019 -

We are pleased to have Craig Gunn - @c_gunny73 of Coach Gunny Grassroots Consulting as one of our experts. Sign up now. Think Tank starts March 20th - all ONLINE. Open until April 30th.
Go to:https://t.co/nyKeFZXdve to register now! pic.twitter.com/koPEiZ9gDb

— Coach Reed Maltbie (@Coach_Reed) March 6, 2019

GUNN TIPS FOR COACHES #8 - 365 DAY PROJECT 2019/20 - DID SOMEONE SAY TEACHING PHILOSOPHY?

Today’s blog will help sports coaches (and all caring adult stakeholders) to:

Consider the idea of a teaching to better inform the practice and future of your own and peers’ efforts with learners…

The thing with coaching in particular it seems, is that national sports organisations promote amazing ideas like, 'You must have a coaching philosophy'. However when the rubber hits the road, many are not good at saying 'why' and certainly don't show you 'how'. I can provide some of my feedback to AFL for example on this in my Level 2 a couple of years ago. but I’m sure it’s an Australia wide thing. Once again, even more strange is that most ‘levels’ and educational interventions like devising a teaching philosophy are aimed at 'elite' or 'sub-elite' environments…

In any case a reminder: coach ‘development’ isn’t working (here he goes again…). For example, Games-Based Approaches (GBAs) in sport and PE have been around for 50 years as a way of orientating learning activities in performance like environments. GBAs have been promoted too as an alternative to the 'skill and drill' methods that are certainly dominant in Australia and many other nations. In any case, many of us who know a little bit but devote OUR energy at the 'Grassroots' know 'alternative pedagogy', that is student centred and NOT 'one size fits all' has struggled to get any footing. It’s a point I constantly try to make like below with great teaching peer Dale Sidebottom: when are you going to show coaches HOW again???

COACH GUNNY'S BIO I AM AN EDUCATOR AND RESEARCHER WHO CARES PRIMARILY ABOUT HOLISTIC DEVELOPMENT OF UNIQUE LEARNERS. I HAVE ENJOYED A WIDE AND VARIED CAREER THUS FAR AND AM STILL SEARCHING FOR NEW WAYS OF TEACHING AND LEARNING. I HAVE A MASTERS OF EDUCATION (SPORTS COACHING) AND AM CURRENTLY RESEARCHING COACH DEVELOPMENT AND THE USE OF SMALL PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITIES TO SUPPORT AND ANALYSE PRACTICE IN USING NONLINEAR PEDAGOGY. IMPORTANTLY, BELOW IS A LINK TO STUART ARMSTONG'S 'THE TALENT EQUATION' PODCAST, WHERE I FEATURE IN AN EPISODE REMINDING LISTENERS OF MY BELIEF THAT 'KIDS LEARN TEACHERS NOT SUBJECTS'.

Which leads me to the focus of this blog… The best thing I saw on social media yesterday was the below from my Welsh rugby coaching peer, Nathan Gosling. Nathan is a supreme operator and PE teacher/coach with amazing experience who walks the ‘talk’. However, interestingly ‘philosophy’ was part of a current job application. He of course took it to the next level!!! Fingers and toes are indeed crossed that you got this mate and thanks for helping us out as fellow learners.

Wow absolutely love it Goose! Mate, ‘blue’ means sorry? Not sure if I can add! Am I allowed to use it if I reference you in my Blog? Day 8 today of 365!!! This’ll be the best coaching prompt I will see today! Don’t forget Grassroots group? Gunny

— Craig Gunn (@c_gunny73) April 14, 2019

I’m looking forward to meeting Nathan face to face when I and Dale Sidebottom ‘tour’ (or learn with peers) in UK and Ireland in September this year However, knowing a bit through our digital opportunities nowadays, it’s clear that Nathan is a lifelong learner who is deeply reflective. How lucky are the people coached/taught by him? AND, as teachers of experience will tell you, this philosophy ‘thingo’ changes constantly if you continue to improve.

YET once again, I’m just ‘telling’ you this… How are we going to do the HOW?

Here is a little bit of help from old Gunny… Feel free to email me (or other forms of messaging) any responses or thoughts too on contacts below.

REFLECTION for your beginning coaches or experienced peers who want a ‘nudge’:

What has been an educational learning/defining coaching/teaching moment for you in your life?

Describe for me why this was so powerful (negative or positive).

How has it affected your teaching/coaching philosophy?

Why is coaching and teaching important to you?

This is a start only anyway, and you can find a ‘guided reflection’ around this in ‘Grassroots Coaching and Consulting’ Facebook group (not the page) in files section. Feel free to join nearly 550 coaches from all sports, contexts and continents looking to give back to volunteers!!! Just like Nathan Gosling.

Yours in learning,

Gunny

By the way, Gunny and Dale Sidebottom https://energetic.education/ are coming to UK and Ireland in September: 

email: coachgunny@craiggunn.org (September UK and Ireland tour of learning 2019)

Again learning peers, I’m Gunny.  If you want these Blog Posts to your inbox send me a personal email on address above or other, and, I’ll start compiling an all-important ‘list’.

The HOW (not WHAT) of coaching can be found at the ‘Gunn Engagement’ YouTube channel:

 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7DAC5b2rZHlt8bxXHVgAHg/featured?view_as=subscriber   

Please SUBSCRIBE!

To correspond on today’s post, provide discussion guidance, or ask questions that can be used in future posts, connect with me on:

Twitter https://twitter.com/c_gunny73, OR

FaceBook Pages, https://www.facebook.com/coachgunnybrizvegas/   

AND https://www.facebook.com/gunnengagement/ 

OR LinkedIn, https://www.linkedin.com/in/craig-gunn-b5017a69/ 

OR Website, www.craiggun.org 

If you find the ‘Gunn Engagement - 365 Day Sharing Project’ to be a supportive resource, please consider sharing with your friends and network—again, don’t forget to subscribe to the email list or YouTube channel and again tell your friends and colleagues.  ‘Word of mouth’ is still my preferred advertising.

‘Gunn Engagement - 365 Day Sharing Project’ was brought to you by, me Gunny, and superior learning vision is curated by my partner in learning Anthony O’Brien of AOB Media, https://www.aobmedia.com.au/. 

Of course learn more about my work or how to hire me as a consultant, facilitator, or speaker, through 0431311070.  

Finally, “Kids learn teacher NOT subjects!”

GUNN TIPS FOR COACHES #6 - 365 DAY PROJECT 2019/20 - IS SPORTS COACHING STILL INNOVATIVE?

Today’s blog will help sports coaches (and all caring adult stakeholders) to:

Consider revisiting other forms of coaching to better inform the practice and future of your own and peers’ efforts with learners…

The year 2018, I retired from Academia. I’ll keep learning outside and in higher education institutions but as mentioned before in previous blogs, I had lost a great deal of enthusiasm for it as much of what I’d spent a great deal of time teaching coaches and PE teachers regarding alternative pedagogy. This is because there was ultimately a ‘wash-out’ when it came to any change among the ‘real’ courts, fields and classrooms of learning. However, a colleague, Ian Renshaw did suggest to me to check out the below Podcast first.

There are many out there like Stuart’s (Sport England) encouraging us to rethink our involvement as sporting stakeholders but interesting here I remember was my point (somewhere near half way perhaps) that sports coaches and the like seemed to have stopped learning. Indeed, life, business, executive, career etc coaches who’d previously look at sports’ coaching for guidance, were now seen by me in the least to be far more innovative and learner centred than us.

Craig 'Gunny' Gunn is an Australian Rules Football Coach based in Brisbane Australia. He has been practising his own brand of games based, constraints led, coaching which has been affectionately nicknamed 'Gunny Madness' or 'Gunny Chaos'. Two terms which should be treated as the highest form of praise which you will see in this episode.

In fact, to ensure I continued to learn and improve my coaching I even gained an Executive Coaching qualification, endorsed by the International Coaching Federation. It was here that I came across the odd bit of pseudo-science true (but most still used by educational and sporting institutions anyway) BUT also a person centred coaching push that can be easily turned to for guidance. In the podcast above, I remember mentioning this to Stuart, and he agreed with me that the ‘GROW’ model (Whitmore, 1994) that I was exposed to at the National Coaching Institute (g’day Paul and Wendy Timms), was a ‘game-changer’.

I love this video above from Whitmore in 2009: “learning occurs on the edge”; “the answers lie within”; etc. Love his take on capitalism too and the environment. PLUS getting stuck into CEOs in the audience. But off the politics now… Can see here I hope that coaching is supposed to be about unique, dynamic learners? Indeed, what I truly liked about the coaching learning in my ‘diploma’ was the practicality of it all. It was full of ‘tools’, ‘frameworks’, ‘templates’, ‘tips’ and the like, plus, of course the importance of leadership and self-responsibility.

As such, I decided to borrow from much of my learning here and focus on my ability to scaffold sports’ coaches and all adults through making the 365 days project all about self-responsibility within individual learners in any sporting learning group.

Thus Five Gunn Coaching Tips to Reflect on from Other Coaching Forms:

Gunn Tip One = The Answer Lies Within - When have you encouraged your learners to devise their own unique learning solutions? Individual, environmental and task conditions and characteristics are always interacting in GREAT coaching (Newell, Whitmore and others…); How do you coach for this?

Gunn Tip Two = Coaching is an intervention or active process based on doing. When have you recently made your sessions their most practical best by ensuring ‘positive doing’ (Jauncey) rather than positive beliefs’ and words etc? How have you helped fortify your learners’ responsibility for action?

Gunn Tip Three = Coaching should be strengths based. Much like the amazing Australian HPE Curriculum and Queensland Senior Physical Education curriculum, long gone are the days where you show videos of smoking’s affect on lungs and then say DON’T SMOKE… When have you enlivened the strengths and positives within individuals to negotiate their accountability for actions? What specific actions did your learner/s own?

Gunn Tip Four = Question/problem solve rather than command… Describe a time recently where you have asked your problems to define a problem rather than you ‘telling’ as ‘expert. How did you know that they were ‘engaged’ in learning here?

Gunn Tip Five = Solutions emerge through action of trial and error (think, act, revise, reflect etc). Growth in learning to be self-responsible is nonlinear but can be teased out with scaffolding from a great coach. What ‘light-bulbs’ have been most prominent within your learners? How did you provide the support to make themselves as stimulus?

Thus in closing dear peers, remain curious and never stop sharing, just like the great John Whitmore (hope he is still alive).

Yours in learning - Gunny!

By the way, Gunny and Dale Sidebottom https://energetic.education/ are coming to UK and Ireland in September: 

email: coachgunny@craiggunn.org (September UK and Ireland tour of learning 2019)

Again learning peers, I’m Gunny.  If you want these Blog Posts to your inbox send me a personal email on address above or other, and, I’ll start compiling an all-important ‘list’.

The HOW (not WHAT) of coaching can be found at the ‘Gunn Engagement’ YouTube channel:

 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7DAC5b2rZHlt8bxXHVgAHg/featured?view_as=subscriber   

Please SUBSCRIBE!

To correspond on today’s post, provide discussion guidance, or ask questions that can be used in future posts, connect with me on:

Twitter https://twitter.com/c_gunny73, OR

FaceBook Pages, https://www.facebook.com/coachgunnybrizvegas/   

AND https://www.facebook.com/gunnengagement/ 

OR LinkedIn, https://www.linkedin.com/in/craig-gunn-b5017a69/ 

OR Website, www.craiggun.org 

If you find the ‘Gunn Engagement - 365 Day Sharing Project’ to be a supportive resource, please consider sharing with your friends and network—again, don’t forget to subscribe to the email list or YouTube channel and again tell your friends and colleagues.  ‘Word of mouth’ is still my preferred advertising

‘Gunn Engagement - 365 Day Sharing Project’ was brought to you by, me Gunny, and superior learning vision is curated by my partner in learning Anthony O’Brien of AOB Media, https://www.aobmedia.com.au/. 

Of course learn more about my work or how to hire me as a consultant, facilitator, or speaker, through 0431311070.  

Finally, “Kids learn teacher NOT subjects!”

GUNN TIPS FOR COACHES #5 - 365 DAY PROJECT 2019/20 - CAN SHE KICK? DEPENDS - WHO'S ASKING?

G’Day learning peers,

Welcome to Blog 5 of ‘Gunn Engagement - 365 Day Sharing Project’ a daily reflective piece for teachers/coaches of all movement contexts, curating the learning of unique individuals. 

I’m Gunny (Coach Gunny/Craig Gunn) an experienced educator. I have a particular ‘calling’ to support those at the grassroots/foundation/community level.  As such consider joining the below group:

“Grassroots Coaching and Consulting” Facebook group (not the page) which gathers coaching/teaching brains from around the world.  It began less than 17 months ago and now has 528 members from every continent and most sports: https://www.facebook.com/groups/147501649318126/

Join and invite your friends!  We’re practical, warm and engaging, but also a little more generalist for people who are often given a bag of balls as volunteer ‘coach’ and are trying to navigate what it means to be a teacher!  

I’m sharing this ‘Gunn Engagement - 365 Day Sharing Project’ to further support communities of educators, sharing about how to best engage learners. 

The topic of today’s piece is a revisit from last year where I had questions around the true cultural acceptance of women coaches into the national game. Not a whole lot has changed from my experience…

My blog begins now:

I, like many of you who coach women and girls, or, indeed, who just love the Australian Football League Women’s (AFLW) competition, thoroughly enjoyed Julia Hay’s recent opinion piece on LinkedIn, called, “The Importance of Women Contributing to Australia’s National Sport Australian Rules”. It is an inspiring tale of Julia’s recent decision to take up Aussie Rules coaching and implores other women to strongly consider volunteering to coach the nation’s game. Indeed, she rightly points that, “Women need to realise their experience with other invasion games such as basketball, netball, soccer and hockey, can easily be applied to football.”

However, I’ve since reached out to Julia, the great PE teacher, plus others, with some reservations about this rallying call. For example, I posted her amazing thoughts on the Brisbane Lions AFLW Facebook fan group which stimulated much discussion. Maybe things are different in Melbourne but up here, much of the commentary was from supportive men and women who sadly at times had some doubts about the ‘can do’ attitude. No need to go into it, but, I also gained my first ‘intelligent’ troll, who goaded me over email about my feminist agenda.

I may be facing further hate mail for saying this, but, Aussie Rules ‘clubland’ to me seems dominated by a ‘macho’ culture that does not like ‘change’. This is saying something from a bloke who was reared on playing and loving rugby league, the most beautifully simple game in the world. However, I stress now that it will take more than women putting their hand up to break the gender sterotypes Mrs Hay spoke about… I reckon it’s us stuck in cement blokes who need to change. Let me explain…

I have coached and educated in all sports and levels for a couple of decades. I swore that I’d never coach my own daughters and have happily sat back and enjoyed their triumphs or failures under many good and some not so good coaches. My girls knew that they were always there to work and have fun with their mates and I only complained once about coaches, after half a season of two blokes screaming constantly at the teenage umpires!!! I cringe every time I hear the ‘roar’ of ‘BAAAALLLLLL’ by the crowd at our young officials but that’s something for another day…

However, when it was my time to take my youngest daughters U/11 gals team, when there was no other option, the shoe was on the other foot. You see I was different!!! I hadn’t ever played AFL before and was actually formally complained about for allegedly not teaching the girls basic skills. This was not true, because as Julia pointed out there is research out there suggesting that there are far more effective ways of training than drills, like her referenced Game Sense. And, I was the lecturer of PE and Sports Coaching at a local university teaching Game Sense, along with, Teaching Games for Understanding, The Sport Education Model, and, the Constraints led Approach among others.

Thus, whilst my methods were completely backed by, modern motor learning theory and coaching ‘101’; plus, despite the fact that my players were five times more active than any teams around, comments would be made to club hierarchy by former players that I was doing it all wrong because I wasn’t using ‘drills’… But this was just the tip of the iceberg and you can read more of this journey if you Google a paper written by me and ably led by the wonderful Aussie Rules and Game Sense ‘Guru’, Dr. Shane Pill from Flinder’s University, presented at a Australian Council of Health Physical Education and Recreation (ACHPER) international conference in 2017. POINT BLANK: You see, I wasn’t the right cultural fit for people used to the way things were usually done. BUT…it got worse!

One afternoon I was sick and my wonderful, surf lifesaving, mother of three daughters, plus, dynamic, role modelling, assistant coach was charged to take the session. She worked in a girls’ boarding school, had a thirst for my coaching style, because as she said we “Didn’t ‘Lord’ over the kids”, and, had a true passion to serve the kids. Yet, I was worried about the folded armed male brigade in close proximity, which proved sadly correct. To support, I sent my wife, an experienced educator with illustrious levels of EQ to assist. However, the males soon moved in and made comments about what was going on to the coaching coordinator who had chipped me about this ‘games stuff’ before. By halfway through the session, the males mounted their mutiny and took over… My amazing assistant coach whom I was grooming to take over, resigned and took her girls away… Forever…

I have many, many sad tales of ignorance among my ‘national game’ male peers to add if you want to contact me. But needless to say, I, and a few of the key females driving the program have progressed to supportive climates. I though, am still coaching, senior men, women and girls from U/11-17, and happily assist with coaching the Queensland U15s girls, through what they affectionately call ‘Gunny Madness’. It’s actually just game centred learning, that to be honest, they are just not that used to.

Once again, Julia is right about the research saying Game Sense is effective but the research also suggests that Aussie Rules coaches generally don’t use it even if they say they do!!! Walk past any senior, ‘sub elite’ team and you will see line ups, waiting behind cones and static learning environments, because, CHANGE is HARD!!! Don’t believe me??? Consider that Game Sense was launched in Australia in 1995. It was taught in my rugby union Level II course in 2000, yet when I get to present anything on Game Sense in Aussie Rules circles, coaches constantly refer to Game Sense ‘drills’ which would be rather counter-intuitive to its earlier promoters like Rod Thorpe and Ric Charlesworth. Yep, CHANGE is HARD because CULTURES are STRONG! Which also means, some of us fit in and some don’t…

This is the bones of my present research: coaching behavioural change. But what have I done to help the change? Well, I have started and run a diverse sports coaches’ group called, “Grassroots Coaching and Consultancy”, where worldwide sports coaching experts like Shane Pill offer their help for all members FREE. Look us up and join 330 members from all around the world who are questioning the cultural, learning ‘norms’ and supporting each other to “BE THE CHANGE!!!” And, finally to support ‘change’, I have been on social media to call on any female coach inspired to improve learning outcomes, to connect with me virtually or face-to-face in Brisbane for FREE support. I am very experienced and know that coaching this game has challenges for humans who don’t kick as long as others… This is odd, because you see, we are the ones who can be the best of coaches because we have remained curious about how “things get done ‘round ‘ere’!”

As for Mrs Hay, I applaud you as a true WARRIOR in the movement and look forward to aligning myself with you in further initiatives. Indeed, I applaud the AFL for inviting you to a ‘think tank’ on attracting more female coaches. This is a MUST for my daughters and their male peers. However, a ‘caveat’, I believe much education is needed around cultural change in ‘clubland’ to ensure this gets going properly. We need ‘true’ support for a ‘hands up’ policy, because, some clubs DO CHANGE and others DON’T.

In fact, I’d reckon the rise of the AFLW has probably saved many clubs but has taken us all ‘off guard’. It was only last year that my girls’ club got change rooms, which was far better than previous years’ changing on the field. However, as an educator, I wonder how much of this current growth has been properly thought through. Indeed it reminds me of Susan Kahn (2017) citing Peeler (2009) on what led to the collapse of Enron, “There is a strange thing goes on inside a bubble. It’s hard to describe. People who are in it can’t see outside of it, don’t believe there is an outside”.

Thus please volunteer leading female coaches because many of you reside outside the ‘bubble’. In fact, you will probably be better teachers as a result of this. But, seek support early and often in preparation for those can’t see outside…

Yours in learning,

Coach Gunny

www.coachgunny@craiggunn.org

0431311070

GUNN TIPS FOR COACHES #3 - 365 DAY PROJECT 2019/20 - REMAIN CURIOUS!

G’Day learning peers,

Welcome to Blog 3 of ‘Gunn Engagement - 365 Day Sharing Project’ a daily reflective piece for teachers/coaches of all movement contexts, curating the learning of unique individuals. 

I’m Gunny (Coach Gunny/Craig Gunn) an experienced educator. I have a particular ‘calling’ to support those at the grassroots/foundation/community level.  As such consider joining the below group:

“Grassroots Coaching and Consulting” Facebook group (not the page) which gathers coaching/teaching brains from around the world.  It began less than 17 months ago and now has 528 members from every continent and most sports: https://www.facebook.com/groups/147501649318126/

Join and invite your friends!  We’re practical, warm and engaging, but also a little more generalist for people who are often given a bag of balls as volunteer ‘coach’ and are trying to navigate what it means to be a teacher!  

I’m sharing this ‘Gunn Engagement - 365 Day Sharing Project’ to further support communities of educators, sharing about how to best engage learners. 

The topic of today’s piece..

My blog begins now!

It's 9:47pm as I write this and I am an 8:30pm to bed bloke... However, I've already found this reflective habit beneficial. In the past couple of weeks (as indeed mentioned yesterday) I was reminded of something important: advocacy through creative, professional sharing requires teachers to remain curious. Although I think this is changing, my memory of school teaching features a tendency of colleagues working in isolation and shutting ourselves off from other peers' innovation. Times this by at least five when it comes to higher education institutions. I was certainly guilty of this when it came to technology so got out! However, I loved 'teaming' and professional learning conversations. And now, my last half a decade dalliance working with sports' organisations instead of schools or universities has taken the silo effect to another level in some.

Notwithstanding the amazing recent efforts of Netball and National Rugby League (NRL) mentioned yesterday to be honest and vulnerable in their collective work, the guarded actions displayed towards me by some leaders within large corporations like the Australian Football League (AFL) has me constantly curious. After guiding key people through things like 'Game Centred Approaches' and other coach development innovations around safety their guarded and at times combative attitude towards me could be because good teachers/learners open us up to questions like you know, how’s it going with the communities of practice you promised after going online with 'Coach AFL'? How much have you written of the curriculum? Do you mind telling me why a coach of children rather than youth is not allowed to do a level 2 or 3 coaching certificate? Distancing themselves from me rather than being curious with questions and dialogue... They just don’t want to go there. But I've seen it all before. Most teachers (as leaders of young people) are just like leaders of powerful institutions. We want to keep private, for some maybe just out of a sense of fear. For others, you know, perhaps it's just because their sole job appears to be to hold power. That is all just like leaders of large corporations.

But this week I was walking my dogs recalling my Australian Football learning journey over the past five years and I remembered the first light bulb moment that occurred from interaction with Dr. Shane Pill. I reached out to him because after being asked to deliver to AFL staff on 'Game Sense' coaching, it appeared to me that they knew little about any of it, despite what was promoted through official AFL manuals and the like. So Pilly, I doubt you are reading this, but my journey would have taken a different path if not for our professional conversation that day. Maybe I'd be back to knowing little about Australian Football! Yet I reached out to him over email (a little intimidated) and I said, you know, can we have a quick phone call because I think, you know, your research shows we’re thinking about many of the same issues. Indeed, I only knew him through his research and had been citing much of his work in my coaching and PE lectures at Australian Catholic University a few years before. So many things came out of his kind professional conversation. I of course took lots of notes as we were talking and Shane eventually coached me through my only peer reviewed conference paper as a result. And so that was amazingly helpful to talk with him that day. Shane’s so very giving.

Yet, the main thing I got from that conversation was that Shane thought about these learning issues in a different way than I was. He was questioning the cultural processes and I was still stuck on some of the words, like, 'Game Sense'. And even the games I was using to help the learning were overdone. For me it was a transformative conversation. For example, when I 'banged on' about the words like 'Game Sense Drills' that to me were counterintuitive, Shane asked me to dig deeper and consider if the AFL was really using 'Game Sense' as a model. This learning conversation again (just like with Richard I posted yesterday) helped me to remember how I cannot assume certain things about complex organisations and their learning structures. And eventually he led me to think about how my practice as an agent for change needed to tell my story of how I came to this and to try to connect with coaches once again on their 'story's' level. And of course always start and end with questions...

Unlike many of my peers at an un-named university in this piece that I also worked at, I certainly don’t consider myself to be an expert on coaching and teaching issues. I mean, just because you have a PHD and written a few a book on things means nothing (Jack Cahill, 2018). Indeed, I’m really not that arrogant unlike some haunting the halls of academia or fields of stadia! Yet, through sharing my coaching practices for volunteers and creating safe forums to share, I am trying to foster support for young people that would have been most helpful for me when I was growing up. And like the weirdo I am, I just had to do a bunch of stuff on my own that was essentially unique. And why should other coaches learn with me? Well, why can’t they learn from the kinds of methods and resources that I promote? Well, they couldn’t in the past due to my guilt at not being a so called and self-labelled ‘expert’ which has held me back for the last decade… See I’m just a teacher. But a ‘flaming’ good one.

So when I sat down and started to think about what this blog could be about, I was jolted again thinking about the fact that the best learners are the most humble, curious and giving. Indeed, rather than being solitary and closed, the great Shane Pill gave me some words and phrases on that day in early 2015 that set me on a path that I was never even thinking about. For example, I’m currently working on a book with someone Shane introduced me to: the ultimate in 'engagement', Dale Sidebottom. It will be much lighter on academic references than other things I’ve written on learning, but it will be rich in stories of learning through sharing and action.

Thus in closing dear peers, remain curious and never stop sharing, just like the great Shane Pill.

Yours in learning - Gunny!

By the way, Gunny and Dale Sidebottom https://energetic.education/ are coming to UK and Ireland in September: 

1) What questions have you asked your sharing peers about the deeper meaning behind learning? 

2) How has this helped your own learning? 

3) When have you given yourself some dedicated time to stop, observe, and think??? 

Learning!!! 

email: coachgunny@craiggunn.org (September UK and Ireland tour of learning 2019)

Again learning peers, I’m Gunny.  If you want these Blog Posts to your inbox send me a personal email on address above or other, and, I’ll start compiling an all-important ‘list’.

The HOW (not WHAT) of coaching can be found at the ‘Gunn Engagement’ YouTube channel:

 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7DAC5b2rZHlt8bxXHVgAHg/featured?view_as=subscriber   

Please SUBSCRIBE!

To correspond on today’s post, provide discussion guidance, or ask questions that can be used in future posts, connect with me on:

Twitter https://twitter.com/c_gunny73, OR

FaceBook Pages, https://www.facebook.com/coachgunnybrizvegas/   

AND https://www.facebook.com/gunnengagement/ 

OR LinkedIn, https://www.linkedin.com/in/craig-gunn-b5017a69/ 

OR Website, www.craiggun.org 

If you find the ‘Gunn Engagement - 365 Day Sharing Project’ to be a supportive resource, please consider sharing with your friends and network—again, don’t forget to subscribe to the email list or YouTube channel and again tell your friends and colleagues.  ‘Word of mouth’ is still my preferred advertisi

‘Gunn Engagement - 365 Day Sharing Project’ was brought to you by, me Gunny, and superior learning vision is curated by my partner in learning Anthony O’Brien of AOB Media, https://www.aobmedia.com.au/. 

Of course learn more about my work or how to hire me as a consultant, facilitator, or speaker, through 0431311070.  

Finally, “Kids learn teacher NOT subjects!”

GUNN TIPS FOR COACHES #2 - 365 DAY PROJECT 2019/20 QUEENSLAND SPORTS COLLECTIVE REPORT -

G’Day learning peer

Welcome to Blog 2 of ‘Gunn Engagement - 365 Day Sharing Project’ a daily reflective piece for teachers/coaches of all movement contexts, designed to increase confidence and ability for managing the learning of unique individuals. 

I’m Gunny (Coach Gunny/Craig Gunn) an experienced educator and I have a particular ‘calling’ to support those at the grassroots/foundation/community level.  As such consider joining the below group:

“Grassroots Coaching and Consulting” Facebook group (not the page) is once such community resource that gathers coaching/teaching brains from around the world.  It began less than 17 months ago and now has 527 members from every continent and most sports: https://www.facebook.com/groups/147501649318126/

Join. Join. Join.  We’re practical, warm and engaging, but also a little more generalist for people who are often given a bag of balls as volunteer ‘coach’ and are trying to navigate what it means to be a teacher! 

I’m sharing this ‘Gunn Engagement - 365 Day Sharing Project’ to further support communities of educators, sharing about how to best engage learners in the work of movement…  

My blog begins now!

The topic of today’s piece is an observation on the ‘Queensland Sporting Collective’ housed and facilitated by Netball Queensland (NQ).  This is the introduction only.  I will share some of my idea summaries later.

In essence, I want to tell the story of how two very different collectives came to fruition within a year period.  And how with the latter collective,  I was able to eat some humble pie as a result. The collectives/forums were very different and maybe that’s because the participants were very different.

For example, I am often citing the likes of Martin Flanagan talking about his beloved Australian Football, (as reprinted in 'The Footy Almanac' ) where he explains  contrasting narratives: "...the game has evolved into two very different cultures. Those at the top talk in terms of branding and product and market share, the language of corporate culture”.  He describes this greatly with in the ‘grassroots’ when talking about the GAME of Australian football in his home state which is described to him like, ”...the ecosystem of Tasmanian football is sick”.  As such I try hard to support grassroots coaches particularly volunteers.

In July last year a ‘forum’ was proposed and facilitated by me, but housed by Australian Catholic University (ACU), Banyo. It was based on my passion for some of the amazing  research of ACU peers and guest researchers like Shane Pill and Rochelle Eime who find that community sports’ participation measurements needed an overhaul.  I worked hard at gathering together many stakeholders from many key sports and even left my own (rugby league (NRL)) out on purpose, figuring that as Queensland was an NRL state they were already securing great public funds.  In the end though, we talked and achieved little I suppose as it was never followed up.  We enjoyed it, had international guests and the hospitality was grand.  Yet I remember one key stakeholder from NQ, Richard McIness saying to the open floor, “We already know this Gunny.  But… How are we going to change it?”

Then one day a few weeks’ ago, I was scanning for learning material to share with coaches.   I came across a piece by NQ announcing the “Queensland Sporting Collective” and I was really conflicted.  Not because I wasn’t invited (this was quickly rectified) but was critical in social media because of the message I ‘assumed’ they (the collective/NQ) were trying to get out there. I mean here I was giving away much of my own IP for free for years… And I tried a few different free professional development formats etc at pubs for free and hosted groups like “Grassroots” (above) but kept feeling rejected…  (Talking like my kids now) I was just trying to think of, like, how much passion do I want to keep putting out there, only to be totally affronted by the ‘TCs’ (some of the greatest coaches in Australia and heads of NSOs ,Sport Australia, MPs on stage)???  This was a big mistake and I was blinded by my own bias of the ‘grassroots’.

 and NQ traded a few questions and I played the stubborn game of reconsidering past let-downs… However, unlike others from big corporations and those grassroots devotees like me in the past, as educators we remained curious, asking questions to ascertain motives etc. And soon, I accepted the opportunity to have an ‘open’ chat where key stakeholders were together addressing the issue I am most passionate about: Kids and Movement! Indeed, my own NRL who’d been so brave in addressing woes and drop-out were being used as a test case for change! And I should say that the collective was not the, you know, “oh we’re special, we write these plans and we love what we do” because I got the feeling that our current Queensland Sports Minister gets it. In fact, you had people like me questioning the head of Sport Australia about the demise of grassroots coaching.  You had members of the big sports saying we are sucking out too much public money.  We had an academic questioning the use of public funding for more wasted stadia…  We had Lisa Alexander and other head coaches debating some real issues around gender on a platform of, “let’s get fair dinkum!”   

Well that’s the inspiration that I got—and in a very small, kind of obscure way—I will continue working hard at my ‘Grassroots calling’. So this is a kind but weird congratulations Richard, NQ and crew.    It won’t be read by many but please know that I have placed your HONEST and FAIR DINKUM efforts at no.2 of the Gunny 365 project.  AND, I was indeed wrong to jump the ‘Gunn’ and fire the crossed bow blanks at this worthwhile ‘think-tank’.

So, this is a story about resilience and ongoing plying of our trades, even when you have no guaranteed signs that you’re going to find any kind of success.  However, I believe that the NRL’s ‘tackle safe’ program is something that’s come along that highlights bravery, skills and abilities that will eventually contribute to something positive for our kids in all of our professional futures.  AND it took brave members of NQ to remind me of it…

And so I actually got in my truck homewards processing words but also a strange feeling in my stomach: there has been action with the NRL and now NQ, reinforcing in me renewed opportunity for lifetime movement learners that I really care about.  AND I’m just, overall, thrilled that these two sports are going against the tide and being honest about ‘churn’ and revitalizing their games (although I’m not sure of the NQ workings in fine detail). 

Now before I finish, I must recall that coaches across Australia once knew this feeling well. Putting effort and time into kids and being able to share it out among peers feeling with pride through the Australian Sports Commission and NCAS.  So peers, if you’re struggling now with a problem whether it’s a government body, a grant, a lack of resources etc and you’re thinking about hanging up the whistle, I encourage you to share it among the wider caring collective. Just like we did on that morning.  Indeed start your own sharing cross-code mastermind group. Share that you’re trying your best to make good decisions. And, who knows, rather than parting ways with me, like other key sports’ stakeholders and accusing me of ‘online bashing’, remain curious like NQ and Richard and ask questions. Because it really, really worked for me.  And got me thinking again about my own learning motives…

REFLECTION:

By the way, Gunny and Dale Sidebottom https://energetic.education/ are coming to UK and Ireland in September: 

1) What changes have you made in your own actions over the last few seasons to try and ‘walk in a different stakeholder’s shoes’? 

2) How has this helped the learners you are working with? 

3) What specific evidence actors showed up in the narrative? 

Learning!!! 

email: coachgunny@craiggunn.org (September UK and Ireland tour of learning 2019)

Again learning peers, I’m Gunny.  If you want these Blog Posts to your inbox send me a personal email on address above or other, and, I’ll start compiling an all-important ‘list’.

The HOW (not WHAT) of coaching can be found at the ‘Gunn Engagement’ YouTube channel:

 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7DAC5b2rZHlt8bxXHVgAHg/featured?view_as=subscriber   

Please SUBSCRIBE!

To correspond on today’s post, provide discussion guidance, or ask questions that can be used in future posts, connect with me on:

Twitter https://twitter.com/c_gunny73, OR

FaceBook Pages, https://www.facebook.com/coachgunnybrizvegas/   

AND https://www.facebook.com/gunnengagement/ 

OR LinkedIn, https://www.linkedin.com/in/craig-gunn-b5017a69/ 

OR Website, www.craiggun.org 

If you find the ‘Gunn Engagement - 365 Day Sharing Project’ to be a supportive resource, please consider sharing with your friends and network—again, don’t forget to subscribe to the email list or YouTube channel and again tell your friends and colleagues.  ‘Word of mouth’ is still my preferred advertisi

‘Gunn Engagement - 365 Day Sharing Project’ was brought to you by, me Gunny, and superior learning vision is curated by my partner in learning Anthony O’Brien of AOB Media, https://www.aobmedia.com.au/. 

Of course learn more about my work or how to hire me as a consultant, facilitator, or speaker, through 0431311070.  

Finally, “Kids learn teacher NOT subjects!”

Yours in learning,

Gunny

GUNN TIPS FOR COACHES #1 - 365 DAY PROJECT 2019/20 - Gunn Engagement

G’Day learning peers. This is what I do:

Welcome to the ‘Gunn Engagement - 365 Day Sharing Project’! This is a daily reflective piece for teachers/coaches of all movement contexts.  It is designed to increase confidence and ability for managing the learning of unique individuals.  

I’m Gunny (Coach Gunny/Craig Gunn) an experienced educator and I have a particular ‘calling’ to support those at the grassroots/foundation/community level.  I thought I better tell you a little bit about this ‘project’. 

Up until recently, I gave away teaching/coaching expertise for free.  “Grassroots Coaching and Consulting” Facebook group (not the page) is once such community resource that gathers coaching/teaching brains from around the world.  It began less than 17 months ago and now has 527 members from every continent and most sports:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/147501649318126/

“Grassroots Coaching and Consulting” FaceBook group for volunteers and experienced sharing learners.

Please feel free to join us.  We’re practical, warm and engaging, but also a little more generalist for people who are often given a bag of balls as volunteer ‘coach’ and are trying to navigate what it means to be a teacher!  I decided to create “Grassroots” but it’s nobody’s ‘baby’ as we are dedicated to learners in our charge. 

From here I’m sharing this ‘Gunn Engagement - 365 Day Sharing Project’ to further support communities of educators, sharing about how to best engage learners in the work of movement.

 A few things for you to know in this first post:

 The first is that I specialise in ‘learners’ and NOT sport. I actually have educated in every context and coached/taught many, many thousands of students and lessons.

The second, I’m always learning as a role-model.  Indeed, some of my post-graduate study has been on professional learning communities. As well, since 2016, I’ve gone from a flip-top phone called a ‘Doro’ to expanding my network through social media.  This is important as I was still handing out my land-line number in 2015…  

Thus these reflections bring some of that vulnerability and knowledge into creating a good sharing experience for you, my fellow learning peers.

The third thing to know is that I’m going to try to keep these posts relatively short (in Gunny terms). As in, two and a half to three A4 pages of ‘text’ (12 font Calibri). You and I know, that one of the challenges of coach development since the invention of YouTube has been the inundation of information over time. Thus my aim is to keep it at a reasonable length and ask questions so ‘volunteer’ or ‘pro’ coaches can squeeze them into their professional lives.  You may be surprised what pops up in your daily walk or drive…

Finally and most importantly, anyone who knows me well, knows that I don’t like ‘talking myself up’… BUT I think the ‘365’ will be practical and packed with tips that you can use as well.

To begin with considering this query by an experienced coach recently in a coaching forum I am a member of called ‘Coach Logic’ (costs me about $5 Aussie every month https://app.coach-logic.com/player):

“Hi all, quick and simple one. I am doing a season review meeting with the rest of my coaching group for an under 16’s team.

Any tips on how I encourage the other coaches on defining success outside of simply “we didn’t win the league and therefore the season is a failure” which is what I’m going to get from a few of them.

I define success on the fun the lads have had and the learning and development they have enjoyed plus they scored over 500 points this year which is amazing!

How do I change the other coaches thinking?”

Gunny response (in itallics):

 G'Day _____

Start with what you said: "I define success on the fun the lads have had and the learning and development they have enjoyed."
Learning is hard to see even in MRIs...

By the way, Gunny and Dale Sidebottom https://energetic.education/ are coming to UK and Ireland in September. I'm on a roll here so ask:

 1) What changes in player, club and coach behaviour have occurred?

2) How has this helped motivation of all stakeholders?

3) What factors showed up in thebuild to the ‘500’ = knowledge, skills etc?

4) What have you as a coaching team done to MODEL or explicitly teach, or grow this all? EG. If you have followed the problem solving/guided discovery of ‘Magic Academy’ and or England Rugby’s ‘CARDS’ etc, How was this different to traditional "Lines, Laps and Lectures”?

5) Look up Kolb's work on reflection! Plenty of stuff here to incorporate.

6) List many of the different learning strategies as a coaching group brain dump and then use these sub-questions to scaffold:

a) What was new?

b) How did we solve problems?

c) Where are our next opportunities?

d) When did we use games to explore?

e) How did we get players to reflect?

f) What were some missed opportunities?

g) When was it player led?

 Love learning,

 Gunny

 email: coachgunny@craiggunn.org (September UK and Ireland tour of learning 2019)

Again learning peers, I’m Gunny.  If you want these Blog Posts to your inbox send me a personal email on address above or other, and, I’ll start compiling an all-important ‘list’.

 The HOW (not WHAT) of coaching can be found at the ‘Gunn Engagement’ YouTube channel:

 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7DAC5b2rZHlt8bxXHVgAHg/featured?view_as=subscriber   

Please SUBSCRIBE!

To correspond on today’s post, provide discussion guidance, or ask questions that can be used in future posts, connect with me on:

Twitter https://twitter.com/c_gunny73, OR

FaceBook Pages, https://www.facebook.com/coachgunnybrizvegas/  

AND https://www.facebook.com/gunnengagement/

OR LinkedIn, https://www.linkedin.com/in/craig-gunn-b5017a69/

OR Website, www.craiggun.org

If you find the ‘Gunn Engagement - 365 Day Sharing Project’ to be a supportive resource, please consider sharing with your friends and network—again, don’t forget to subscribe to the email list or YouTube channel and again tell your friends and colleagues.  ‘Word of mouth’ is still my preferred advertising!

‘Gunn Engagement - 365 Day Sharing Project’ was brought to you by, me Gunny, and superior learning vision is curated by my partner in learning Anthony O’Brien of AOB Media, https://www.aobmedia.com.au/.

 Of course learn more about my work or how to hire me as a consultant, facilitator, or speaker, through 0431311070. 

 Finally, “Kids learn teacher NOT subjects!”

Yours in learning,

Gunny

Copy of 46 Sparks to Enliven Plans of Beginner & Veteran Coaches

Coming coach development sessions for March so far:

March 4, Alex Hills JAFC with, Simon Black and Nathan Clarke of Simon Black Academy

March 18. Brothers Rugby Union Club, Albion, for Gunny and supported by researchers and all monies raised going to Sierra Leone Rugby.

46 Sparks to Enliven Plans of Beginner & Veteran Coaches - by Craig Gunn (Coach Gunny)

Through a couple of decades, I’ve coached many sports, created varied content, and taught a multitude of learners. I’ve also used the following tools and tricks.  This is not an exhaustive list by any means!  Hopefully you find these 46 (for my 46 years on earth) worthy of consideration...

1. Get to know your students. “Kids learn teachers NOT subjects,” said my favourite leading principal, Fr. Peter Daly (OMI).  Thus, make connection a priority. Learn their backgrounds and where they are coming from. MASLOW must always come before Bloom. Then after all of this, worry about the subject matter…

2. Next, we need to know what they know, or, what the can DO!

3. BUT well before this, plan your session’s operational behavioural pedagogy. How on earth will you get their attention for example? (Consult old school PE teaching gurus like Pangrazi, Launder, Siedentop for help)

4. What routines would Judith Rink (1993) suggest you want to practice with them?

5. Plan absolutely everything if you are a new coach. BECAUSE you can lose them in an instant! The one thing that any teacher knows is that you solely are in control of your actions!!!

6. Plan for transitions: ‘Active Learning Time’ studies since the 70s show how much time gets wasted… Coach Educator Chris Cushion’s recent studies have shown that ‘elite’ coaches are some of the worst in this regard!

7. Plan for grouping all athlete into teams of colours.

8. Plan to never, EVER, simply point at kids and expect them to remember what team they are in. The exact same is true for adults in fact!!!

9. Listen to this very carefully: kids thrive in structure!!! When you are a beginner, don’t listen to ‘elite’ coaches working with ‘elite’ players saying things like they don’t use cones… They have never worked at the Grassroots, and more than likely if they did, and used this ‘no boundaries’ practice, they’d be pulling their hair out when the kids went wild.

10. Consider the number of participants and have far more equipment than necessary (if your budget allows for it).

11. I use four colours of cones and sashes or bibs of the same colours.  

12. How about the white cones?  They are your goals!!!

13. Use a four grid system of 10m by 10m like I was taught at university (PE teaching ‘101’). This easily engages a full class.  If I work with 90 coaches or players, I repeat the same process three times.

14. Label all of your own gear with permanent markers.  Coaches/PE teachers are ‘thieves’ but great natured ones. I drove to the Australian Institute of SPORT (1400km in my ute) with all of my own gear just in case… I am being ‘deadset’ serious!!!

15. PE teachers know that the hall/gym can be ‘squirrelled away’ from you in an instant.  Be prepared with Plans ‘B-Z’ at all times.

16. If your budget allows for it, you need a ball between two at least. I’m so tired of seeing community coaches, AND, visiting ‘experts’ lining up kids in columns with a bag of balls unused and lonely off to the side. In Australian football (AFL) for example, Indeed, it’s a great day if you see ‘elite’ groups with a single ball between eight when they do their ‘custom’ of lanework!

17. However, if the budget doesn’t allow for it, use balls, any balls... I have used everything from milk crates to stuffed toys as implement! ‘Old’ PE books gathering dust in libraries talk of things like ice-cream lids for markers. Use them or anything, because four and five year olds in particular NEED all the spatial help they can get (BIG kids too)!

18. If you can afford them, use agility poles to stake out your ‘turf’ before any other coaches arrive.  Because you are so organised and use less space than them, they will appreciate the help!

19. Put your bag of varied balls in the middle of your area and encourage kids to grab one and play, whilst you are setting up.

20. Always get to the training paddock well before start time. If I’m working professionally, I start setting up 45 minutes before. At the start of an amateur season, it’s at least 30 minutes.

21. Don’t EVER listen to anyone saying that kids shouldn’t kick around until warmed up etc… OR, that it looks untidy having them playing before the ‘official’ start. These people are clueless or narcissists. I have NEVER seen a kid ‘do’ a hamstring in cold weather or wet weather kicking before training. I suspect this wive’s tale was invented by the same parenting group in the 70s who told us all not to swim for 30 minutes after we ate lunch… Because of potential cramping!!!

22. Smile and say hello to every single adult you see near the field, as they could be parents or carers of ‘Little Josephine’. You need this potential contact up your sleeve if there is ever an issue. However, of course try to get out of the habit of waving and smiling at random mums at the shops. I haven’t mastered this yet…

23. Consider the difference in abilities of a group. Large balls or balloons are easy to catch. Round balls are easy to kick.

24. Think like a primary school teacher: the first many, many sessions should be focused on a safe environment for all, where kids and you relate well in intentional practice.

25. Play a game to begin your very first session (and every session).

26. Allow kids to kick, throw a javelin etc (within reason) first up with NO instruction!!! Then after, start the simplification process.

27. Watch for unique solutions that kids come up with in the above process.  For example, ‘Little Josephine’ putting the ball on the ground first before her kick.  Then, “Hey everyone! Let’s try…”

28. Once you’ve marked ‘the turf’ and organised all, start playing with kids. Sadly, many have been conditioned by school and other coaches and the like NOT to ‘play’.

29. Make sure that this early unofficial play has boundaries. That’s where the designated area above comes in.

30. Start at Greenwich Mean Time ‘on the dot’. If you bend here, adults will relax their travel time and it’s infectiously disruptive.

31. There is beauty in ‘chaos’. Plan for maximal movement that incorporates much functional movement and game skills. Then, finish your session 5-10 minutes ahead of time to talk to parents etc with no complaints due to the frenzied activity. 

32. Teach the kids how to help you set up. Practice this and ‘time them’ here and in pack-up with a watch. They love it!!!

33. Kids with attentional deficit issues need to keep moving but love structure too. They can be your best gear stewards and also the most creative game inventors too!

34. Plan for NO ‘lines, laps, or, lectures’!

35. Record yourself often on film. There is no better PD than this if you are prepared to watch with an open, curious heart

36. Get youth players to use smartphones and peer teach.

37. Hand-draw all activities . You'll be surprised how much clarity is gained from scratching the papyrus.

Sorry kids… Nothing beats a plan written on paper by hand!

38. Join a coaching group like ‘Grassroots Coaching and Consulting’ (Facebook group not the page of the same name) for research based, crosscode/multi-contextual support, and, inspiration. https://www.facebook.com/groups/147501649318126/?ref=bookmarks

39. Commit something to memory about every single one of your athletes for life.  Then, bring it up every year you coach them, and then, every time you see them well into their athletic retirement…  I am currently coaching four or five learners I taught or coached over a decade ago!

40. Constantly research for creativity and then journal all insights (my personality means that my ideas are everywhere but you may prefer strict organisation) . I use my calendar year diaries for this purpose: if I have quiet days that are sparse of notations, I brain dump often!!! BUT, always make sure you review often and design a contents/index list for the front.

41. If you ignore the advice within this selection of ‘46’ and forget to plan - turn off the radio on the the drive to training and pray HARD. It’s surprising how much a decade of the Rosary comes to the rescue when desperate.

42. Make your learning intentions explicit for all activities, sessions, and phases within the season.

43. At least once a day, during a half hour walk or drive, turn off the radio or take headphones out.  Have a notebook handy (or nowdays use a phone ‘app’) to record innovative ideas that come from nowhere.  My best coaching/teaching problem solving would come running through bushland! When I could run of course AND two achilles’ surgeries prior...   

44. Focus on all of the ‘w’ type questions: ‘What is a game problem encountered? What does it look like? Why is it happening? What does it need to look like to make you happy? How can you design a task to assist players in this regard!!!

This is the planning I did when coaching a coaching peer of mine (whose team went on to win the State flag)… Notice the pen and paper with the ‘w’ processes?

45. The great Dr. Ken Edwards (PE ‘guru’) taught us (and I have passed on in kind) to have three learning intentions: a major, a minor and an incidental one that will easily allow you to cover and map curriculum sequence.

46. Even if you can’t create a solution to a problem faced in a session, return to the previous session to reimagine and improve something through the ‘Change-It’ philosophy (Australian Sports Commission). This is because the learning is fresh in your players.  Many coaches are too hasty in trying the new gadgetry or novelties...

47. (Don’t say I NEVER give you anything) Keep your session plan on a clipboard (phone/Ipad) and ensure that it’s well explained ‘on paper’. Refer to it via an odd glance throughout open activity.  At NO POINT refer to it in front of athletes like you’re reading a manuscript. If you do, they’ll think you’re a muppet!!!

For Reflective Practice!

What is new or inventive from above? Try one and see how it suits.

Which of these classics have worked in past? What can you add to this list of 1000s?

Gunny’s Golden Rule for any Coaches I’ve Led and Learned With:

If we appear organised, parents and THEN players believe in us above most other coaches!

Yours in learning,

Gunny

Email: coachgunny@craiggunn.org

Web: www.craiggunn.org

Facebook, Linkedin Twitter etc too

ENGAGEMENT - Practical Development Workshops for Community AFL Clubs

NEWS: Upcoming learning opportunities in South East Queensland - by, Craig Gunn (Coach Gunny), in collaboration with Simon Black Academy

Recruiting and retaining junior and youth Australian football (AFL) players at community clubs is challenging....

For one thing, you have to accept that kids aren't as excited about kicking a ball around in this fast-paced, modern world.

You also have to find ways of engaging and maintaining volunteers to run 'grassroots' clubs, and when you do, you are just as well to find many lose motivation because of workload.

Plus, there’s the challenge of the 'churn and burn' of our volunteer coaches crucially supporting our young players' development. Importantly, they cry out for help in supporting our young people.

As a result, maintaining growth or survival of your community AFL club is harder than most stakeholders ever dreamed of.

Fortunately, there’s a better way...

Introducing the ENGAGEMENT series, a joint venture between Coach Gunny Grassroots Consulting and Simon Black Academy. ENGAGEMENT provides your AFL club with an all-inclusive Coach/ Adult/ Player development program...so you can relax, knowing you’ve left the teaching that supports the recruitment and retention of your young people to the experts.

With the ENGAGEMENT program, we’ll educate and tailor development services to your club's needs on the 'what', 'why' and the all-important 'how' of supporting your 'unique', individual young learners, so that your organisation is continuously sought-out by players and stakeholders. Indeed you can thrive as the 'go to' club around your locality of any sporting code.

And we’ll provide a digital copy of our learning activities delivered at your club, so you don’t have to worry about anything outside of enjoying, engaging and sharing in the session. This also makes coaching and supporting attendees easier, resulting in a neat scaffolding document, to support your existing, or, yet to be established coaching manual. Plus, because we want to engage deeply with a minority of clubs throughout South-East Queensland, we will allow you to film and distribute our teaching expertise among your coaches and volunteers. This way, you can easily establish a practically referable and easy to understand program that aligns with your club's development focus.

And because we believe so strongly in those that work with us, you’ll never have to worry about disengaged coaches throughout 2019, as we will help you establish and provide ongoing support toward a professional learning community that we will be active members of. This is a special interest of mine as can be seen in this group of worldwide and ‘grassroots’ experts and novices below that is free to join and is all about supporting our young learners:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/147501649318126/?ref=group_header

But perhaps the best thing of all is that we we offer a service that is heavily below market rate for our combined experience. We care about the future of football and will provide absolute 'bang for buck' so that your young people are your key focus.

To learn how the ENGAGEMENT collaboration can make club development paramount for your junior and youth players, speak to Craig Gunn (Coach Gunny) today by visiting www.craiggunn.org, or, by calling 0431311070.

The ‘official’ LAUNCH is less than a month away at Wilston Grange AFC, 26 February, 2019, 6pm sponsored by the club for Gorillas’ adult family. However, all are welcome (any club/sport) for a fee.

We are soon to announce club launch sites of Brisbane south, Moreton, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and Darling Downs regions. Keep alert and submit your club’s eligibility for ENGAGEMENT opportunity by, Tuesday, February 5th.

Yours in learning,

Gunny (Craig Gunn, B.Ed. (PE); M.Ed. (Sports Coaching))

Brisbane Rugby League U/7s UproaR Because they CAN’T Practise Like This

Hello fellow adult learners and peers. I generally do not show footage of players I have not been given permission to share.  However, this has had 1 million plus views! AND was posted publicly (see below). 

Now, recently there has been angst from my fellow rugby league people. Most suggest: ‘kids must learn the correct technique first’ etc as justification on why the proposal to remove tackling at u/7s is wrong. I personally think this video shows that what most of the League fraternity is missing, is the need for education!

Can somebody watch the vision and please prove me wrong? 

I am a little surprised at the uproar to be honest. The highlights show a dominant player that other kids look at to score tries. That’s a problem but there are many others… Sure I counted 50 missed tackles but FAR more concerning was how I counted on one hand the amount of tackles with ‘good technique’ that is preached loudly!

Nowadays slinging etc are banned for good reason. But from the public backlash it appears most junior league coaches are not aware of the push to protect the head. I am not going to labour the point here but please check out my previous three part blogs on concussion in AFL which also is a real concern. There is new evidence out of Ireland (the Irish Rugby Board (IRB) paid for it) that now shows the green zone (nipple line to belly button. It goes against everything that senior rugby league coaches teach including my own current coaching, where I did a session on wrestling levers. In the end though, these junior players look to go chest on chest in the vision which is VERY, VERY unsafe. This is because the comprehensive IRB work showed that almost all players concussed were tacklers!

Now, I do not know many staff members from the NRL but I have seen jobs advertised recently around this education and ‘coach development’ for the U/7s program in 2019, Thus, I will not steal their thunder. Yet I will say, that having taught, coached for decades in all three Australian mainstream contact sports, throughout all contexts too, the missing ingredient that will retain and attract players is coach development.

For example, I have lectured at university around processes like ‘task simplification’. It is PE teaching ‘101’. As such, the NRL is to be applauded for simplifying the task of tackling. I believe they should go even further but will say no more on that… However, I must state, that unlike the awkward and unsafe examples of head positioning/awareness, body height, feet positioning, framing, shape and tracking on show in this above U/6 vision, I’m guessing that the NRL hopes that players and coaches will learn that tackling ‘technique’ will happen much more safely and naturally with ‘tags’.

Once again I am in full support of this no tackling movement as it will be a far better learning environment. Unfortunately you see, the research indicates that junior and youth sport is littered with sports losing out because they forget that LEARNERS learn but rarely/sometimes do coaches help (Chris Cushion, 2017, GAA Conference Accessed today in ‘Coach Logic’). Usually, the adults stick with how things have always been done.

For a contrast on what is always done against what players need, please see my AFL example below. Here (this year) when I was working with Queensland U/15 girls about 12 minutes in. They had never trained like this before and called it ‘Gunny Madness’. They train in line-up drills etc because that’s the way that it’s always been done! I would suggest that these girls were far more engaged in my activity.

Finally, for more depth of discussion and sharing, please feel free to join my Facebook learning group below featuring nearly 500 coaches and learners,

Yours in learning and happy to share,

Gunny (senior League coach with skills) - B.Ed. (PE); M. Ed. (Coaching)

0431311070 OR email: coachgunny@craiggunn.org

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