HAVE you ever thought about coaching a football team?
If you have, you had better sharpen up that resume, dryclean your best bomber jacket, dust off the acid wash and prepare yourself, because the fun is about to start.
Over the next month or two the footy record and local papers will have them all on offer. Senior, reserves and assistant coaching positions will be everywhere. The chance to live the Kevin Sheedy dream will present itself and it may only be one wellworded letter and six pots away.
So you’ve cut out all the ads, the bubble jet has been working overtime and the resumes are ready to go.
But before you get on the coaching merrygoround, heed a couple of words of warning.
Good, strong clubs are like that for a reason. They have a culture of success and they have expectations of behaviour beware the culture of the club you’re getting involved with. If the culture of the club is not good and needs changing, it is painful and difficult and takes time. Research the club, talk to people and listen. Know what you are getting into, know what needs to be done and, above all else, take numbers with you. Be under no illusions you may be the coach and you may be calling the shots, but you still need friends and supporters to get the job done.
Second, make sure you have got somewhere to go and something to achieve. If a club has won the last four premierships and you take over as coach, another premiership is the expected norm and anything less is a failure. It may seem attractive to take on an instant success team but, again, beware the expectations and the measures of success. Be sure that they are attainable and realistic.
Third, football clubs, like any organisation, take time to move, embrace change and accept new ideas and faces. Move slowly, tread lightly, be cautious of the status quo and carry a big stick! Under no circumstances betray your ideals and beliefs, but implement them slowly, consistently and take time to spread your message. The key to remember is that you are dealing with people’s emotions and they believe in their ideals, whether misguided or not, as passionately as you do in yours.
I am happy to admit now that I learnt these lessons the hard way as a coach, through making the mistakes of a young man in a hurry to achieve.
So before firing off those applications, be a little selective and do some research, because coaching footy is hard enough in the best circumstances and it ain’t no fun at the wrong club.