BUILDING A COHESIVE COACHING STAFF
BETH WINKOWSKI AND JASON TURCOTTE
DATE
11 SEPT 2015
Brief Recent History
• Juniors Wins
• 6 straight years with Team
USA Representation
• Capital Campaign $1.6M
began and finished in 20
months
• Vern Gambetta inclusion
Vision Statement:
To Pursue Excellence in Competitive Swimming
Core Values:
Respect Our Teammates, Our Coaches, Our Tradition,
Ourselves
Honor Our sport, and the pursuit of Excellence
Be Bold Pursue without reservation (want different word)
Show Grit and overcome setbacks
Recognize the need to work as a Team
Commit to Growth and Development of all Individuals within Dynamo.
Set high standards, rather than enact rules
Competitive values:
We want to be the model 18 and under club in the nation, and
therefore the world!
CLIENT
NAME
Google has a set of five traits it
looks for in hiring (Laszlo Bock,
VP of People Operations)
HIRING
PROFILE
The ability to learn and pull together
disparate pieces of information on the
fly
Emergent leadership skills, in which
employees take leadership roles in a
team when appropriate and then step
back and let someone else lead
Ownership of work and projects
The humility to accept the better ideas
of others and to take a strong position
but then change in the face of new
facts
Last, and least, is expertise, because
the answers may be obvious to an
intelligent person and habitual
practice might skip useful new
answers
DYNAMO
The ability to pull together a group and
teach on the fly; without needing
incremental information
Strong overall leadership skills,
backed up by great energy in the room
Ownership of work and projects
Ability to work within a strong and
dynamic group of coaches and staff.
Take strong positions, move on with
the decision that is made.
Swimming knowledge, last
purposefully. We feel we can teach
the swimming stuff better than we can
teach the personality traits.

Connect coaches to people who possess
the qualities you are focused on
developing
› Team travel
› Team camps
Weekend Mentors for Life
 Tom Sweeney
 Jim Montrella
 Russell Mark
 Ross Gerry
 Dan McCarthy
 Vern Gambetta
 Milt Nelms
 Richard Diana
 Dr. Genadijus Sokolavas
 Bob Gillett
 Kathy Mckee
 Bill Boomer
Collaborate
 Borrow Practices / Share Ideas
 Saturday/Sunday Practices
 Iconic Coach Practices

Every Dynamo coach is a stakeholder

Every Dynamo coach is responsible for
learning and understanding all elements
of the business of running Dynamo
Weekly staff meetings
 Annual job matrix

Jason
Beth
Rich
Meet schedule* (2x/year)
Annual review of coaches' responsibility chart (Sep)
USA Swimming All-American program (Jul)
TU on-line registration
Meet schedule* (2x/year)
Betsy Dunbar/Bill Young awards (Feb?)
TU news/format (on-going)
SL recruiting Ch (Mar-Aug)
AL staff mtng agenda (as needed)
TU update college swimmer info (on-going)
CH SR tryouts (on-going/July)
Meet schedule* (2x/year)
Club Excellence (Oct)
DYNA staff mtng agenda (weekly)
Coordinate AL pre-season parent meeting (Aug)
Board reports (monthly)
Club recognition (on-going)
Alph tyrouts@ (spring/summer)
Staff directory (Sep)
Coordinate CH pre-season parent meeting (Aug)
Annual college recruiting mtng (Oct)
CH staff meeting agenda (2x/month)
Mary
Brian
Nancy
Inventory and order awards (Aug/Mar)
Meet schedule* (2x/year)
Attendance awards (Jan/Apr/Aug)
Team record boards (Apr/Sep)
Parent meet info sheets for senior meets (on-going)
SL recruiting Alph (Mar-Aug)
Pool record boards (Apr)
Submit meet entries (on-going)
Alph tryouts* (spring/summer)
CH SL clinics/camps* (spr / sum / holiday)
SR state proof of time (Aug/Jan)
AL dive certifications (Fall/on-going)
Hote reservations (as needed)
AL bulletin boards (as needed)
TU meets/update files (on-going)
AL mailboxes (1st of month)
Staff uniforms* (as needed)
AL welcome packets (Jul)
National team outfitting (as needed)
Annual staff party (Nov/Dec)
Martha
Michael
Collin
CH SL clinics/camps* (spring/summer)
100 Second club (Apr/Aug)
Meet director (on-going)
CH dive certifications (Fall/on-going)
Dynamite (Dec/Apr/Jul)
CH AG tryouts (spring/summer)
CH bulletin boards (as needed)
Parent meet info for age group meets (on-going)
Edit welcome packets annually (Jun)
CH mailboxes (1st of month)
GA All Star towels (Feb?)
Volunteer tracking (on-going)
CH welcome packets (Jul)
Update team handbook (Jun/Jul)
Parka orders (on-going)
AG state proof of time (Mar/Aug)
USA Swimming Deck Pass (on-going)
Tim Elmore


Young coaches don’t
need mentors for
information
Young coaches need
mentors who help them
understand what they
are learning and how to
respond to it wisely
Dynamo
 Available both formally
and informally as a
sounding board
 Office hours promote
discussion
Tim Elmore


Let young coaches see a
model of healthy
leadership, healthy EQ,
and strong character
“Nothing beats a sermon
they can see.”
Dynamo
 Have coaches sit in on
difficult parent meetings
 Email competitions
 Invite coaches to workout
with you
Explore the possibilities
 Experiment with roles and tasks
 Examine how they felt as they explored and
experimented
 Expect feedback from others about where
their gifts fit most

Dynamo
Structure Important, People more so…
Establish Staff as Stakeholders, more
than coaches, everyone contributes
Freedom within Structure
Growth situations
Another Group within Dynamo