The Mentoring Journey:
Roles and Responsibilities
16th October 2015 Sports Coach UK
Level 4 Conference
University of Worcester
Michelle Morgan & Rachel Brown
Overview of Workshop
•
•
•
•
•
•
Set the scene – mentor/mentee backgrounds
Concerns and apprehensions
Look at the ‘why’?
Insight and Examples – What would you do?
Where are we now?
Outcomes and recommendations
The Mentee
Qualifications:
• BSc Sports Studies and Physical Education
• MSc Sports Coaching Science
• Post Graduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education
• Teaching Fellow – Higher Education Academy
• Football – Level Two
• Netball – Level Two
• Netball – currently completing Level Three
The Mentee
Coaching Experiences/ Roles Undertaken:
• Director of Netball at University of Worcester (2012-present)
• Head Coach at Disney International Youth Netball Tournament:
Orlando, Florida (2014)
• Community Netball Coach on behalf of Netball America (2014)
• Player/ Coach at Carolians Netball Club (2012-present)
• Head Coach of Shenley Radford YFC (u14-u16)
• Head Coach of Worcester City Youth Development FC (u12-u16)
The Mentor
• 15 years rugby coaching
experience – at various levels
• Qualified as PE Teacher
• RFU/World Rugby Trainer
• SCUK Lead Tutor
• RFU Area Training Manager
• Level 3 Workforce Mentor
• CMI Management, Coaching &
Mentoring.
 ….didn’t complete Level 3!
Key Points
Reasons:
• Previous success within a mentoring context
• Looking for a sounding board
• Completing course
Concerns:
• Trying to please each other in order to tick boxes
• Didn’t want to force the relationship as it has been ‘put’ together
• Difference in sports – would there be a lack of common knowledge
and understanding to support what was required
Mentoring is a powerful tool in the education and development of
sports coaches at all levels (Sports Coach UK; 2015)
The ‘why’?
• Strength of the mentor
relationship is understanding
‘why’
• Has to be an understanding of
why someone does something –
not necessarily how and what?
• Links to values and beliefs of the
individual
• Transferrable importance from
mentoring to coaching – think
‘why’ with regards to both your
philosophy and approaches – but
‘why’ your athletes do what they
do…
• … Which led me to… THE FACES!
Discussion:
What would you pick up as a
mentor/ mentee from the clip?
What would your next steps be?
What We Did
• Mentee watched the video alone
• Mentee then watched the video with the mentor
• Open floor for the mentee to openly chat/comment on
what they had watched.
• Questions from mentor to simulate thoughts including:
Feelings after watching? What was trying to be achieved
with particular components of session? Why was the
approach/aspect taken or included? What could be done
differently?
• Mentor didn’t give any answers – encouraged the mentee
to come up with own and devise own action plan.
• Never any judgement or suggestion something had been
done badly/wrong/different to how the mentor would
Where as a ‘mentee’ am I at now from
this process in my coaching?
• Engaging use of the whiteboard
• Empowering players
• Giving the decision-making and evaluating over to the
teams
• Better questioning to players (including in evaluation)
• Sessions are much more relevant and beneficial to the
players needs as have considered ‘why’
• Awareness of player emotions/mood which informs
both coaches and players (further ‘why’ if required)
Summary Slide
Lessons:
• Setting not only goals – but a timescale in which to achieve them
•
Insight into coaching – not empowering or engaging as much as I thought so was able to
make a change
• Benefit of video - Franks and Miller (1991) identified coaches are less than 45% correct in
post-performance analysis and feedback which adds further rationale for the use of video in
reflection as situations can be reminded, reviewed and re-watched.
• Have no agenda - let the mentee steer
• There is a huge benefit for both parties if done right as supported by The National Coaching
Foundation (2010) Don’t have to have gone through the experience to mentor someone
through it
•
•
•
•
•
Next Steps:
Continue with goal setting
Achieve Level Three qualification
Use of video for self-reflection
The question WHY?