Our HP Head Coaches kicked off their coaching development programme for 2023 with none other than Maties Rugby consultant head coach, Matthew Proudfoot, being the guest speaker.
Head of High Performance, Grant van Velden, said: “The Coaches Forum is a platform for our HP Head Coaches to not only engage with highly experienced coaches from all facets of life, be it sport or business or politics, but also to connect with one another as a Maties Sport coaching group.” He went on to add that, “Having a Rugby World Cup winning coach with an international coaching pedigree share his insights into the world of high-performance sport does not happen every day, so our HP Head Coaches jumped at the opportunity to learn from Coach Matt.” Coach Matt provided insight into his coaching philosophy, how he navigated stepping into the role of consultant head coach at Maties Rugby in January 2023, and how best to engage and build trusting relationships with players.
Maties Netball head coach, Zanele Mdodana, walked away from the Coaches Forum with some new insights that would help her improve her coaching and the Maties Netball programme. “There were so many take aways from the coaches forum session with Coach Matt. There is so much I need to learn as a coach, there are levels to coaching and as coach Matt rightfully put it to coaching is mentoring players.
Key walk aways were that as the head coach you talk last. You need to empower your assistant coaches to do the coaching. That what is also key is to coach behaviours. Players will always display on the field of play the standard of the coaching they received,” said Mdodana.
Maties Cricket head coach, Ryan Bailey, felt the session was a great start to the 2023 coaching development programme and is looking forward to the future sessions planned for the Coaches Forum. According to Bailey, the session was very informative and done at a level that coaches can relate to. Some key points taken away from the Maties Cricket Head Coach include:
- Set a natural and relaxed environment when having meeting with players (outdoor walks and not to be done with a table between us);
- Short sharp discussions when you try to make your point. We have 30-45 seconds to make an impact;
- Coach with pictures and diagrams to get the game plan across; and
- Post-game disappointments. Instead of venting and getting frustrated, rather put plans in place to counter the poor performance to grab the team’s attention.
Van Velden is excited about the Coaches Forum’s planned for 2023. “We have some extremely well-respected coaches lined up to be part of our Coaches Forums for 2023 and I cannot wait to hear their stories and see the growth in our Maties Sport HP Head Coaches across the 2023 year.”
By Grant van Velden
