Biography
One of the aspects of coaching that I've grown to dislike is the need for a coaching bio. Every club thus far and for the foreseeable future has and will require one. In the long run it's not such a big deal and one of the things that I try and focus on when writing one is myself remembering where I started and how far I've come. They are measuring sticks to how much I've grown. Still I don't like writing them though in an ironic twist I do enjoy getting onto athletic websites and reading them.
The first time I had to write a coaching bio was at my first coaching gig. We had to submit them to the board so they could send them out to the parents to let them know what kind of coaching staff they'd assembled. I was terrified because after talking and meeting with the other newly hired coaches - varsity men, varsity women, varsity mens assistant (me) and varsity womens assistant - I knew that I was the odd man out. The varsity coach on the mens team was a former 2 time Olympian and had won silver in Athens in the pair. The varsity womens coach had rowed at arguably the top Division 2 school in the nation and the assistant had won multiple medals while rowing for Gonzaga. Then there was me with three conference medals and zero "big" wins. My highest finish at anything close to what the others had accomplished was finishing 7th at WIRAs. The idea of standing in front of hundreds of parents and the board trying to make my accomplishments sound like anything was ridiculous. Of course everything turned out more than ok, no one on the staff, the board or any of the parents made me feel like less of a coach because of what I had or hadn't yet accomplished.
It's been nearly 6 years and my resume has grown steadily to include several solid references and two trips to nationals - Youth Nationals and NCAAs - that resulted in medals and yet I still feel roughly the same though for different reasons now. Understand that I do enjoy the attention and I am very proud of what I've accomplished but in an effort to keep my ego under control - it can get ridiculous - I try and downplay what I've done and instead focus on what I've missed or try and talk up the rest of the coaching staff. I don't find it forced but instead needed modesty and in a way a good reminder that while I've accomplished some things I haven't really accomplished all that much and that I still have a very long way to go.
The final reason behind my dislike of writing coaching bios is that I'm afraid of screwing up and either writing or insinuating that I've done/accomplished something that I haven't. I've read and heard too many nightmare stories where a coach puffed up their resume and it ended up kicking them in the rear, something that I would like to never experience. This fear healthy or not, warranted or not keeps my coaching bios to a bare minimum usually resulting in something that outlines my years only.
The first time I had to write a coaching bio was at my first coaching gig. We had to submit them to the board so they could send them out to the parents to let them know what kind of coaching staff they'd assembled. I was terrified because after talking and meeting with the other newly hired coaches - varsity men, varsity women, varsity mens assistant (me) and varsity womens assistant - I knew that I was the odd man out. The varsity coach on the mens team was a former 2 time Olympian and had won silver in Athens in the pair. The varsity womens coach had rowed at arguably the top Division 2 school in the nation and the assistant had won multiple medals while rowing for Gonzaga. Then there was me with three conference medals and zero "big" wins. My highest finish at anything close to what the others had accomplished was finishing 7th at WIRAs. The idea of standing in front of hundreds of parents and the board trying to make my accomplishments sound like anything was ridiculous. Of course everything turned out more than ok, no one on the staff, the board or any of the parents made me feel like less of a coach because of what I had or hadn't yet accomplished.
It's been nearly 6 years and my resume has grown steadily to include several solid references and two trips to nationals - Youth Nationals and NCAAs - that resulted in medals and yet I still feel roughly the same though for different reasons now. Understand that I do enjoy the attention and I am very proud of what I've accomplished but in an effort to keep my ego under control - it can get ridiculous - I try and downplay what I've done and instead focus on what I've missed or try and talk up the rest of the coaching staff. I don't find it forced but instead needed modesty and in a way a good reminder that while I've accomplished some things I haven't really accomplished all that much and that I still have a very long way to go.
The final reason behind my dislike of writing coaching bios is that I'm afraid of screwing up and either writing or insinuating that I've done/accomplished something that I haven't. I've read and heard too many nightmare stories where a coach puffed up their resume and it ended up kicking them in the rear, something that I would like to never experience. This fear healthy or not, warranted or not keeps my coaching bios to a bare minimum usually resulting in something that outlines my years only.
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