Hello Everyone,
I am writing this today to recap my experience up until this point as a coach and leader. Throughout the last two years, this blog process has been critical for my performance. The process of reflection and detailed review has lead to a lot of progress, and a lot of questions. The University is setting us up for success, and striving to get us to think outside the box. This program pushes the limits of coaches. The coaches who can withstand the challenge will have the biggest effect on sport in Canada, and should be proud of each mini accomplishment throughout this Masters.
I will evaluate the lessons of each class and how it benefited my personal growth through the ultimate reflection.
The High Performance Coach:
Working through the class with Shauna Taylor (KIN 516) was critical to challenge the status-quo and push the limits with a scoping review. My research goal in that class was to identify the effects of coaching and leadership with athlete health and well-being. I was so sure that I wanted to focus my final research project on athlete well-being in gymnastics, but I wasn’t sure how to approach it. This class gave me an opportunity to dig into the research and come out on the other side. Interestingly, I realized this was potentially, not the area I wanted to focus on.
The Technical Leader:
We were then challenged by the professionals in KIN 517. This class was outstanding and provided baseline information for HP Business Leaders. The information provided in this is class was immediately useful and valuable to my position as a coach. To be honest, this class could have gone on forever, and I would have still been engaged with the information. It was very refreshing, to change the state of mind and concentrate on projects that bring positivity to sport through business concepts. This class helped me to prepare for the future as a professional after this Masters.
The Researcher:
When I think about challenges that I have faced in my life, KIN 572 is one of them. I am so grateful to have had the chance to learn from Carolyn in Research Methods. Thankfully, along with the support from my classmates, and some serious self-determination, I was able to complete all the projects and I am now vaguely familiar with research methods. This class was ideal for the researching rookie like myself. It was in this class, that I was able to hone in on a research topic and begin to familiarize myself with the literature.
The HP Coach/Technical Leader/Researcher Combination
In KIN 530, the projects build toward a strong final paper. This class is the climb before the push to the finish. Thankfully, I like a challenge and that is why my last post was titled, “Stay up, stay up!” (thanks Spinco Kelowna). The Literature Review was useful and now the fun begins. I will use the contract idea from KIN 530, to make myself a timeline to complete the final research project with KIN 596. I will most likely keep using this blog until the end of the Masters as a place to let my thoughts out and share information, as well.
Final Words…
My research on Mindfulness will benefit coaches and athletes in many ways. Likely, there could be an impact that enhances performance. Some of my challenges will include the ethics proposal and making the research question concise and valuable. I have found a lot of useful research, and now it is time to refine in order to complete the final stages.
The purpose of these reflections is to find gaps, identify strengths and weaknesses, and connect the new knowledge to the actual coaching. I wouldn’t be this far along if it wasn’t for the guidance of the professors, and the intelligently created learning outcomes. This program is a gift to the modern coach, and I am seriously excited to complete the last portion.
Meet ya at the finish line,
J
david hill
March 30, 2019 — 7:30 am
Jesse, thanks for the final blog and the impact that the program has had on your coaching and career path. Gymnastics needs you in a leadership position. I think one of the assets in working through the program is the experience that you get from other sports. I have often said that sport is like driving down a road. All sport shares the same road, however, each sport has a different car to drive, which makes that sport different. Sometimes the road will venture off in different directions, but ultimately it is the vehicle that makes one’s sport different and not necessarily the route or terrain which is often similar across sports. You ability to visit other vehicles will have a tremendous benefit on how you coach gymnastics.