Culture is a buzzword in athletics. But it is more than just some slogan you put on the wall in your gym. It is about creating the heart of your team. On this episode of the GAINcast we dig a bit deeper into the topic to find out what team culture really is, what successful teams have in common, and how coaches can work on finding it.
This Episode’s Question: What is training culture and how can a coach build it?
In the beginning, there was Glenn McAtee. McAtee’s name is referenced on nearly every episode on the podcast for a good reason: he has been the major influence in Nick’s career and the force that connected Nick and me. The former Clemson and Cal State Northridge coach put together a great system to turn overlooked recruits into all-Americans. We ask him about how he set up that program, how he became on of the first coaches in the west to study Bondarchuk’s methods, and what he has learned working back at the youth level in recent years as head coach at JL Mann High School. Read more
We choose a little different format for this week’s episode of the GAINcast. Rather than have Vern tackle a question, we invited on a guest: Dr. Wade Gilbert. Gilbert is a professor in the Department of Kinesiology at Fresno State University, a faculty member at GAIN 2016 and serves as editor-in-chief of the International Sport Coaching Journal. On this week’s episode he tackles questions about the coaching profession, coaching values and culture, the art of coaching, and more. Read more
Team culture can be as important to success as whatever methods you use as a coach. On this week’s podcast we talk about what team culture is, how to groom it, and how to adapt it to different situations. Read more
Every so often Vern Gambetta, a mentor, colleague, as well as contributor here on HMMR Media, comes to Oregon on business. We always find time to grab a cup of coffee and chat – for hours and hours. What I enjoy most about Vern is he’s honest, transparent, curious, and humble. He has more questions than answers, but much of what he does know, I do not. I always leave our coffee talks having learned and questioned more about the art of coaching than from any conference, clinic, or continuing education course. When he was in town recently our discussion centered around culture in athletics. The good. The bad. And the ugly. Read more
Last week the Rugby Strength Coach Podcast sat down with one of our contributors, Craig Pickering. Host Keir Wenham-Flatt from Argentina Rugby talked with Craig aboud the link between high performance and sports science, his experiences as an athlete, and his transition from one sport to another. You can listen to the whole episode here: Read more
After going through the Japan Way, Eddie Jones then went onto to detail the Five Components of Building a Championship Team but before that he underscored the Japan Way values of Pride, Respect and Courage and how important it was to live those values not just speak them. Read more
It is there and it is important. You can feel it! There is a sense of personal accountability from the superstars to the custodians, they are all in and believe each is equally important. Leadership is from within not from above. The focus is on the task at hand, building on and learning from the past successes and failures but always preparing for the future. Read more
Steve Roush is the former Chief of Sport Performance for the United States Olympic Committee. In that role he oversaw a record medal count for Team USA at the Beijing Olympics. Currently he works as a senior sports performance consultant for TSE Consulting. In this role he advises sports organizations and governmental agencies in improving elite athlete performance by providing strategic advice in areas such as: Athlete Development Pipeline, High Performance Planning, Olympic Games preparation consultation and Evaluation of sports performance systems. Having worked with federations and governments of many countries across the globe, Steve is in a good position to see what works and what doesn’t in sports organizations. I had a chance to talk with him recently about these points. Read more
I have been fascinated all my life with why some teams win and some teams lose. As a young athlete and I coach I sensed it but I did not really know what it was. After about ten years of coaching it was quite apparent it was culture. Culture is in some ways abstract and somewhat intangible. You know good culture when you see it and conversely you know bad culture when you see it. In my experience great coaches create great cultures. It is a level of expectation, a feeling that what you are doing will produce positive results. Culture is more than the domain of the coaches though. Read more
