What do you think?

I have been extremely fortunate to experience some real great coaches in my career thus far; Ben Josephson, Ian Halliday, Kerry MacDonald, Raynell Prince, Stefan Hübner, Bruce Edwards, to name a few. But what separates a good coach from a great coach? It is no secret that some coaches are better than others and it shouldn’t be news to you that coaches have different coaching styles, strengths, and focus points. But one stands out in my mind for one very specific reason. I want to talk about Adam Schriemer’s ability to unite a team. I have found myself on multiple occasions wishing that it was in fact Adam leading the in-practice discussion, team meeting, or video session and here’s why; What do you think? More often than not Schriem-times response to a question would be “well…What do you think?” This would occur in one-on-one meetings, on the gym floor in small group reps, and in the team room in front of the entire team. I’m not even sure if he realized it at the time but you have no idea what those four words can do for a team. The amount of confidence it gives you when a coach asks for your input or your ideas instead of telling you what to do without merely an explanation is unmatched. I believe a team is much more likely to complete a task when they themselves came up with the task and the road to reach said task. Those four words gave us the chance to write our own destiny, to contribute to a massive organization, and feel heard.  The opportunity for discussion in sport, especially at younger ages, is so few and far between that we grow up bindly following orders but we never know why? Not only does this question promote creativity and collaboration, but it provides opportunities for both the players and coaches to be vulnerable in front of one another; ultimately building a close-knit space that is safe and supportive. So many athletes don’t feel heard and I feel as though the problem is not that they don’t feel heard, but rather hat they are not even given the opportunity to speak. And when they do get asked for their opinion it’s about small mindless matters like what colour shirt do you want to wear or do you want your pre game burritos in a wrap or in a bowl. I never asked Adam why he did it but I strongly attribute our success on the national stage in the 2022/23 season to those very four words, “what do you think?” 

J