My team just got a new coach about four months ago. Now personally, I don't have any major problems with this coach. He gives a pretty good workout, he is quite knowledgeable about stroke techniques, and he is trying to build some team unity. Admittedly, we have had some issues with him about showing up for workouts a few minutes late and relying too much on the pool lifeguards to provide us with a workout when he sometimes doesn't show (a much bigger problem for the newer/less experienced swimmers).
The big conflict seems to be from the beginning/intermediate swimmers and the triathletes (I'm also a triathlete, but I have a pretty strong swimming background). Now, this may seem quite trivial, and even a little bit petty to those of us who swam in college and have an intense competitive drive and thrive on the thrill of a good swim, but many of our intermediate/beginners are complaining that they are not getting recognition for their efforts. Thinking back to my early age group days, I can remember when a coach simply saying "good job" to me meant everything. It's what kept me coming back for more painful workouts the next week. Now swimming Masters, I really don't care if a coach singles me out for accomplishing something. I'm happy with an occasional Top Ten or winning a medal at Nationals. But we are now losing a lot of swimmers because they feel they are working for nothing. They don't see why they should swim Masters vs. just lap swim.
What's brought this to a head is that this morning, after workout, my wife sent me a text expressing how disgusted she was with our coach. She didn't go into specifics, but she ended with the statement "I'm done!". I didn't see what brought this on, but I did notice that halfway through workout, she was just swimming laps by herself. Back and forth, no stopping. I glanced at our coach, and he gave me a confused look, saying "so-and-so just wants to swim". While I'm not trying to make excuses for anyone, coach is a pretty young guy, with most of our members being 20-30 years older than him, and I think he might be a bit nervous expressing himself to some of us.
So heck, now I'm stuck in the middle. What do I do? Do I try to talk to the coach? Do I stay out of it? Help!
Being late is kind of inexcusable, isn't it? I mean, you're supposed to be on time, and leaving you in the hands of the lifeguards, well, that's not their role.I think it can be excusable. At least in our club we don’t pay our coach enough to quit her full time job, so sometimes she works late or has other obligations that delay her. When she is late, we will typically do a regular warm-up and if she still hasn’t arrived then one of us comes up with a first set. It’s no big deal for our club; we’re all adults. I agree this isn’t the lifeguard’s job, but someone on your club should be able to come up with a set.
…my wife sent me a text expressing how disgusted she was with our coach. She didn't go into specifics, but she ended with the statement "I'm done!".It sounds like a conversation with your wife would help to uncover the petty issues. After talking with your wife, then talk to the coach to express the concerns of other swimmers.
Being late is kind of inexcusable, isn't it? I mean, you're supposed to be on time, and leaving you in the hands of the lifeguards, well, that's not their role.I think it can be excusable. At least in our club we don’t pay our coach enough to quit her full time job, so sometimes she works late or has other obligations that delay her. When she is late, we will typically do a regular warm-up and if she still hasn’t arrived then one of us comes up with a first set. It’s no big deal for our club; we’re all adults. I agree this isn’t the lifeguard’s job, but someone on your club should be able to come up with a set.
…my wife sent me a text expressing how disgusted she was with our coach. She didn't go into specifics, but she ended with the statement "I'm done!".It sounds like a conversation with your wife would help to uncover the petty issues. After talking with your wife, then talk to the coach to express the concerns of other swimmers.
