My love for sport has always drawn me to coaching. I coached under-age girls in both camogie and ladies’ football until I started in College, and it is heartening to see many girls I coached still playing to this day. Having attended the GAA Games Development Conference in January, I listened to talented coaches give their takes on what makes a good coach. After the conference, this question continued to intrigue me. To learn more, I looked to the array of coaches we have in Trinity today.
For many, coaching is their way of giving back to a sport that has given them so much. Others gravitate to it because it gives them a unique place in the community. Some coaches initially get involved through family connections. Speaking to The University Times by email, Trinity Senior Camogie Coach Shane Noonan spoke of how he became involved at a grassroots level, which would ultimately lead to his involvement with Dublin Development squads and Trinity Camogie: “I got involved in coaching when my children were small and starting out in the club… [it] mushroomed very quickly after that. Suddenly you are the main Coach/Manager and other parents are no longer around.”
Dublin University Ladies’ Hockey Club (DULHC) first team’s coach, Brian Scully, became involved in coaching five years ago. A former Dublin University Hockey Club (DUHC) player, Scully stated by email that: “[I] got involved because I love the sport and it was another way of being involved.” Following a serious injury, which left him facing a protracted spell on the sidelines, Scully recalls how coaching “became a bigger thing in my life when I stopped playing”. For the ex-DUHC player, coaching went some way towards filling the void caused by a lack of action.“It was then my only source of competition in hockey.”
I like to create a games-based training environment where players can improve and develop all aspects of their game
Other coaches spoke of how their involvement started when they were still in school, drawn into the area at a young age and maintained to this day. Speaking to The University Times by email, Trinity Senior Hurling Manager Shane O’Brien reminisced about his secondary school days. “I managed a 3rd and 4th class hurling team for my former primary school”, he recalls. “I had such a massive interest in hurling and just loved being involved in coaching, even as a teenager.”
When I spoke to Trinity’s Director of Rugby and Head Coach of DUAFC, Tony Smeeth, over the phone he told me about how he took over an under-16 team at the tender age of 18. This experience must have had a big impact on the man, who has been Trinity’s coach for nearly 20 years. “I was always infatuated by the dynamic of it, I always read books about coaching, about improving and developing… its always been appealing to me.”
One thing that struck me when attending the GAA Games Development Conference was the number of coaching methods each keynote speaker referred to, each certain theirs was the best style. Scully, a competitive man by nature, condemned what he referred to as “clipboard coaching”, something increasingly prevalent in sports across the board. “You have to have an eye for what exactly is happening and recognise that there is no ‘grand plan’ which will ensure you win.” Similarly, O’Brien always wants to make sure the focus is on actually playing the game. “It is important to train a hurling team to play the game of hurling” he says. “I like to create a games-based training environment where players can improve and develop all aspects of their game.”
Coaches are undeniably a key influence on a player’s sporting life, and a good working relationship is needed in order to get the best out of the players. This, of course, is particularly relevant with a college team. The coaches must ensure that the individual needs of the players are being catered for, and that they are progressing as an individual both on and off the pitch. Speaking to The University Times by email, joint-captain of the Trinity Ladies’ Hockey team, Niamh Sweeney, gave an insight into the style of coaching undertaken by Scully, while also talking about his compassion and willingness to work very closely with his captains. Sweeney referred to the fact that Scully is a Trinity graduate, saying it means that he “understands the demands of college life… [he] has always helped us to be able to juggle both hockey commitments and college work”.
Similar sentiments were echoed by Joint-Captain of the Trinity Senior Hurlers, Fionn O’Riain Broin, as well as Joint-Captain of the Trinity Camogie team, Rosanna McAleese, via email. McAleese is glowing in her praise of Noonan. “He is the best coach I have had the pleasure of playing for in my time in Trinity”, she confides. “He treats all players as a means in themselves, as opposed to being means to an end.”
O’Riain Broin noted how when playing under O’Brien, Trinity hurling has seen major success in recent years, something O’Riain Broin believes is due to the “professional mindset” brought into the camp, as well as O’Brien “giving players responsibility themselves and taking leadership of the team”. This type of communication with the players by the coach is crucial to make sure that teams achieve their full potential and are ready for battle with anything that would come their way.
Winning is important for any coach, but equally important is instilling in players the belief that they can win. Engaging with a team and inviting them to have a say certainly adds to the positive experience any team should have, while also fostering better understanding between the different entities involved.
Great coaches have a willingness to listen to their players and for this they need to be good communicators
While speaking with all these different personalities, I found that each and every one of them spoke with a pure love for the sport they had become so enthralled with, but I was still trying to piece together an image of the perfect coach. The coaching calibre in Trinity has grown and developed in recent years, seeing success become a more common trend. Surely, this dedicated group of people that I got to speak with would be able to define what they believed was important to be considered a good coach.
O’Riain Broin highlighted the need for tactical ability and a true understanding of the game, but coaches also need good leadership skills, and the ability to listen to their players: “Great coaches have a willingness to listen to their players and for this they need to be good communicators.” Sweeney agreed on this, but also highlighted that someone “who has the ability to coach both the team as a group and the team members as individuals makes a brilliant coach”. McAleese took a slightly different approach, highlighting that it was important for a coach to channel their passion into improving players, saying that “a love for the game over a love for victory, combined with technical ability, is what makes a great coach”.
The coaches believed that remaining player-focused was key. O’Brien also referred to the importance of good communication skills, as well as a love of coaching and “an ability to instil a desire in a group”. Smeeth noted that enthusiasm was vital but that organisation was a must as well. “Knowledge is important… but you’ve just got to be there…you’ve got to show them you care.”
For Scully, understanding where the players are coming from in terms of their ability and competitive perspective is crucial in helping provide for the players: “Once you have that figured out, you need to have the skillset to recognise what will improve the players and improve the team.” Noonan drew from his own experience, referring to the obvious but often overlooked point that the coach needs to know what they are talking about, but that listening to the players is just as important: “Making everyone feel as important as everyone else on the squad is massive.”
Coaching is an essential piece of the clockwork that keeps a team ticking and progressing. Top-class coaches working with Trinity teams is a sign of the shared work ethic and belief in achieving the ultimate potential in the College. It’s clear that in Trinity, knowledge, passion and dedication – the key ingredients to being a good coach – are held in abundance by those leading our teams as they pursue sporting glory, while juggling the dual goal of developing their players personally.
