During the past two weeks, I have been meeting with my mentor on the weekends. So far, it has been going very well, my mentor is very knowledgeable and has helped me quite a lot through the learning process. My main mentor, Will, has almost 12 years of coaching experience with the club that I am working with, Coquitlam Sharks, as well as 6 years of experience as a certified lifeguard. Currently, he coaches seniors and development swimmers for the Coquitlam Sharks, but he has taught all ages from 4-19 over his many years of teaching both for Sharks and the city of Coquitlam. In addition to coaching and lifeguarding experience, Will was also a competitive swimmer until he was 20 years old, training at a national level for most of his teen years with Simon Fraser Aquatics.
From these encounters, Will has gained lots of experience with coaching and mentoring kids of all ages. He has many different techniques, not only for helping swimmers improve their strokes but also for helping me and my fellow coaches with behaviour issues in the younger kids we coach. Will comes by during my coaching sessions to give me advice on how to solve different issues with the swimmers. He gave me some advice on correcting kids, which is making sure to word the corrections in a way they will understand. This usually means making sure to ‘sandwich’ the correction in between a compliment, using simple language and keeping the correction short, and giving incentives to do better, such as high-fives. I also learned from Will that the best way to help solve a problem is to listen and observe the issue before going to solve it. This way, you can look at the situation not only from the perspective of the person bringing up the issue, but you can also have an unbiased eye when trying to recommend the best solution.
I am so happy that in-depth 2020 is going so well, and I am so excited to see my mentor this weekend to learn more!
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