Welcome to the Coach’s Corner!
This edition is to introduce you to excellent coaches that possess hard working, yet humble characteristics. These individuals cultivate culture, are creative innovators that blend the art and science of human performance, and most importantly: CARE.
Coaches of all walks of life and sport performances are looking to improve their athletes’ potential. Every day is an opportunity. Every practice is a day to turn an athlete’s weaknesses into strengths. As you are seeking to improve the physical, technical, and tactical training sometimes it is hard to incorporate the mental aspect of your sport. Most coaching certifications and training have a mental piece in order to gain those particular credentials. There are also a wide variety of resources for coaches to get that training such as the National Federation of State High School Association (NFHS) and the Positive Coaching Alliance. So, let’s see how some of the best are implementing those techniques and strategies day in and day out.
Coaches are there to aid student-athletes in more than just wins and losses. The psychology of coaching involves building self-confidence, handling challenges and obstacles, achieving goals in and out of sport, managing stress outside of sport, and improving the well-being of the human being you work with.
Today we are featuring Lauren Godde. Lauren most recently was the Assistant Women’s Basketball and Assistant Men’s and Women’s Volleyball Coach at Southern Vermont University in Bennington, Vermont. She has a bachelor’s in Kinesiology from Stanislaus State where she played on scholarship in basketball and one year of volleyball. She then moved to the United Kingdom to continue her basketball career at two separate universities. She has a master’s in Educational Leadership and Management from Newcastle University and a master’s in Strength and Conditioning from Northumbria University. She is also a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist through the National Strength and Conditioning Association.
Lauren approaches her coaching philosophy from her own experiences in elite sport. Her past coaches and mentors have instilled excellent levels of work ethic and dedication that has influenced her to pursue this passion. She creates a culture to drive leadership development in her athletes to increase performance on the court and overall well-being.
From playing numerous sports, spending countless hours in the gym or on the field, and having numerous coaches I can honestly say that sports has helped influence the person I am today. It has allowed me to meet new people and travel the world, it is because of these reasons I have chosen a profession within the sports realm. Since my playing days are over, it is now time for my new chapter as Coach Lauren.
As coaches we don’t just play one role in our athletes’ lives. What it doesn’t list in the job description is the we also play the role of mentor, advisor, cheerleader, and psychologist among many other titles. As college coaches, we give athletes a place to compete both athletically and academically. Being a college athlete is tough but given the right environment and mindset you can be successful.
It is important that we give our athletes the tools they need to succeed and sometimes that means volunteering time to a bigger cause.
As a coach it is very important to understand what kind of environment and culture you want to establish. I like to define culture as the team’s values, attitudes and beliefs about their sport and competition. You need to know what that particular culture will look like and how the athletes need to act in order to accomplish it. From my playing and coaching career, I strive and take pride in the culture that I develop and implement within my teams. Whether it is on the court or in the weight room, I feel a major component in a team’s success is the environment and culture. Having a fun and friendly team environment helps also and Spike Ball sessions can help create this! We also liked to celebrate holidays to keep practice fun.
It starts during the recruiting process; you not only want to recruit an athlete that will help with your program’s success, but also fits into the culture you are trying to create. All it takes is one bad seed to infect the bunch. It is important that as a group you all have a common goal but also you have a bigger vision. As a coach my bigger vision, as cliche as it is, is to create a better person. I want to create a leader not necessarily managers. I want my kids to walk away from their college experience knowing that they have precise communication skills, dealt and overcame adversity and to be able to build their own culture. Being apart of a team is just like going to the office. You all have a common goal and have to come together to accomplish it.
The impact that coaches have on their athletes lasts a life time, and I am a living example of this.
If you would like to contact Coach Lauren Godde, send an email to laurengodde13@gmail.com
