How to build a sporting program from scratch

There are two things as a Sporting Coach that present a challenge-

1. Building a sporting program from scratch
2. Re-building a sporting program that has fallen on tough times.

So how does one go about each challenge, well each is different and each has its obstacles along the way and the end rewards can also be different.

Lets look at challenge 1, building a sporting program from scratch, is a hard task, and as a coach you need to look at this as that your the historic doormat for someone else to eventually take the prize, just look at when the West Coast Eagles started, both Ron Alexander and John Todd were the historic doormats, and it was Mick Malthouse who ended up with the ultimate prize.

When you take on challenge 1, you must accept that it often takes a few years before the sporting program you are building will emerge and mature, and this is largely because the player group that you put together is often inexperienced and the players require time to mature at the level you are playing at.

In terms of challenge 2, that is different because you inherit the position and the list you often find yourself in, now there are two ways you can approach this, you can clean house and replace everyone and everything, or you can only discard what is working and make changes around the edges. As a Coach I have had to do both under challenge 2.

As a Sporting Coach both challenges are equally tough but are equally enjoyable and rewarding, and in both cases clubs need to be patient also. Two often clubs in both cases get punchy because there not seeing success, and abandon the plan, sack the Coach and start again. I sight both the Geelong Football Club who had the courage to stick with Mark Thompson for seven years and were rewarded in the end with Premiership success, and Hawthorn who stuck with Alistair Clarkson and were rewarded with becoming the most successfuly AFL club of the modern era.

So Sporting clubs need to remember that whether you are starting the sporting program from scratch or re-building it, that this will take time and that by being patient rewards will come and often sustain rewards will come.