I was asked recently where my interest in sport had peaked from.
The question made me stop and think for a second. Where had my love of sport,
which has since filled many waking hours, originated from? Upon reflection the
answer seemed to lay somewhere in the summer of 1994 when World Cup USA
captured my attention and curiosity. The fact that the final ended in a
scoreless draw, didn’t stop me marvelling at Romario and Baggio leading the
line for their respective countries. It was also about this time that I started
to enjoy sporting Movies too. Cinematic sporting adventures reeled me in and
soon I found myself watching every sporting movie I could get my hands on,
something that continues to this day.
One movie in particular for some reason had a profound effect on
me – the Mighty Ducks! For anyone who hasn’t seen this show, firstly, come on!?
And secondly, the movie centres on a group of underdog ice hockey players who
come together under the leadership of an initially reluctant, but later caring
and supportive coach, named Gordon Bombay. I’m quite sure the movie didn’t win
any Oscars, but for some reason it gripped me. It made me want to be part of a
team, to contribute to something bigger than myself and I was fascinated how a
coach could bring so much joy and fulfilment to those around him.
I’m under no illusions that our real life sport endeavours
accurately reflect a Hollywood script, but I have seen real life Gordon Bombay’s.
Woman and Men who bring that same sense of joy and fulfilment to athletes and
participants around the world each and every week. I find myself wondering at
times if the coaching characters in the movies are inspired by the real life
coaches who have encouraged and supported us throughout the years. Although
I’ll admit I’ve also met a few Mike Bassett’s on my travels too.
In addition to Coach Bombay there’s a few other coaches from the silver screen which jumped to mind when writing this blog. Micky Goldmill may best be remembered for encouraging Rocky Balboa to chase chickens, in order to develop ‘greasy, fast speed’. However I much prefer to recall his deep connection with his athlete and fostering a beautiful relationship which supported the southpaw through some of his toughest times, both inside and outside the ring.
The story of Ken Carter, the Richmond High School Basketball
Coach, was captured in ‘Coach Carter’. The movie was based on true events, and
the story demonstrated how the coach valued the person before the player. It is
evidently clear throughout the movie that Coach Carter is adamant that being a
better person makes you a better basketball player. His coaching methods
challenged his team to consistently demonstrate high social standards and used
basketball as a vehicle for developing and refining wider life skills.
We all know sport in real life isn’t scripted and we rarely get
to have a second take if we mess up our lines, but these fictional characters
display behaviours and connections which often reflects great coaching, at
least they always did to me.
It would of course, be amiss of me not to offer admirable
mentions of these amazing movie coaches: Chubs Peterson (golf), Herman Boone
& Tony D’Amato (American Football), Mr Miyagi (Karate) and Patches
O’Hoolihan from the American Dodgeball Association of America.
It’s up to us as coaches to go and create our own stories, they
may not ever make the box office but we can use sport to change so many lives
for the better.
By Michael Cooke, Club & Coaching Consultant, Sport Northern
Ireland
@coaching__mc @SportNINet
#SportNILearning
