So, I’d made my decision. I wanted to coach squash. But what did that mean? How did you go about becoming a squash coach? And what would I do when I did?
My reason for wanting to become a coach wasn’t money related. After going round and round in circles about career change, the reality was that I was earning a decent income and I’d probably have to become some sort of elite coach to earn any decent money. But I still wanted to coach. My wife and family weren't quite ready to take a large cut in income!
At the time I don’t think I really knew where this coaching thing would take me. I think I just needed to invest some time in my personal development and do something different. So rather than sit in a classroom and learn how to communicate, or manage my time, or how to be a better leader etc. etc. I was going to do something practical. Something I enjoyed and something which might lead me to a different path than the one I was already on.
When I picked up my squash racket, about a year before, I’d had a few lessons with Gordon Hill at Nottingham Squash Rackets Club. It was great. He was great. He taught me technique (had to go back to basics and relearn how to hold the squash racket). He taught me tactics, and he helped me to become a better player. And because of him and his coaching I was loving playing even more.
As an aside... Because I ran my own business, I could go when it was a little quieter and not worry about everyone watching me. But, during the day, the pro’s also trained. So not only could I discretely miss the ball, look like I was about to die, hit the tin (time and time again) I could watch the pro’s train and learn just from watching them.
Speaking to Gordon was an obvious step in finding out more about coaching. So, either during or after one of the coaching sessions (probably afterwards when he used to let me get my breath back) I raised the subject about becoming a coach.
I hit paydirt. Gordon was not only a squash coach, but also a Coach of coaches. He worked for England Squash and Racketball, leading their coaching courses. He talked me through what the course would be like. Some classroom study, some practical study, some ongoing coaching and mentoring and a final assessment to make sure that I was capable of being let loose on the general public.
Probably the biggest question for me was, “is my squash good enough?” – luckily he gave me the thumbs up. There was a course coming up that he was running and he could see if there were any spaces. Not only that, if I’d help him out on a Saturday morning with his ‘kids club’ he would be my coaching mentor outside of the classroom. An offer too good to say no to!
All I needed to do was get the forms filled in, pay the course fee and turn up at the designated venue having completed all the pre-course preparation. I was off on my coaching journey.