What makes a Great Coach?
I made the shortlist for Dutch Coach of the Year. I’m very happy and flattered to have made the shortlist but it got me reflecting on my time at the Dutch track cycling team.
This last year I was proud to have lead the Dutch track sprint team to unprecedented success by winning the track cycling medal table for the first time ever, the men team sprint obliterated their own world record and finished head and shoulders above the competition. In addition, we had the rise of a new generation of women riders who announced themselves on the world stage by winning medals of their own and will go on challenging for medals through to LA 2028.
Making the short-list made me think about what makes a great coach and I think I have distilled it down to two simple points:
1. My simple definition of a coach (or leader) is someone who gets the best out of people. An outstanding performer will generally always be an outstanding performer - irrespective of who they have coaching or leading them. But improving athletes that have previously been written off, having a crisis of confidence, a lack of motivation or reviving them back to what they had been before is what separates good coaches from average ones. People usually assume that technical coaching is what separates coaches. This may occasionally be the case. But having a high-level of emotional intelligence and a good understanding of social dynamics is as important if not, more important than than the technical aspect - which is often overlooked or not appreciated enough.
2. Working with your staff. Athletes win you races but the coach and the team of staff help them get in the best position to do so. As the coach, you have to utilise the expertise of your staff and make them feel part of the team. I was lucky to have trusted and extremely competent colleagues like Gert Galis and as well as Nick Stöpler to lean on. I was also lucky enough to have people like Frans van Dijk and Peter Bourgonje (and the staff at Omnisport Apeldoorn) to call on and usually bail us out of trouble!
The common theme in those two points is trust and unity. An easy way of showing this can be as simple as wearing the same uniforms. At the Olympics, I wanted everyone to wear the distinct orange t-shirts - as there is only one country associated with this colour and I wanted everyone to know exactly what nation we were representing. Unfortunately, we only had one orange t-shirt each. So, I happily washed them all every night after each day of the 7-day tournament to ensure we wore Orange! I loved it!
Over the two Olympic cycles I have been with the team, we have contributed to almost 3% of The Netherlands medals ever won at a summer Olympic Games since 1900 - and almost 5% of their Gold medals across 6 different athletes!
Whatever the outcome, I am happy to have been nominated and been part of Dutch Olympic history.
