A Coach's Diary

“Every team needs lions - competitors who are willing to step out first, take risks, and will their teams to victory.” What kind of competitor are you? Owen Eastwood says there are three types of competitors: Lions, wolves, and sheep. Lions are teammates who will step up, lead, and do whatever it takes for their team to win. They are the ones who jump to the front of the line, who go first, and who you can trust to take the big shot or make the big play no matter how much pressure they are in. Wolves are the teammates who are killers when things are going great, but won’t be the first to step up and won’t step up in crucial moments, but they’ll feast when the lions are leading the way. The sheep are the ones who are just happy to be there, they just want to survive, and they just want to follow the lions and the wolves to safety. Eastwood studied several World Cup champions and learned that each team needs at least 6 lions out of 11 to win it all. This helps coaches think about se...

Have you ever noticed how a player can be great for one team, and struggle or be a headache for other teams? Culture plays such an important role in the success of athletes. Owen Eastwood is a performance coach who has worked with some of the most elite teams and groups in the world, including Gareth Southgate's England Football team, the Command Group of NATO, the South African Cricket Team, corporate leadership teams, elite ballet, and the British Olympic team. He said The English Institute of Sport shared with him that 70% of behavior is determined by the environment that you are in. Our behaviors, mindsets, and performances are fundamentally affected by the environments we are in. He said that culture can be too abstract, but it is actually the most practical thing in the world: it is the environment we are in at any point in time and how it’s making us feel. Is it giving us confidence, do we feel like we belong, and do we feel like we are connected with the people around us? T...

"We only understand who we are if we understand where we came from." Whakapapa is one of NZ's largest ski areas. Sports Performance Coach Owen Eastwood sa ys it is also the universal understanding that whatever community we are a part of, we understand that our arms are locked together in a story that starts with the origin story and goes into the future until the end of time. The sun first shined on our first team - our first ancestors - and it slowly moved down this line of people, and now it's on us. We are forever linked with our past and our future. He says when the sun shines on you before you get busy, create a space to connect with what the jersey represents and the point and purpose of the team. Decide to live out that identity while wearing the jersey. Preview what you can achieve together and what the legacy of the team can be. SOMETHING(s) TO THINK ABOUT 1 - What does this jersey represent and mean to you? (What does being a part of this organization mea...