Poetry can improve the coach-athlete relationship through improved communication

the following are excerpt from my coming book "when the whistle blows"

Coaching plays a crucial role in athletics and the development and performance of athletes.  There are various processes used by coaches to motivate their athletes.  Some of the processes include coach-athlete relationships, styles of leadership behavior, types of motivation,

 

Poetry is one of the literary methods of improving the coach-athlete relationship through improved communication, the self-control approach of controlling the athlete’s own emotions, the need for the athlete to communicate their preferences so that the coach is aware of them, and the athlete helping their coach to cool it by their own response, most of my coach-athlete relation initiative are done online, through blogging and emails, for two years I have been trying this method and putting the result in a diary, it is like a research, let me discuss it with you as follows

 

poetry of compliments

in the blogs, If the players have performed well in a game,  poetry of compliments

complimented them and congratulate them immediately afterward. Tell them specifically what they did well whether they won or lost. This will reinforce their desire to repeat their good performances.

 

When a coach commit criticism to paper
The thoughts within your heartâ€"
The feelings from deep down insideâ€"
He must be brave to start;

 

Will the players think as he do?
Perhaps, or maybe not at all
He muster up the courage and duty

Because as the coach it’s his call

When Staff becomes a coach

 

If you are like most University staff coaches in Nigeria , you have probably been recruited from the ranks of a concerned employee, sport enthusiasts, or community volunteers. Like many first time coaches, you probably have had little formal instruction on how to coach. But like everyone else we were expected to learn from experience

 

It is this experience I wish to talk about in this write-up, when the call went out to assist with the sports program, I answered because I like the students and enjoy basketball, and perhaps because I wanted to be involved in a worthwhile community activity in the university.

The initial coaching assignment was difficult. Like many new volunteers, it is impossible to know everything there is to know about basketball or about how to work with sport committee concerning the coaching. This book ‘when the whistle blows talks of the experience’ apart from being fun it will help young coaches learn the basics of coaching university basketball effectively.

 

I seek glue that holds this team together

And break the game wide open.

to make things happen out there at bells

with a play bigger than us all

 

I seek students from all colleges

as an integral part of my offence

I could honor them with my poetry

To add a new dimension to their defence

 

So that when bells teams get together

you can not throw out their records

because it’s gonna be a war out there

for love of the game

 

I love and use poetry, to communicate with the students, the online blogging because I believe art is a sphere of activity that allow us to experience our humanity in a more complete way and help us to start playing sports again for the love of it. The poetry I write on basketball was inclined to help the players see themselves in the universal language of art, to become creative and to value creativity for a lifetime so they can play basketball safely and successfully and enjoy training

The poetry below is true life projection of players in training, and their status in bells basketball

 

afeez and yao rhymes the bells

and they match-up well size-wise

watch them play and you see

how they really light up the scoreboard.

 

leonard and saed are the guard

and they play an up-tempo game.

they'll be dancing with the ball

and they never loss their touch

 

steven though is a bull at force

play an exciting brand of basketball

he plays above or below the rim

and move well without the ball

           

To do something worthwhile makes me happy; to help the young players learn the rules and traditions of basketball and the basic skills through the modified games of the sport

 

I am the coachy coachy

With no experience other than rhymes

I grab my jersey and my shoes
and go to a game that I will not lose

           

The university staff stares in awe

As i put on my t-shirt and throw on my shorts
because always i play on the basketball courts

With Tc johnbull and the don

And all bells basketball stars

 

I love to play with my basketball team
to practice my lay-ups, dribbling and shot

Though I am an inexperienced coachy coachy

i shoot it and score, it was right on the dot

 

when coachy shoot, coachy scores
and the crowd goes wild

when coachy shot, coachy scores

and the crowd goes wild

 

I have been a passionate sportsman my whole life, first as a basketball and Judo player and now as a basketball coach. Over the years, I’ve witnessed a number of changes in the way people play sports, and what they expect of it

I think that sport has historically offered an opportunity for the individual to exercise certain physical and mental attributes, and to operate at a higher

Level, I came to such conclusion because Samuel and Tosin; two of the tallest students in my university has overcome their health related problems through regular interaction with sports

 

Basketball’s the name of the game

it is all about grime, dirt and passion

the tears, the blood, the sweat,

in a court muddy after the rainfall
with the laughter, cries, and cheers

five and five we run out and play

you win a game, you lose a game

down and up the ball goes through

 and the ultimate contest begins

 

bodies collide and flesh meet sweat
what you see and feel down here
sleep and dream with you

and your fitness and of the game.

 

So on the court

no one plays for fun always

when the price is high

and your health is in question

it’s all about getting a chance

so play for your health.
with rim rattlers and jumpshots

hoops initiated skills

and that fire of determination

burning slow inside your veins

 

‘with or without canvas, coated or uncoated floor, they put the work in to hone the necessary skills, and to stay physically fit to effectively play the game they have come to love and dream’

 

Some young basketball players use basketball as a means to go to university and get an education, while others dream of taking their game all the way to the professional level, today UNILAG has a basketball academy were prospective player get scholarship to study, and many young basketball players who dream of playing basketball in future seek such academy, however, the odds of that occurring is actually not too great in other institution today, especially in private university.

 

Every ballplayer dream

Dreamed they've been on fire.

They’re shooting the lights out

But woke up and see the illusion

Of dream unachievable

coz they couldn’t afford a shoe or ball

 

Every ballplayer dream

they're shooting well from downtown

shooters in the Oshodi suburbs

dreamed they can nail the basket

but woke up in sorrow

and quench their dream in booze

 

Every basketball coach do dream

he's been perfect from the charity hoop

the university count on him for progress

they count on him week in and week out.

That he's the heart and soul of this team

Then he tested for that lay-up and did miss

The coach sees noting but net

And the game is for the bragging rights

 

No gain in point to note at school

As they run roughshod over him

at the foul line and going insane

throwing up bricks into coach’s rim

with one second left in the game

 

yet we know coaches do dream

and the ballplayers dream with him

of an unsung hero on this team.

of a leader on and off the field.

of their workhorse and brain.

And many many more

 

Every ballplayer dream

Some do release theirs

And some never do

they've been red-hot

then fall down cold

for different reason for being here

Omosun Sylvester

Planning Officer

Bells University of Technology

Ota,

ogun state

+234 8052130879

www.tribalpoetry.blogspot.com

www.bellsuniversity.blogspot.com