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
