Many people know what basketball is and have seen or attended a basketball match at least once in their lives. From the viewer’s side, you can see how the coach directs the game, gives instructions, changes players, but the profession of a coach implies something more than what you see from the outside. A conversation with Sergey Shchepotkin, the head coach of the Timberwolves women’s basketball team from the University of Northern British Columbia, reveals many nuances and details of this profession.
Sergey says that his mother is a well-known coach and has been doing this all her life. In this regard, Sergey was from early childhood on the basketball court and also watched how his mother trained him. Basketball became an integral part of Sergey’s life from an early age. Sergey played for a long time in basketball at the professional level and decided to become a coach at the end of his career as a player.
He started his career as a coach at a sports school, training young children. Then Sergey moved to the student league and became a coach of the student team. Then he reached a new level and moved to professional basketball, where he began working as an assistant coach in the main team. After working for a long time in professional sports, Sergey moved with his family to the team. He became the head coach of the women’s basketball team from the University of Northern British Columbia.
One of his main tasks is to recruit players. The coach looks at players from school leagues who could play on his team, go to their games, and watch videos with them. He also draws up a design and training plan for athletes during the season and off-season. And the duties also include drawing up plans for the training process, planning scrimmage games, cutting videos of rival teams. After each game, Sergey makes video cuts from the games and personally from the players to sort out the errors. Every year, the coach makes fundraising plans and organizes training camps for children.
In this line of work, you need to be very stress-resistant and be ready for both victory and defeat. It is necessary to understand that the coach takes responsibility for the result of his team. It is also necessary to find players who can be leaders in the future and make a result. Otherwise, the team will not be able to win matches. Recruiting players is always a risk. In many ways, your success or failure depends on how much the administration is willing to support the team and the availability of halls.
To be a professional in this field, you need to really love basketball and live it. “You have to give yourself completely to your work,” says Sergey. It is necessary to constantly develop, read the literature, and watch the coaches from other teams and leagues. Working in this field requires constantly following the trend and not being afraid to try something new.
The work of a basketball coach is much more complicated than it seems at first glance, and to get a high-level job in this field, you need to go a long way. The work of a coach includes many tasks that require time, patience, and, most importantly, a great desire to develop in this area. The coach is responsible not only for himself but also for the team and the administration. In addition, success in this area depends on many factors and includes many people representing a whole interconnected network.
