Coaching Blog

Why University For All?

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Well, I heard a snippet of a news article on BBC Radio this morning that said that schools should start encouraging fewer children to consider going on to University from now on. Now can I find that article anywhere on the BBC News website? Of course I can’t. I wanted to  reference it here in my words but as I can’t I’ll just use my own words anyway. This subject has prompted many episodes of anger from me over the years and I can only hope that whatever this news article was suggesting becomes reality sometime soon. A did find an article in the Daily Telegraph from December 2013 but I’m sure I’m not in some kind of time warp. Continue reading →

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Value Added Children

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Last night I realised something quite shocking: – we don’t tell our children how much we value them. I’m not talking about telling a child that they have done something well, or are gifted, well-educated or beautiful, etc. I’m talking about telling children that they make a difference to our lives. We praise them, sometimes too much and possibly unjustifiably and inappropriately, but we don’t let them know that they, too, can inspire us adults and make us feel happy, energised and valued.

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The Childhood Disconnect

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It’s impossible not to be stunned into utter disbelief and horror that a child of 15 can commit a cold blooded, pre-meditated murder of a trusted figurehead in front of other children but, yet again, we see that it can happen. It has happened before and will no doubt happen again. Where has childhood gone? When did violence, anger, disrespect and lack of compassion become so easy for a child to manifest? It chills me to the bone to think that there are children going to bed at night with feelings of hatred and the desire to kill. Where did that come from? Was it always thus? What has happened to innocence? Continue reading →

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Excuses or Success – What’s it to be?

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As a near full-time badminton coach I hear excuses that come in an ever-widening range of shapes and sizes and some of them come from me too, at times when things get tough! There is always, almost without fail, some excuse for not achieving our full potential in badminton (or any sport or life choice) – whether it was a simple shot we didn’t get to because in our excuse-making mind the opposition was always going to win that point so it wasn’t worth the effort or a massive excuse for not pushing for a massive dream, e.g. I’ll never play for England because I’m not good enough/I started playing too late/I don’t train in a club in Milton Keynes/everyone else is better than me! Continue reading →

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The Medal Tree

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One day a young boy was out walking in the other side of town with his Mum when he saw an immensely tall tree that was so high that it went way above the clouds. The tree was the most beautiful tree he had ever seen but it was in a very dirty and old part of town where little else grew. What surprised him and excited him most about this tree was that from about 20 feet up in the branches there appeared to be what looked like a bronze coloured disc. When he looked closer he could see a few more a little further up. As he craned his neck to look further up the tree he could see even more discs – there were many of them in fact – that were firstly a mixture of bronze and silver colour and then one or two gold coloured ones became visible. The boy stood with his mouth open and his eyes wider still. At the top of the tree were huge big golden discs. Lots of them! He could hardly believe what he was seeing. Continue reading →

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