January 2018 marks the beginning on my 49thyear of coaching. It has been an adventure every step of the way ? a journey of continual learning and discovery that started with Santa Barbara High School Track in 1969.
Coaching is craft that takes time to learn; you can never stop learning if you want to be good at your craft. You cannot learn to coach in a book, on the Internet or sitting in a lecture hall. You must coach to learn to coach. You must get your hands dirty, do the grunt work, make some mistakes, fail forward & keep learning. For me it has been a constant balancing act with staying current with the latest methods and research and doing what I know has worked. You must constantly iterate and fine tune to stay ahead of the game and do justice to your athletes.
Much has changed in 49 years, but the fundamentals have not changed. I learned the hard way not to stray far from the basics. Look for simple solutions to complex problems. More than ever I am a coach of people who play sports. God willing, I am looking forward to many more years. There is so much more to learn and share in my evolving role of a mentor coach. Thanks to all the athletes and coaches I have been fortunate to work with – they were my teachers. I only hope that I was to able to give them as much as they gave to me.
Vern Gambetta
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