I have learnt that I am able to be confident as coach and am able to plan as session, I also learnt how to plan a detailed session containing key and specific things in the session that we are trying to work on and improve players. I learnt that I can come up with creative and fun drills to get participants to come back and to keep on coming and being committed. I found the coaching planning useful as it has helped me understand the importance of having a plan before taking a session rather than coming up with something on the spot and having the session be boring or unorganized. I found it useful to plan the session also because it gave me a chance to make the session flow from drill to drill and enabled me to advance the skills of the participants with the different drills I was using. I also found useful on what type of coach I am and being clearer and simpler when explaining drills and taking my time to walk through the drill so everyone understands what going on, also realizing when to make a drill more advanced depending on how skilled a group is or even making it even more basic as well and being able to adapt the session to suit the level of players you have. I didn’t find much to not be relevant to my sports journey but as I want to be a sports development officer I won’t be as hands on as what maybe a coach might do as in taking sessions and trying to specifically improve players.my aim will be more focused on being able to improve participation in sport in general and to grow sport, to keep players coming back.

Goal setting is important as it gives you something to build towards or something that you want to achieve as a coach. Goal setting as a coach is important to improve a player you are training to help develop you player and continue to improve them to reach their full potential whether it be playing reginal or even international level. It is key that the goals a coach sets that they are, specific making sure the goal is clear and specific for what they are going to achieve, measurable, attainable, realistic and time based keep all these things in mind can help you make sure that your goal setting can give an athlete the best chance of achieving their goal. ‘The main aim of goal setting focuses on increasing individuals’ motivational levels to achieve success by directing attention and applying energy levels into achieving the overall goal’ (Whyte, 2015) this statement further backs my point on the importance of goal setting and to ensure that they can attain the goals that are set out for the person to get the best out of their athlete. As a player personally I have found goal setting a high priority because as a player I will have personal goals that I want to achieve for example improving my passing but also I want a coach to have good goal setting for me as a player and for the team, also I want the coach to be able to tell us what we are trying to achieve during a session and what the goals and aims of the session is.   

There are many fundamentals that make a top athlete one of which behind every great athlete is a great coach, every athlete needs a good coach to be able to constantly improving their skills  and pushing them to strive for more, also being able to help an athlete reach their full potential. Skill and performance is a key area of the making of a top athlete as many sports at the top level are so competitive and being able to compete at such high levels takes a lot of skill and being able to perform constantly, being able to perfect a skill takes time and dedication a lot of practice but being able to perfect a skill is a serious importance to give you that edge over other athletes, to be able to perform these skills at the highest level and under pressure to. Maintaining focus throughout an athletes career is important as it enables an athlete to focus on its goals whether it be short term or long-term goals and also keep them on track on what they are trying to achieve in their chosen sport for example if you’re a sprinter you may want to beat your personal best time in your 100m and being able to do that will need a lot of focus and dedication. Focusing on the wrong things can play a huge factor on athletes mind and can cause them to stray from the job on hand ‘One reason athlete lose confidence and choke in competition is because they focus on the wrong things. Focusing on outcomes, who the competition is that day or other distractions can pull your attention away from what is important’(Kia, 2019). Therefore, all these factors are important in the making of a top athlete and can help an athlete reach the highest level of their potential. I believe as a rugby league player that these are key fundamentals and I have found that by having these have helped me improve as an athlete massively and helped push me towards my goals as a player, all the skills I have learned as a player have been taught by great coaches the reason I have been successful with good coaches as I maintain focus throughout sessions and took in all the information that they are giving me also I had the dedication and took the time to be able to perform these skills and to try and perfect them. 

There are many ways an athlete can maintain a long career in sport one of them being strength and conditioning, strength and conditioning is playing a big part in an athlete’s career as many people know due to the fact that an athlete will need to continue to improve performance or maintain a balanced strength and conditioning program so they stay at peak performance and aren’t at risk of getting injuries or dropping off in sport they are doing and not being able to compete at their highest potential as this statement shows ‘Strategies of how to correctly stabilize the core, distribute bodyweight and resist force are all areas which can lower the risk of injury’ (Mudlo, 2015). Another important factor to have a long career at the top level is rest and recovery, there are two different types of recovery ‘Immediate or short-term recovery – This is the most common form of recovery and occurs within hours after an exercise session or event. Short-term recovery includes low intensity exercise after working out and during the cool down phase. Long-term recovery – This refers to recovery periods that are built into a seasonal training schedule and may include days or weeks incorporated into an annual athletic program.’ (Swartzendrube, 2015) these two types of recovery are very important to ensure that an athlete is preventing injury and ensuring that they are having the correct amount of recovery and taking their time to recover as this will help reduce the risk of injury and will also play a factor in your performances if the correct amount of recovery is not applied. Kevin Sinfield Leeds rhinos, England international and GB player for rugby league is an example of a player who has achieved every honor he can as a player and every competition he has to part in and continue to compete at the highest level throughout his long 18 year career this further backing up my previous points. 

Motivation plays a key factor in an athlete performing at the highest level consistently as in being able to keep on motivating yourself throughout you career and setting key goals whether there are short term goals or long term goals either way these will ensure that you stay motivated, also making sure that your goals are realistic and to continuously strive to them goals until you achieve them once achieved then moving onto the next. Another key aspect is confidence, confidence comes from experience having the experience in certain situations whether that may be that you are behind in a game and being able to comeback from behind and have the confidence to do so. also having self-belief and believing that you can achieve what you are setting out to do and being able to have this self-belief throughout a long career. Imagery plays an important part in making an athlete consistently perform as being able have good preparation and rehearsal using ‘prompts and visualizing any contingencies that arise for example any barriers or problems or difficulties of their competition’ as stated by (Hagger, 2013) certain athletes may use this as it will help them build their confidence and picture it into “existence” these being many examples that may play a key factor on performing at the highest level consistently throughout an athlete’s career. On a personal level as a rugby league payer I like to use all of these areas of motivation to improve my game and to ensure that I have the confidence as player and that inner belief that when I go into a training or a game that I believe that I can overcome any problem or scenario that is put in front of me. 

Intrinsic motivation refers to behavior that is driven by internal rewards. In other words, the motivation to engage in a behavior arises from within the individual because it is naturally satisfying to you. ‘(cherry, 2019) this meaning that some of the most determined athletes are doing it for themselves and will continue to pursue their goals and gain the highest achievements in sport just based on the fact of their inner motivation and wanting to do it, also that it is rewarding enough for them mentally rather than doing it for the money and fame. These types of athletes perform just based on pure enjoyment and can perform at the highest level just based on that fact that they love doing what they do and gain nothing but self-reward. This type of motivation is important in an athlete for them to continue to keep on moving forward and to keep doing what they are doing as if you are doing something extrinsically for money, fame or prizes as once you have achieved these then you have no motivation to keep on going and to consistently perform at the top level for years to come. therefore, based on this intrinsic motivation is an important aspect of motivating players as they will continue to reach their potential and perform at their best. Personally, I am an intrinsically motivated player and take a lot of pride on trying to stay intrinsically motivated and wanting to have self-determination as a player to keep me interested in rugby and playing because I want to,(Edward L, Richard M, 2012) theory on self –determination backs up my previous statements on motivation for an athlete and how to keep the motivation needed to keep on moving forward. 

Some key aspects that make an effective sport coach is communication reason being when coaching at all levels you need to be clear and simple to ensure all players taking part know exactly what they are trying to achieve during a session, also being enthusiastic when communicating to gain interest in what you as a coach is doing in the session. Another key aspect of being an effective coach is inspiration and being able to inspire athletes and to push their talent and drive them to achieve their full potential whether it is an athlete achieving international honor’s or maybe at regional level the main point is being able to inspire and give athletes the opportunity to achieve their goals across all levels. Training quality is important to become an effective coach to ensure that you as a coach can get the best out of your athletes and to continue to improve them while having high level training sessions throughout, not just going through the motions and not taking control of the session and having clear aims of what the sessions is heling to improve your athletes. Athlete welfare also important on the safety of athletes could also help prevent injury knowing when to push an athlete or knowing when to so, athlete welfare can also ensure that athletes are focused and continue to strive throughout their careers and also understanding how much rest and recovery athletes need for them to maintain high level training, these areas are all supported by (Williams, 2013) as many of her points are helpful in becoming an effective coach. These are just some of that key main areas on how to become an effective sports coach and on my personal opinion as a rugby league coach these areas of coaching have helped me keep my players interested and in have found them effective in improving my players and reaching their full potential.