The Importance of Evaluations for Professional Development
Well-designed meaningful coach evaluation, that recognizes both strengths and areas for improvement, is a critical part of ongoing coach and program development. Conversely, coach evaluation that is ill-conceived, superficial or focused only on deficiencies is not only a waste of valuable time but erodes trust and commitment to getting better.
For sport coaches, or those outside a club or program, wins and losses often are the single or dominant marker for evaluating coaches. Inside the club or program though, coach evaluation can include (a) objective and subjective components, (b) single- and multi-raters, (c) process and performance based metrics, (d) sport and non-sport variables, and (e) outdated modalities as well as fully digital and trackable online platforms. The specific purposes of the evaluation can vary just as greatly: (a) retention and promotion considerations, (b) team or department budget adjustments, (c) simply to check-the-box that an evaluation was conducted, and (d) as part of a professional development plan.
When used properly, evaluation is primarily about performance enhancement. In order to improve your program you need to have sufficient data to explain what is happening, whether or not the team is winning or losing. Coaches evaluate players all the time, but how effectively is the coach and program being evaluated? How do you know you are improving as a coach and program without effective evaluation?
This presentation will begin with a report from exceptional strength and conditioning coaches on how they are currently evaluated. Coaches representing high school, multiple NCAA levels, and the NFL were included in the report. An argument will be made for why coaches should welcome an evaluation component and most importantly, how to turn that evaluation into improved coaching. Finally, the discussion will turn toward providing attendees with suggested topics and resources to help them better assess their own coaching and their programs with the specific intention of performance enhancement.
Andy Gillham owns and operates Ludus Consulting LLC (www.ludusconsulting.biz) focusing on performance enhancement for his clients. More specifically, Dr. Gillham works primarily with coaches and athletic administrators on improving systematic coach evaluation and providing targeted coach and program professional development opportunities. His Ph.D. is in Education with a major of sport and exercise psychology from the University of Idaho and has a B.S. in Fitness and a M.S. in Human Performance from University Wisconsin-LaCrosse. He has been a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist through the National Strength and Conditioning Association since 2003 and is a certified consultant through the Association for Applied Sport Psychology. Dr. Gillham has helped athletes, coaches, administrators and business executives in Canada and the United States improve their performance. Dr. Gillham works across competitive levels ranging from youth through professional levels for both coaches and athletes. In addition to his applied work, Dr. Gillham has published 12 peer-reviewed academic journal articles and has been an invited author for 12 more papers. He is also an Editorial Board member for two international coaching journals: International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching and International Sport Coaching Journal where he also serves as Section Editor for Resource Reviews
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