Impressions....from Master Strength Coach Raychelle Ellsworth

1^st impressions……..making LASTING impressions

As I enter my 19^th year of coaching, I find myself STILL excited about another Fall semester rolling around and the challenges it will present.  Looking back I have to smile to think how far I have come both professionally and personally and what a journey it has been.  Recently I was asked to share some thoughts about women in our field.  What I’m going to talk about is basically 2 things that I think are vital in our profession….making good 1^st impressions and making lasting impressions.

I think that when we chose to get into this profession we also signed ourselves up for being role models to athletes (both our own athletes, and other athletes at our school).  I think we have an obligation to model what we expect our athletes to be….strong, powerful and fit.  When I 1^st starting coaching, I coached football as well as my teams.  Football was a great motivation to me to truly gain the respect of those athletes.  They were “respectful” of me because I was a coach, but I think most of them thought they knew more about lifting than I did and therefore didn’t really respect my coaching ability.  As silly as it sounds my thought process to fix this was “I am going to getting bigger and stronger so they are confident in my ability to give a solid lift out or a spot”.  The harder I worked out, the more muscle I built, the “smarter” I became in their eyes.  Soon they were asking me for technical advice on lifts or asking me about supplements.  They were no longer viewing me as a female, but simply as a coach who loved the iron and who was bringing it day in and day out…the same that I was asking of them.   All I am trying to illustrate is that your physical stature can impact how your athletes view you.  Take a long look in the mirror and honestly answer the question “if I was an athlete, would I trust this person to lead me down the path of greatness?” 

The other thing I want to touch on is making lasting impressions with your athletes.  I am a “tough love” kind of coach.  I want things done a certain way, if they aren’t, then we keep doing it til it is right.  If an athlete or a team messes up, we deal with it immediately and sometimes harshly, but then it is forgiven and we move on.  I hold my athletes accountable for working hard, having a good attitude, being respectful of all coaches and each other regardless of the whether they like the workout or not, what kind of day they have had, etc.  I am also their number one fan…..no one is more excited when they hit a PR in the weight room or do something spectacular on the field/court or even if it’s just getting some well-earned playing time.  I treat all my athletes the same, whether they are a returning all-american or a walk-on that is a practice player.  There have been times that I have jumped on kids and in hind sight maybe it was either too harsh or unwarranted…..and I have always brought them into my office and looked them in the eye and apologized.  I follow that up by also apologizing to the team and let them know that I messed up and “owned” it publically.  Bottom line, if you have structure and discipline along with respect and enthusiasm for your athletes, I think you are setting them up a great college experience….and I guarantee that when they look back, YOU will have made a lasting impression.

Unrelenting……ray