Brent Bode
Competitive Novice Girls Head Coach
Community Rowing Inc. (CRI)
Bode has been coaching and teaching at Community Rowing, Inc. since 2010. He is Head Coach for the Competitive Youth Novice Girls program and assistant director of CRI’s Coaching Education programming. Bode also coaches novice and intermediate adult rowers year-round and teaches fitness, strength, and conditioning to athletes of all ages. He holds a Master’s degree in Exercise & Sports Studies from Smith College and is a long-time member of the National Strength and Conditioning Association.
Under Bode’s direction, the Competitive Novice Girls team grew from 27 to more than 50 athletes in just three years. Additionally, and most important, the team continually meets its mission: “to grow each student-athlete’s character respectfully, to inspire extraordinary performances, and to improve their well-being through the pursuit of honorable victory in athletic competition.”
Keeping it fun for myself is all about keeping it in perspective. I recognize that girls are doing a lot of things and experiencing a lot of stress. One part of what I try to do as a coach is provide a space for them to let their hair down. At the same time, I think it’s important to actually want to know what is going on in their lives, and not just thinking that they are here just to do their exercise and be an athlete. You (my athletes) are here because you are a person and I want to understand you as a whole person. I think it’s important to maintain a perspective that my athletes are more than just coming to do that sport.
In terms of keeping it fun, we give the girls plenty of opportunity to share with each other things that are going on in their lives. We keep things light; we laugh a lot. We focus when we have to focus, but we allow play. I’m a proponent of play; I probably allow a lot more play than I’ve seen other sports organizations do. Playfulness comes with an approach of how we do things. We don’t do anything special or out of the ordinary. I think we are just conscious of the fact that these are young people, and young people need time to be serious and focused and challenged, but at the same time, they need play and connection with each other.
The rest of his interview will be on How To Coach Girls coming out March of 2018.
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