Coach Academy: Lassila and Lipshut help develop future leaders

Olympic Gold Medalist Lydia Lassila and Olympic Winter Institute of Australia CEO Geoff Lipshut were amongst the guest speakers sharing key lessons and insights on the topic of “Coach as a Leader” during Module 1 of the Coach Academy, Snow Australia’s coach development program.

Together with Snowboard Cross Head Coach Harald Benselin and Performance Coach Nam Baldwin, Lassila and Lipshut guided participants as they took a closer look at examples of successful leadership and how it reflects on athlete relationships, team culture and performance.

“When we began designing the Coach Academy curriculum, it became clear that an authentic development path for coaches needed to encompass a bigger picture than just athletic performance” explains Ben Wordsworth, Snow Australia Performance Pathway and Program Manager.

The coach leadership module is the first of a 4-step program that will allow the 2020 Coach Academy cohort to explore crucial themes and development goals in their coaching journey.

"Reflecting on the attributes of successful coaching across multiple disciplines, in Australia and beyond, we have identified four primary domains of coaching excellence. We recognised that great coaches need to be successful leaders and human performance specialists, but are also required to act as managers and ambassadors for their sport," Wordsworth says.

Module 1 of the Coach Academy curriculum will conclude in the coming weeks with participants given the opportunity to review previous content and anchor key learnings and takeaways. Recordings of all Module 1 live sessions and video lessons are available on the newly-launched Coach Academy online platform, where participants can also access all guest speakers sessions in podcast form.

The second module, which focuses on the "Coach as Human Performance Specialists" will start of 30 September. Guest speakers will include Australian World Champion canoeist Jess Fox and her coach (and mum) Myriam.