After a brief Hiatus I have recently hopped back in the saddle, I don't mean that of a sliding seat, but one of the aluminium type. After making the fatal mistake of indicating to another coach in a 'power' role that i would be available to coach if anyone was sick, had uni exams or just couldn't make one session.... provided they gave me 24 hours notice, the instant I did this I knew the inevitable was coming - the 'Matty we have a need for an extra coach', it was actually put in the form of 'well we do have x crews but only y coaches, if you wanted it Matty you could take the extra crew'. a part of me was screaming 'NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!' yet a larger more overwhelming part of me was trying to decide which was the best way to say yes.
Not so reluctantly I agreed, and 2 days later, I was at the shed at 5:00 am, ready to coach. It struck me the difference of culture between sheds. The crew I have agreed to coach is a 14 year old girls school crew. The last time I was coaching a group of girls this young, my current crew weren't even born. I have only come to that realisation now as i write this. That fact kinda freaks me out a bit.
However I digress, The culture differences between sheds is phenomenal and it is now that I must bring myself to adjust not only to a shed that I haven't coached in before. Thus not only do I need to learn the internal procedures, policies and even the politics of the hierarchy but I also must adjust to coaching an age group that I haven't crossed in the span of thier lifetime.
All I have to say to that is 'Here I go, bring on the challenge' because I look forward to whatever they can throw at me.