BANZA May 2016 Issue | Page 98

The Ego Coach Deceptively hides his/her motive to satisfy whatever selfish needs must be met to feel fulfilled – intellectually, emotionally, or physically. He/she will often project high and lofty goals for those in his charge, but witnesses will notice the lack of real effort or commitment to achieving those goals because they are not the real goals. This coach will deceive himself and others to satisfy the ego. Self is the center of the universe. The nature of sports coaching implies an achievement situation, where the performance of both coach and athlete is evaluated. Thus, people are often inclined to evaluate a given coach–athlete relationship as either successful or unsuccessful and efficient or ineffective. Successful relationships are those that have unambiguously reached a level of normative performance success where both the athlete and the coach are happy and share the same goals and mindset. | BANZA However, we can sometimes find successful relationships without being effective, and here, both the athlete and the coach can run a risk of breaching ethical and professional issues associated with codes of conduct and formulated to protect coaches and athletes. On the other hand, broken relationships are the ones with negative outcomes regarding performances, but at the same time, effective by invariably having some positive results for the athletes with regards to psychological health and wellbeing. In conclusion, the coachathlete relationship is essential to the success of both sides. As Ara Parasheghian says, “a good coach will make his players see what they can be rather than what they are.” B 98