Our Great Coach on this episode is Steve Glasson.

Steve represented Australia in Lawn Bowls over 300 times, and won the Australian championships 19 times. In 2004 he became the first Australian to be world number one in men's singles.

He then transitioned into coaching and from 2011 until 2021 he was the coach of the Australian Lawn Bowls team where he oversees the Mens, Womens, Youth and Physically impaired teams. His achievements as coach are lengthy, when I asked him to list them he simply said numerous gold, silver, and bronze medals at the Commonwealth Games, World Championships, Asia Pacific Games, World Cup and other International Events.

In 2012 Steve was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia.

Steve is a calm, pragmatic coach who understands the values of trust and hard work when it comes to unlocking improved performance in individuals and teams. He is also selfless and tireless in the way that the very best coaches are, and believes in the enduring importance of athletes aspiring to be wonderful ambassadors for their own last name.

As a former world champion himself, Steve approaches his coaching through the lens of the athlete, and in fact considers it a privilege to be in a position where he is able to have the type of deep conversation with an athlete that allows you to understand more about their motivations, dreams and insecurities.

Other key highlights in this discussion for me were:

• How lawn Bowls is often perceived as a sport for older people but as Steve points out early in this interview, the average age of the Australian Bowls team is less than the average age of the Australian cricket team.
• The importance of focusing on the process and not the end outcomes if you want to win championships. And making sure that the process if flexible enough to allow you to learn from your failures
• And how confidence can be re-built by taking the athlete back to their strengths and what they are able to execute best.

This was a wonderful conversation, and I hope you enjoy it as much as Jim and I did.

If you would like to send us any feedback or if you know a great coach, who has a unique story to share, then we would love to hear from you, please contact us at paul@thegreatcoachespodcast.com or contact us through our website thegreatcoachespodcast.com

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