Our Great Coach on this episode is Frank Dick.
Frank Dick is the current President of the European Athletics Coaches Association.
From 1970 until 1979 he was Scottish National Athletics Coach. Then in 1979 he was appointed as the British Athletics Federation's Director of Coaching. In this position Frank led the British Athletics team into its "golden era" with Olympic gold medalists such as Daley Thompson, Steve Ovett and Sebastian Coe. And ultimately victory in the European Cup in 1989.
His contribution to sport and coaching was recognized with the awarding of an OBE in 1989 and an induction to the UK Coaches Hall of Fame in 1999.
He has also coached athletes from other sports such as F1 driver Gerhard Berger, Ice Skater Katarina Witt, Tennis player Boris Becker and Golfer Justin Rose.
Amongst the many other successes on his impressive resume are a Fulbright Scholarship in 1965, the publication of 4 books, stints as chair of the British Association of National Coaches, and British Institute of Sports Coaches , the appointment as High Performance Director for the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee, and strategic planning consultant for the England Rugby Leadership Team under Eddie Jones.
Frank is a master coach, and a fabulous story teller and some of the key parts of this interview for me were
- His view that the great coaches have curiosity and try to look at the world differently to learn new things. They are also challenging and do this through asking good questions.
- His thoughts on learning faster than the competition, and holding your self to the same expectations around learning that you have for your athletes.
- And that Teams are selected for their diversity, and from that you must create harmony and so your job as a coach is often as the conductor of the orchestra.
- This was a great conversation, I left feeling inspired and educated. 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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