Continuing on with our series of current student profiles, Bachelor of Sports Coaching student; Elissa Andrews exemplifies individuals who are looking to take the next step with their career within the sports industry.
Who are you and where you are coaching?
I am a first-year student at ACPE, I have coached netball for the past 5 years. This year I coached 2 teams in netball for my club, I coached 11s and 15s. I coached cricket this past 19/20 season and coached 2 teams as well, I coached a girl’s sixers team (U13) and a Youth girls team (U16). I also was asked to be my club’s female club captain which helps in the development of females in my clubs. I have my community level 1 coaching qualification in cricket, my foundation coaching course in netball, and currently in the process of completing my development coaching course in netball. I am also qualified to umpire both cricket and netball which helps me in coaching.
Why did you decide to do a Bachelor of Sports Coaching degree?
I decided to do the coaching degree as I am passionate about helping athletes grow their skill and technique as well as game sense and awareness in a variety of sports, I predominantly have knowledge in cricket and netball. I feel the coaching philosophy in Semester 1 has helped me in my coaching, by getting the views of some of my previous coaches it has opened my eyes to how I want to coach.
What are your coaching aspirations/objectives?
I want to help people better themselves, not just on the field, but off the field as well. I aspire to be a coach at the state level for cricket or netball, I would also love to work in performance analysis as I love to help players get the best out of their game.
What do you enjoy most about the course?
I enjoy all the content that I am learning about. I enjoy learning how to be a better coach and how the sports industry works.
Is there a particular unit you enjoyed and why?
I enjoyed doing the unit Coaching Techniques and Pedagogy as I really enjoyed doing the research element as well as finding out who I really am and how I coach. I also enjoyed doing the video analysis on HUDL, that is when I found I really enjoyed analysing videos of play to see where the weakness is.
Have you been able to apply something you have learned to your coaching?
Yes, I have, I have taken the techniques learned in all the units and applied them to make me a better coach. I have also taken the knowledge from the business units and uses it to help me grow my netball club to make it the best club in my association.
