Episode 06: Future Impact of COVID-19 on Student Athletes
Dr. Mike Quintans sits down with Coach Chris Conlan to talk all about high school sports: strategies, buy-in, and challenges.
02:44 - Coach Conlan attributes the success he had with his student-athletes with the buy-in he was able to get from his team: buy-in with him as a coach and buy-in with themselves. They had to gain confidence before they could trust themselves and each other to perform at a level to win games.
05:20 - Coach discusses what it was like to play and win against his old high school coach once Conlan started coaching at a rival school.
06:20 - Building trust with your athletes is huge. Sometimes they’ll have fun, sometimes it’s going to be hard.
07:25 - Coach Conlin is a bit of a traditionalist in coaching where yes, he appreciates and sees the stats, but also trusts his gut. Consistency is important. He starts the same 5 guys because those guys earned those spots. It makes other guys want to earn that spot because it means that the coach trusts them.
10:20 - COVID-19 has been tough on coaches because they have to trust the athletes to work out and do drills on their own. As a high school athlete, coaching is a passion (you’re not making millions of dollars) so you’re thoroughly enjoying your time. So Zoom calls just aren’t the same.
12:45 - Basketball is fun because you can pretty much play basketball anywhere. But even though most parks have a basketball court, because of coronavirus, the rims have been removed. Coach Conlan encourages student-athletes to work in everything else important with basketball: footwork, dribbling, etc.
15:30 - Chris Conlan has encouraged the Herschel Walker plan: go for a run, do push-ups, do sit-ups. He’s even more worried about athletes in sports like football that are very strength-training heavy. The two discuss potential impacts COVID-19 will have on athletes in the coming months and years.
19:00 - High school athletics are so impactful because there is a strong community within the school. Athlete or non-athlete, they support each other. They know each other well.
CONTACT
Twitter + Instagram: @coach_conlan