Your Assignment

Create a spreadsheet in a program such as Google Sheets or Excel with columns including:

Full name

Nicknames

Date of birth

Hometown

Siblings or only child

Interests outside of sport $($travel$,$ golf, food, etc.$)$

Sports they played growing up

Favorite type of music

Favorite coach growing up and why

Who they look up to now and why

Whether they have kids of their own

Greatest adversity overcome

What they like most about their chosen sport

Why they compete

Favorite books

Favorite shows

Accomplishment they're most proud of

Guidelines

Group the columns in categories, just like you would have categories for data relating to strength$/$power testing, speed, agility, medical history, and load management. Only this time you will be looking at categories such as generational, geographical, family, hobbies$/$interests$,$ drives, fears$/$ accomplishments, communication style, etc.

Over time, ask your athletes questions to find out this information. Ask them in a natural way, not as an interrogation or by firing a list of questions at them as though you're checking items off a list. It is not just your athletes' answers that are important, but also the way you establish a dialogue with your athletes.

After coaching sessions, add new details to your spreadsheet.