Stripe And Belt Promotions

LOOK AFTER YOUR OWN BACK YARD FIRST!

From time to time this topic rears its ugly head, and from a coaches perspective it's really sad because you can see where it ends up.

You end up losing an athlete.

But what is it?

Negative comments about either stripe or belt promotions.

PLEASE NOTE: Before you read on, there may be some 'strong' language (not swearing, how uncouth!) that you may disagree with or find hard to digest.

Firstly, if you are the sort of person that is whinging to teammates about why you haven't been promoted or why someone else has and you haven't then you're training for the wrong reasons.

Nothing stops you from getting some white tape and putting it on your belt yourself if it means that much to you.

Let's look at the stripe system, it's different from Academy to Academy, club to club. 

In fact most places don't even have a stripe system.

Stripes are a tool for coaches to view the experience level of their athletes, nothing more. They can be awarded for regular attendance, achieving milestones, or accomplishing success on the competition mat.

From an athlete's perspective it is a great achievement as it demonstrates and reaffirms that the athlete is progressing and on the right track to improvement.

It is also a proud moment for a coach.

The disappointing aspect from a coaches perspective is hearing either parents or athletes complain, especially when the athlete;

1. does not train regularly
2. worries about what their teammates do/achieve
3. uses excuses

When we hear this 'complaint' from a parent, the best answer to give the athlete is; Concentrate on yourself, work hard, it will come.

The worst thing a parent can do is mollycoddle their child thinking they are helping them by asking the coaching staff on the child athlete's behalf.

When coaching staff hear of athletes grumbling to their teammates, they are already on the path to leave. The funny thing about this is that the athlete (or parent) is more than happy to express their grievances to other people but lack the intestinal fortitude to approach the coaching staff.

It takes intestinal fortitude to approach your coach and ask what you can do to improve so that you can obtain your personal goals.

Now should a parent inform the coach that their child is beginning to lose interest and that they are not 'getting' much of a challenge in training be warned, as the coach will shut the conversation down by answering; if the child isn't using what they have been taught, they are not challenging themselves.

Looking after your back yard.

This comes down to the second point, worry about yourself and what you are doing. Don't look over the fence and worry about what your teammates are achieving. You are training for yourself remember!

If one of your teammates receives a stripe or belt promotion, you should be happy for them, especially if you have been training longer than them.

You know how hard the sport is. Think of the first stripe as a pat on the back for training regularly for starters!

If someone has been training roughly the same time as you and you see them receive these small pieces of electricity tape on their belt, maybe, just maybe they are attending training more than you or they have recently competed and whooped their competition.

Just be happy for them. Your turn will come.

The third point, excuses.

You can have all the excuses in the book if you don't turn up, just don't complain. The excuses are yours, no one else's. 

One of the best excuses I hear is 'I'm too small'.

Flip the coin, imagine a six foot four individual who weighs around 120 kilos. They can say the same, 'I'm too big'.

But we'll deal with that excuse in another blog.

So in conclusion, at the end of the day just turn up, do your best and ASK QUESTIONS. 

This is a bloody tough sport and complaining about stripes, worrying about other people will only make it tougher.