While searching for news on the upcoming NACAC champs, I came across an article from the end of July from the CBC on Justy Knight going pro with Reebok.http://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/trackandfield/justyn-knight-reebok-boston-track-club-1.4757403 I loved the article as it does a good job of accurately portraying the Chris Fox I know. This might have been my favorite excerpt.
the CBC wrote:
Knight always admired the way Fox approached his athletes at Syracuse if they disappointed him during training or competition.
"He'd let you know he was disappointed but that things would be okay," says Knight, adding their relationship has evolved with a shared appreciation of other sports and music. "He would never yell, belittle you or make you feel bad about yourself.
With all of the threads this summer about coaches belitting athletes, I thought that quote should serve a role model on how coaches should try to react most of the time when an athlete disappoints them. Screaming and yelling should not be the default reaction.
When one of my runners at Cornell disappointed big time, I occasionally would purposely avoid them for a few minutes so I could calm down and think about it objectively. Yelling seemed kind of pointless to me and when I'd see other coaches doing it I'd often think, "Does that coach really think the athlete is happy about embarrassing themsleves like that? They know they were awful. They are probably more disappointed than the coach."
I also loved the article as it reminded me fo the subtle moments of coaching, particularly in upstate New York. There are lots of long car/van trips so the athletes see your playlist on your phone, they see your text messages pop up, etc.