Gmax coach Kasiem’s ambitions – the who, why and what

Hi, my name is Kasiem Litchmore and I am an assistant athletics coach with Gmax Trackstars athletics. Generally, I’m not someone who likes football, basketball or any team sports at all really. ‘Why be a coach then?’, you ask? Well since you’re reading this my answer is probably, you. To me, coaching is not simply something that comes hand in hand with sports, but rather the foundation that maintains it. Gathering and growing athletes to bring out their full potential is what a coach is all about and realising that is what connected me with coaching.

My aim as a coach is to invigorate, whosoever may need it. In order to ensure achievement, I’ve had to think about what a coach symbolises to their athletes and how strong I can make that connection become. A sports coach is someone who is hard to put into just one category when we’re talking about the roles that they are likely to take on while coaching. Because of this, there are many areas in which I need proficiency in order to be assured that I succeed at my goal.

Some main roles of a coach that I have decided to focus on are as a manager, trainer and role model. As a manager, I have to be able to find and use knowledge of the sport to make optimum decisions for athlete/team during competition or outside of it. This adds a sense of reliability as I am showing my capability in taking the wheel when nobody else knows what to do. Being a trainer is an obvious role of a coach but more specifically it involves identifying the needs of the athlete to provide training tailored to their body and needs along with nutritional advice.

A coach is also a role model and should make sure to carry themselves in a way that can act as a point of reference to those around them. This is because a successful coach will have many people that will be looking to you for comfort, guidance and general support so a coach must always look and sound the part in order to encourage others. As I develop my coaching philosophy, I am heavily focusing on the athletes mindset and how to properly take the athlete centred approach. All I wish is that I can be a light to guide any that choose or may choose the path of athletics.