Insight
Paul Assaiante: Coaching is fundamentally about managing people, not technical knowledge
“You need to have some knowledge of the sport. You can go pick up a book and learn what you need to know. It's about people and managing people.”
Insight
Billie Jean King: Even top talent still seeks approval from leaders
“No matter how talented a person is that you're working with, they want your approval. And number two, never pretend to be something you're not.”
Insight
Socioeconomic status and religion divide collegiate teams more than race
“And to me, the two largest differences in our program are socioeconomic, When kids graduate from here, we have an area called Tent City. Dozens of tents down there. My guys are in the tent. They've got some beers, some pizza. The tent next to them has ice scul…”
Insight
Star freshmen play number one but must defer to team seniority
“I believe in a rite of passage. I believe in seniority. It's a meritocracy on the team. If you come in as a freshman, and you're the best player on the team, you're going to play number one as a freshman, but you're going to be reminded that entire year that y…”
Insight
Winning teaches nothing, while losing halts momentum and forces evaluation
“When you're winning, you're not learning anything. When you lose, the train stops.”
Disclosure
Assaiante throws unread student evaluations of his coaching directly into the trash
“At the end of the season, our players are going to be given an evaluationary form, evaluating my performance as a coach. And I go down to the athletic director's office, and he hands me this packet, and I thank him very much, and I put it in the garbage pail. …”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Coach K pre-scheduled practice outbursts to capture his team's attention
“I said, well, you are a little out of control today. You really lost your stuff very early in that practice, and he said, oh, no, no, no. I had scheduled this a couple of days ago. I knew I needed to get their attention, and good coaches know how to motivate.”
Insight
Assaiante: Leaders Must Tailor Communication Individually Rather Than Treating Everyone Uniformly
“You have to have a different language with everyone you work with. You can no longer treat everybody the same, and that takes time, and it takes trust, and trust is a meal that's served with a teaspoon, so it takes time.”
Insight
Assaiante: Success requires giving 100% of whatever capacity you have that day
“So if I had a fight with my partner, I have the flu, I come in for practice, and maybe I'm only 60% of my best self. I gotta get a hundred percent of that 60. That is how you are successful.”
Insight
Assaiante: Camaraderie with Colleagues Drives Performance When Motivation Fails
“When you wake up on a day, being a human being, There are days where you just don't feel it. So what's going to motivate you to go in and be the best version of yourself? The fact that the person next to you is your friend.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Assaiante: Trinity College squash diversified a historically white upper-class sport
“It's been amazing to be in what is America has always been predominantly sort of a white toast upper sport, and we've changed that.”
Assertion Supported
Assaiante's Trinity College squash team won 252 consecutive matches
“We won 252 consecutive matches. That's ridiculous.”
Insight
Assaiante: An effective coach operates like an unnoticed referee or athletic trainer
“You know, to me, a coach is like a referee or an athletic trainer. It'd be good if nobody knew you were there that night, but a lot of people make it all about themselves.”
Insight
Assaiante: Defining Self-Worth Through Outcomes Leads to Unhappiness
“I think that obsession is ego attachment. If you're viewing yourself through the prism of the outcome of whatever it is you're doing, you're destined to be an unhealthy, unhappy person.”
Assertion Supported
Assaiante: Trinity Squash Won 17 National Championships in 25 Years
“We've won 17 national championships in 25 years. We haven't won that many individual championships because we don't focus on the individual.”
Insight
Assaiante: Highlighting and discussing team differences builds cohesion
“What we find is that the differences are really what bind us together.”
Insight
Assaiante: In Competition, Participants Are Innovators, Imitators, or Idiots
“I have a friend who was in finance, and he told me one time, there are three I's in life. There are innovators, there are imitators, and there are idiots.”
