Caitlin Clark's Former Coach Explains She Wasn't Always a Team Player
Since joining the WNBA, Caitlin Clark has emerged as the biggest star the league has ever seen. But before that, she had to learn how to be a team player with the Iowa Hawkeyes at the college level.
During a recent interview with The Athletic, Clark's former Iowa coach, Lisa Bluder, opened up a little bit about how difficult it was to coach Clark when she first arrived at Iowa.
Bluder explained that initially, Clark didn't exactly know how to be a team player because she was so individually talented and never had to rely on her teammates at the high school level.
"Oh, it was a challenge at first," she said. "Like her freshman year, Caitlin didn’t really understand how to work with other people as much because she was always the show.
"She could do it by herself. But when you get to a Power Four conference and you’re competing at the highest level, you realize, 'Oh, I can’t do this all by myself.'"
Clark eventually learned that she needed her teammates, but Bluder admits that she clashed with some players on the team in her first year, causing some of them to transfer.
"So it was a realization that she needed her team as well as they needed her. Building that trust was really important early on. But there were a couple of players who transferred after her freshman year because she was hard at first," Bluder said.
"She learned how to develop her leadership skills. She learned how to become more inclusive. And some people, she rubbed wrong and they left, and that’s OK.
"She got better, but I also wanted people who wanted to be challenged and wanted to be their best. Again, giving up your own personal stuff sometimes is really, really hard."
To help Clark develop as a leader, Bluder said they "started meeting weekly and having leadership meetings."
"I would have her read some leadership books and we would kind of go through the chapters and talk about them afterwards, 'What did you learn from this?' And then we would bring in sports psychologists to work with our team so that she understood," Bluder wrote.
"I would have them meet with her individually and then meet with the team. Some of those things helped with her leadership. We would show her a video of herself.
"I mean, Caitlin is very passionate. She’s not the only person I’ve done this with. I’ve had other players whose bench decorum or their reaction affects the team in a negative way.
"You have to show it to them because they don’t understand. They don’t know it. They’re living it. They’re so into the moment that they don’t understand how they’re affecting other people. And showing real-life examples away from the court, and after the emotion is over, is a good thing."
All of that clearly paid off as Clark has blossomed into a star and a leader at the highest level of basketball.
source https://www.mensjournal.com/sports/caitlin-clarks-former-coach-speaks-out-lisa-bluder
Comments
Post a Comment