Patrick Robinson | A statue of the transformational coach

Where did it all begin? In a paper for a workshop, Stephen Francis wrote that, in 1998 at the World Junior Championships in France, he listened as coaches from the US said, “Coaching teenagers is nothing, just baby- sitting. They are growing so fast that it does not require astute coaching skills to get them to improve. When they stop growing is when the real coaching comes into play at 19 for girls, age 20-21 for men. You people in Jamaica can’t coach. All you do is keep the teenagers ready and interested until we, the real coaches, take over”.