Joeanne Hope is in her second year at the helm of the Ruby Carina Leagues Club Tigers. In her first year she took the team to their third Grand Final appearance and is now preparing for her second Grand Final and fourth in a row for Ruby. We asked Joe all the important questions, and how coaching has made an impact on her life.
Why do you coach?
When I have a bad day or something goes wrong in my life, I ask myself where am I most happy and why? I always go back to the same thing; I love to coach, and this is where I am most happy. Netball is fun, a great team sport and I adapt my coaching skills to the game. I coach to make athletes see what they can’t see, to show them passion for something positive and unlock hidden potential. This is not only a ‘game changer’ but a ‘life changer’ and I like to think I can be a positive impact on someone’s life.
How did you get into coaching?
I have played Netball since I was 7 years old and enjoyed helping other coaches with their teams growing up. I started to take my own teams at the age of 15 and enjoyed seeing what I had taught the players starting to come to life on court. I had some great coaches growing up which were positive role models and wanted to do the same and help grow the sport.
What is your coaching philosophy?
My primary purpose in coaching is to instil a passion for the game in my athletes. Rather than force feeding the game, I try to adapt my coaching to each athlete’s personality; I don’t coach Netball, I coach people.
Every athlete should be a student of the game. It’s important to understand the strategies and systems involved; otherwise they are just standing on court because you told them to do so. Mastering the skills and techniques is essential in the game; simple, dynamic motions performed with purpose. Players need to play through their mistakes and make up for them in other areas of the game.
In team sports attitude everything; I believe 5% in life is what happens to you and 95% is how you choose to react to it. I encourage athletes to “do their job”, focus on what they can control – their own performance and output. Athletes can get easily distracted and/ or try to do it all. I encourage to execute well on their key responsibilities, own your work, embrace the clarity that comes with it and they will be the best performer for their team and themselves.
What is important to you within your teams?
Team values and the right culture is everything to me. The core values which I present as a coach are Teamwork, Care, Respect and Excellence.
You can catch Joe and the team in action this Saturday in the 2022 Ruby Grand Final. Get your tickets here!