What’s the appropriate response for an athlete who has earned a silver medal at the Olympics, having lost to a gold medalist (the world record holder for your event) who bested her own record?
Celebration, maybe? Mild disappointment? A little of both?
What’s the appropriate response for the athlete’s coach? Certainly not to belittle the athlete, as if she had come in dead last or had somehow woefully underperformed, right?
Yet that is exactly the treatment Jenn Stuczynski got from her coach after the pole vault!
My wife and I, both coaches in the HR field, watched in disbelief tonight as Jenn’s coach dismissed her after a world class run at the title; this wasn’t tearing someone down to build them up, either: the event was over, and the coach’s demeanor—lack of eye contact, condescending tone (as if he had wasted all his time!)—spoke volumes about the contempt he felt.
If it is true that there is a time for everything under the sun, then for that little piece of verbal abuse, the time was not immediately after a silver-medal performance, in a public venue, with the whole world watching. More likely, there is never a time when it is appropriate for a coach to talk like that to a coachee; not if the coach is interested in seeing the coachee stand on her own two feet!
How can a coach feel contempt for his athlete?! She is his responsibility! If she failed, he failed! To disavow Jenn like that was one an abuses of their relationship and a reminder that coaching is supposed to be positive; though tough at time, it should build you up… even the hard, unpopular, and frustrating messages should be delivered with compassion and understanding. If your coach ever treats you with contempt, you’ve got the wrong coach… and if, as a coach, you ever treat your charge with contempt, then you’ve got the wrong job.
I hope someone grabbed that video from NBC and posts it online… if I can find it, it will definitely be added to the clips I use in training; this one under the header, “How to Abuse Your Position as Coach or Mentor”.
Unbelievable.
Posted under Coaching & Consulting, Self-Development, Current Trends
Written by Jason Seiden on August 18, 2008
That “coach” is Rick Suhr and he’s a major a$$. He doesn’t deserve to call himself a coach. It’s a shame Jenn’s Olympic experience is influenced by that jerk. Here’s the video of it:
http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/player.html?assetid=0818_hd_atw_hl_l0896&channelcode=sportat
http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/modules/searchable/resourcedata/0818/_HD_/ATW_/HL_L/1722/video.html
http://www.usatf.org/athletes/bios/Stuczynski_Jenn.asp
Oh yeah, look what I found…a video of this so-called coach when he was a wrestler…http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bH565MMFEks
What a worthless P-O-S this guy is. Keep your head up, Jenn - you did great!
The video is here:
http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/share.html?videoid=0818_HD_ATW_HL_L1722
What a jerk. Here’s the video:
http://video.aol.com/video-detail/stuczynski-hears-harsh-words-from-coach/820636648/?icid=VIDLRVSPR05
I am trying to find an article that quotes that abuse coach. People who did not see/hear him last night are not believing me when I tell them how cruel and abusive he was to Jennifer. The US Olympic Committee needs to chastise that man and Jennifer needs a new coach. I was appalled! He embarassed all Americans with his behavior. Could you direct me to a website that contains his comments to her?
Go article. I agree. The video is here. Her coach is a turd.
Sorry
http://jezebel.com/5039064/first-time-olympians-coach-criticizes-her-for-taking-silver
Everyone is upset about this except Jenn and her parents who were right there when it happened. You think maybe there’s more to it than what we saw?
Since the woman’s pole vault was aired about 10 hours after it took place, it makes me wonder why NBC aired this footage of Jenn and her coach. It had absolutely no bearing on anything. All it did was cause heartache, hurt, and embarrassment for Jenn and her coach. You want to tear down an athlete, you attack their coach. Maybe Isinbayeva will grant NBC another exclusive up close and personal for helping her out.
Oh my, it certaintly seems to me that those responding live in large cities. Much unlike our small town of Fredonia.
Front page news today discussed, in her words, what happened. The coach did NOT reprimand her in any way. she went to ask him what she did wrong on the last pole valt…he told her. In her words she said she does not need a cheerleader by her side, rather a coach who will give her honest and true answers to her questions…helping her to improve her skills. The coach did this.
Our town sold tee shirts and signs to make money to send her parents to the olympics. We have a huge ceremony planned for her return…with a parade through our small town and celebrations in the central park.
Her coach by the way mortaged his home in order to get the money needed for her to continue training and participating in the olympics!
Articles in our local paper both by her parents and by Jenn are all in total support of her coach.
I am amazed that people who live somewhere else have no idea how a small community like ours in Fredonia truly embrace our heros.
Front page news here…celebrating a true American story, that even those who live in small rural communities can and do make it BIG.
Judi,
Thanks for the update… I will humbly stand down in deference to someone with far more information than I, namely, Jenn. I can only comment on what I saw—which I did not like—but I will respect that there was a larger story unfolding.
btw, when you hold the fundraiser for her family in 2012, call me. I’m in.