Performance Coach Advance with Robert Heilkema
Performance Coach Advance is a generic coaching course run by Sport NZ every year. The course targets coaches who are working with ‘pre elite’ 15-21 year old athletes. The course takes in a limited number of coaches per year over many different sports.
Last year yachting was lucky enough to get two coaches into the course, Robert Heilkema and Sam Mackenzie, this year we once again have two coaches attending with Guy Pilkington and Tim Coltman.
Interview with Robert Heilkema Performance Coach Advance
Introducing Robert
Robert has been coaching and sailing professionally for over ten years He has worked for Yachting New Zealand as the Coaching Development Manager and sailed professionally overseas in both the match racing and offshore racing circuit.
Robert (known as Robbs) coached at the 2012 Paralympics, and was head coach at Wakatere last season. Recently he has taken on a new challenge coaching a TP52 racing team in China.
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Hey Robbs, you were nominated and accepted to Performance Coach Advance programme in 2014, how did you get into this?
I was nominated by Yachting New Zealand as a coach working in the area of coaching that sits under high performance, taking talented athletes and showing them how to achieve high performance.
Mostly I am working with disabled sailors whose goal is to get to the Paralympics. The biggest challenge is turning that “I want to participate at the Paralympics” into an action plan of “I'm going to win gold at the Paralympics.”
What is your coaching background?
Like most kiwi kids I started coaching once I jumped out of my opti. I started coaching the younger kids at my club, did the waterwise assistant instructor certificate, then I did the Yachting New Zealand Learn to Sail Coach Course. It was a great form of pocket money, way more fun and better pay than working at McDonalds and I really enjoyed watching people move from going backwards flapping around in their boat to fully hiking out sailing well upwind.
What was involved in the course?
First of all this course has been a huge learning curve for me. I studied coaching at university and this is another step up from that. I think of it as a masters degree without having to write essays. It's great having the support of the mentors and we have some great discussions that really make a difference to my coaching on the water. They challenge you to be an exceptional coach and keep you motivated; it's easy for a coach to do the bare minimum as there is no one really placing expectations on you. The course takes up one Sunday a month 9am-4m; this is like an interactive lecture with great food and workshops with other like minded coaches from all other sports. There is also one Monday a month where we have an evening workshop group.
What did you find useful?
The mentoring is the best part of this for me, someone to keep you honest and ask the tough questions that drive you to perform as a successful coach.
What did you learn?
Creating a team culture is super important we looked at case studies of successful coaches from all over the world and looked at the presentations they gave to their athletes to inspire them to be involved in something brilliant.
We looked at lots of ways to inspire and lead, talked about different training methods, and studied groups like the bones brigade in skateboarding and how they used to put in thousands of hours training learning off each other and exploring the limits of skateboarding.
Would you recommend this to other sailing coaches?
Yes it's a commitment and you have to get people to fill in for your coaching at time. But if you think you know it all in coaching, then you are fixed in your mind set and you will never be the best. If you are hungry to learn and grow as a coach and you strive for every inch like your athletes do, then you are in for an epic ride in the coaching world. If you coach with this intensity and you allow the growth mindset to direct your coaching success is inevitable.
What coaching are you doing at the moment?
Coaching optimist at Wakatere
Three Sailability Auckland groups, and coaching the paralympic skud 18 class.
Adult learn to sail at Wakatere
Managing 7 other coaches in the Wakatere coaching program.
Robbs has recently left New Zealand to coach a TP52 racing team in China.
Any coaches who think they might like to put their name forward for next years course should email laurie@yachitngnz.org.nz