Locked and Loaded: How to Get your Interns to Another Level

When I started as the Head Strength & Conditioning Coach here at Trinity Western University I had dreams of growing my internship to become THE destination for future Strength & Conditioning (S&C) coaches to come and study, learn, and grow. That was back in 2019. So COVID hit soon after and kind of stalled that plan and when we were back afterwards, I was disappointed with the progress I was making in my internship. While things were going strong in Sparta from the athlete side (2 National Championships, multiple CanWest Titles, TONS of PRs) I was noticing that my interns just weren’t engaging the way I wanted them to (or the way I did when I was an intern).

Fast forward to winter break of 2023 just over a year ago) where after I was venting to my wife about how my interns weren’t stepping up to coach and were always looking for “something to do” when there were tons of athletes in front of them they could coach, she responded point blank, “Well do they know what you want them to do? Have you told them what to do when interning?”

That really struck me. I mean, I thought I did. They knew I wanted them to coach. We had gone over coaching, cueing, and spotting in our Professional Development meetings, but I guess when it came down to the day to day coaching stuff, I was less clear on what my expectations were aside from “You get what you put in”

So that set me on the trail to find the best way to get my interns to engage in the daily environment and coach the athletes in front of them.

Enter “Sparta Intern Tasks”. I realized that the best way to get them to do what I wanted them to do is to:

1. Tell them exactly what that is so they can do it
2. Make it a requirement, not an optional thing
3. Build the skills they need to be a good coach instead of hoping it happens by random coincidence

Now my interns are more engaged than ever, helping coach every session, leading warm-ups, and assisting more than ever before. It is still a long way from being the destination intern spot, but we have made huge strides in the last year and I am quite proud of my crew.

So, without further ado, here are the tasks I have my interns doing each week over the course of their first semester with me. Each week we move on to the next one, and they have to comment in our group chat how their experience was or what they did. That way they can learn from each other and we create a shared learning environment as we go.

SPARTA INTERN TASK LIST

1. Learn Names. Pretty tough to coach people who you do not know or at least their names. “Hey… you. Go deeper” only works for so long.
2. Talk to 5 Athletes– Now that they know the names, it is time to take the next step and talk to them. Doesn’t have to be about S&C or coaching, but as we all know, relationship building is vital in coaching so this helps kick start that.
3. Coach 1 Athlete/Session– This is another progression. Now that you know who they are and something about them from your conversation, time to take the step and be a coach in some area. Could be as simple as encouraging them, but I find this is a big step for some of our interns and once you do it once they all comment on how scary it seemed, but really wasn’t once they did it.
4. Clean Something- Just good habits for coaches to be in on taking pride in their space and making sure at the end of each session it is ready to roll for the next group (or clean up the chalk the athletes spilled…again)
5. Ask 1 Question- This one honestly is more for me so I can nerd out on these kids, but it has also been a great way to get discussions going and then I get to ask them questions back. Being hungry for knowledge is key in this field!
6. Share and Article with the team (S&C related)- Most often they just share one they are using for a paper, but it helps bring new ideas to the chat and creates a better learning environment by being exposed to various sources and websites.
7. Improve 1 Thing about Sparta- Probably my favourite task. Can be anything that helps with the flow or how we do things. I’ve gotten ideas on organizing equipment, warm-up ideas, or tips to give. Love this one. Good skill as a coach to always be trying to make things better and more efficient.
8. Come up with Social Media Content Idea- We have an Instagram Page that I primarily run, but just having my ideas gets stale, so this helps them get creative and helps me learn what they (or athletes/students their age) actually want to learn about. Plus they are way more social media savvy than I am, so it helps a ton.
9. Reach out to another S&C- Networking is key (and one of my favourite things about the profession). So this task helps my gang start this process that is so key and helps them start to learn from more people than just me. I always tell them “I don’t want you to become the next Cole Hergott, but be the best YOU can be”.
10. Identify 1 Good thing you do and 1 you need to improve- Self-reflection is a critical skill in all areas of life, but especially as a coach. This helps them see what they do well (so they keep doing it) and what they want to get better at (so I can challenge them on it)
11. Schedule Meeting with Me- This one serves a few purposes. As an S&C, scheduling meetings with coaches and staff is a huge part of the job, so that is one aspect. The other is I get to use this time to have 1-on-1 meetings with them to get feedback about the internship and give them feedback as well. I used to do this through feedback forms, but after I did it in person I will never go back to that. (WAY more valuable to have a conversation about it and provide positive reinforcement in person. 10/10 would recommend.)
12. Come up with a question for our Field trip- Each semester we go on a field trip (often to a neighbouring university like UFV or UBC). This way when we show up and our host asks if we have any questions, my gang is researched up and ready to impress!

And there you have it, one semester of tasks all laid out for you! In the spring semester, I often start with the first few weeks being the same (numbers 1-3) so that with the change in their intern times, they get comfortable with the new athletes they coach, and then sprinkle in some new things along the way.

Again, my goal is to keep growing as this is nowhere near a finished product, but over the last number of years I have had several conversations with my colleagues around the topic of internships and the same frustrations kept coming up about “kids these days” not being as engaged as we wanted or needed them to. While this method is far from perfect, as my wife pointed out to me, it is important to be explicit with the expectations and tasks you give them so they know if they are making progress and you know if they are actually doing them or not.

Happy to chat more about internships if you want, please reach out (or if you have any good task ideas or things you get your squad to do). All about investing in the next generation!

Good luck.

Peace.Gains.