{"id":862,"date":"2019-11-06T21:12:40","date_gmt":"2019-11-07T02:12:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianstrengthca.com\/?p=862"},"modified":"2022-01-27T11:27:51","modified_gmt":"2022-01-27T16:27:51","slug":"working-in-the-cfl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianstrengthca.com\/working-in-the-cfl\/","title":{"rendered":"Working in the CFL"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Jordan discusses his\nexperience working in the Canadian Football League<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

CSCA –\nHow did you get your first job working in pro sport? <\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I got it the old-fashioned way, they\nposted a job and I applied, sort of. Much like many others, it is no secret\nthat Strength & Conditioning is a people business and I had a prior\nconnection to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, in the Canadian Football League, through\nmy network. I have never kept it secret that most, if not all, of my\nopportunities, came from prior connections and I am quite proud of that. I\ndon\u2019t think that I gained any of these opportunities because someone in my\nnetwork was impressed by a job that I did poorly and reached out to me for the\nnext opportunity.  I have said it before and will say it again, whether\nyou do a good job or not, it will follow you.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On to the specifics of how I landed\nthe S&C job with the Ticats. Through my network, I got in contact with the Head\nAthletic Therapist at that time and learned that we would be working together\nfor a week in the near future when she was going to be covering for a therapist\nat my current place of employment. Throughout that week we had a few conversations\nabout our approaches to sport performance, rehab, reconditioning, etc. and near\nthe end of the week I made it clear to her that I was going to be applying for\nthe position and wanted to be transparent to avoid putting her into an awkward\nsituation and a potential professional conflict of interest.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I began preparing for the interview\nright away. I researched the head coach Kent Austin, his background, and\nphilosophies. I was fortunate enough to be personal friends with a former\nplayer of his and he gave me some great insights into how to converse with\nCoach Austin. I was granted an interview and am glad I prepared for Coach\nAustin specifically because I was only asked two S&C technical questions.\nThe remainder of the questions were about leadership, behavior change, and\ndealing with conflict. It was one of most intense 90 mins of my life. During\nthat 90 mins, Coach Austin spoke for about 75, me 14, and the remaining two\nmembers of the panel a combined 1 minute!   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few intense moments during the interview\nI will never forget, and I believe that how I handled them helped me get the\njob.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At one-point Coach, Austin was trying\nto get me to change my mind about hip mobility for change of direction question\nand kept asking for more and more clarity. I saw nothing else to do but show\nhim. I jumped up out of my chair in the fancy board room, took off my suit\njacket, and began demonstrating. I then gestured to Coach Austin to join me and\nI would show him exactly what I was talking about.  He smiled and said,\n\u201cthat\u2019s great, I understand now, sit down.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That could have gone either way\nlooking back! Another moment was when Coach asked me about my training. At the\ntime I was deep into competing in Strongman and had been criticized for it at\ntimes when people assumed that my own training was a carbon copy of how I would\nwork with athletes.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When asked about a video that I had\nposted on YouTube where I did a 180kg front squat with a 5-second pause with my\ncoach counting aloud in the background, I quickly began to downplay it and say\nsomething to the effect of strength training is only part of the training for\nathletes.  Coach Austin stopped me dead and said: \u201cyeah, but the guys will\nknow that you lift.\u201d From that moment on I have never downplayed what I have\nlearned through my own training process and highlight how it will help me with\nthe population in question.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To this day no matter the group of\nathletes, they are always interested in discussing what I do in my own\ntraining. Often this helps build a relationship as they see you working towards\ngoals of your own, and at least walking some path beside (or super far behind!)\nthem.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I survived the interview and was\noffered the position shortly after. I still recall walking to my car, taking\noff my suit jacket, putting it in the back seat, getting in the driver\u2019s seat\nand saying aloud \u201cwhat the hell just happened?\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

CSCA –\nWhat skills do you need to be successful in this area?  <\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I flip flop with what order these\nneed to be in, so they are listed in no particular order.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You must be extremely competent, and\nyou need to have the interpersonal skills to support people.  To coach\nwith integrity, I think that you must be using and implementing best practices\nwith your athletes (competent). To implement them you must have the people\nskills to convert that competency into action on the part of the\nathlete.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you have one without the other it\njust simply won\u2019t work. S&C coaching is a technical position in a people\nbusiness, you need both.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

CSCA –\nWhat are 1-2 of the differences between roles in this area compared to previous\nS&C jobs you have had? <\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The biggest difference is that the\nplayers were already at the level that they aspired to reach, even though some\nin the CFL desire to play in the NFL, or have already done so previously. \nRegardless, they were professional football athletes.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why this is different is that the\nsales pitch becomes a lot different. It becomes all about shaping conversations\nand narratives around how to affect career longevity, personal achievement to\nget the next contract, how to get back on the field after an injury to get game\nchecks, etc.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is different than other levels\nin that it wasn\u2019t so much about on-going development and jumping to the next\nlevel, but rather what can be done in the short term with quick pay off.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

CSCA –\nHow do you upskill your knowledge and network as an S&C coach? <\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I do like most of the rest of us\nconcerning articles, textbooks, podcasts, and videos. I like to focus on things\nacross different realms from S&C specific, coaching, teaching, behavior\nchange, leadership, business, and anything else where I can track successful\nhabits that can be applied to my coaching practice.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second, and I believe the most\nimportant way, is that I put myself out there and network with others. This is\nhow I commit to my ideas and get challenged by peers on best practices and how\nthey are implemented. I think that we get caught in the clouds arguing the\nsuper small details instead of sharing about what we DO, the result, and get\nchallenged on our coaching process. This is how we grow, commit to an idea with\nconviction AND be open to being challenged in the name of improving rather than\nspending our time debating about 0.25 of a percent here or there in the latest\nresearch article.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

CSCA –\nWhat advice do you give individuals just entering the field who desire to work\nin the same area as you? <\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am glad this question is here\nbecause I was speaking with a group of students about this recently and think\nthat the perception is all off about how to approach this in Canada. I will\nbreak down what I feel is the best approach step-by-step:  <\/p>\n\n\n\n