60 Second Interview: School and Club Coach: Peter Berman
- September 15, 2014
- Paul Crompton
Peter is a teacher at Alleyn's School in Dulwich, London, where he was previously the head of boys hockey. He is currently the Senior Coach, and Junior Coach Mentor, at the Tulse Hill and Dulwich Hockey Club, and runs a school team in the middle term after Christmas.
The 56-year-old gained a History degree at Reading University, and later went to Goldsmith for his teaching diploma. The Irishman is a level 3 coach and was awarded the Surrey Hockey Association's Nancy Albright Award, along with Lesley Gairns, in 2014 for his work in setting up and expanding the 'Mini' hockey tournaments for U10 and U12s.
What's your favourite sport?
It's hockey. I enjoy passing on knowledge. Just to see boys go through the whole club set-up, knowing you have made a contribution to their development, is very satisfying.
What's a typical working day like for you as a club coach and mentor?
I normally get to the ground about 8.20 on a Sunday morning. First hold a briefing with our junior coaches; we discuss what to do that day using a Sportplan plan. I will brief a group of 8-10 coaches or print out a session plan, which I email to them beforehand, from 9-10am. Then the junior coaches and I go out and take a session with the young children; sometimes I will lead the group, which will break up and work as individuals, or I'll go around and observe the junior coaches and intervene when necessary to give coaching points. Again it's that development model.
The whole philosophy is to build a base of young coaches at the club, which has 400 people, which is overseen by 3 or 4 qualified adult coaches.
What's your go to drill to get pupils on board for the lesson?
Kids love 3D skills. They love being shown how to lift a ball over a stick. If you want to grab their attention then show them how to do those lifts. Kids are never too young to do those things and they will go away and practice and practice those skills. 1v1 drills are good because they show kids how to go around something and actually drag the ball around players.
Who/what inspired you to get into teaching and coaching?
"I enjoy passing on knowledge. Just to see some boys go through the whole club set-up is very satisfying knowing you have made a contribution to their development."
When I came out of University, I had various jobs but was not using my degree, so when I got to 28-years-old I thought I'd get a proper job. My mum was a teacher and so I knew the environment and went that way. I was a history, geography and humanities teacher.
As for coaching I moved house and went along to a club called the Thames Poly Hockey Club. It was there I met a guy called David Passmore who was the coach for the men's first XI. He went on to be the High Performance Coach Director of Irish Hockey, but was an inspirational figure. He wanted to start a junior hockey club and I just fell into it. That was in 1990/91, after that I just started doing my coaching badges and worked my way up to level 3.
What's the best advice you've received or would give to people wanting to become a teacher?
Find your philosophy and be sure about it, but not in a dictatorial way, the whole process should be about development.
It's about that sense of giving, I want to pass on my knowledge and wisdom to develop people. You have to want to be involved in the process of education.
It's about being sure of what you want to do and when working with kids and adults they challenge your vision so you have to be sure what your philosophy is.
It's been 25 years and I still want to go and watch people coaching and want to see football or basketball coaching to get new ideas.
Why do you believe sport is important?
That sense of community. I like to think we have created that at my current club, and the feedback we get supports that. It's a very open and welcoming community. Anyone and everybody is welcome of all abilities and backgrounds. We have attempted to meet the needs of players of all abilities and bring them together.
What changes/developments in the past 10 years do you believe have benefited sports teaching?
It's undoubtedly the case that the quality of coaching has got better. I have to give credit to England Hockey which has rationalised the coaching process, there are different views on that, but my opinion is we're getting a more consistent message of what the new skills are.
What changes to teaching sport would you like to see in the next 10 years?
There's still a deficit of quality coaches to coach at junior level. I'd like to see something put in place to encourage more junior coaches.
In the last 3-5 years there's been a massive influx of kids in junior hockey clubs, but at the moment there aren't enough qualified coaches to meet the needs. That's why we give juniors the chance to coach when they have enough skills to do so, and it's my job to help them learn.
"There's still a deficit of quality coaches to coach at junior level.... That's why we give juniors the chance to coach when they have enough skills to do so, and it's my job to help them learn."
Who would you have liked to have coached?
I would like to have been inside the Liverpool FC Boot Room in the seventies to see how they managed to create teams that won trophies in three decades.
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Related Content
3D Forehand Lift Over Stick: To do this skill the players should run to the left of each wooden stick and reverse stick drag the ball to their left, then forehand lift the ball, under control, over the wooden stick. Click on the image to view the drill.
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