Training & Development Assignment - Coach Carter Group No. 4 Tata Institute of Social Sciences Dr.

Sasmita Palo

Group Members1. Abhishek Chopra 2. Anubhuti Kumar 3. Amit Admane 4. Kripanidhi Sahu 5. Neeta Dubey 6. Prateek Roy 7. Swati Arora

2. What mental strategies used by Carter to coach the player? Carter used various mental strategies to coach the players of the Richmond High team. It included demanding and owning respect until it is abused. He addressed each of the players as Sir and proscribed the usage of derogatory means of addressing others like nigger etc. He asked all his players to sign a contract that summarized all the program rules and expectations that must be fulfilled in order to secure a place in his basketball team. The contract became a binding force and under no circumstances did he tamper the conditions of the contract. He utilized it to teach the athletes what it means to keep their word, being trustworthy and disciplined. It was an effective tool for him to set goals and expectations for his team. Carter created an environment that fostered success. He required the players to dress and behave as if they are winners. This helped him to induce confident in them and he believed that if they feel like winners they are more likely to become just that. In addition, this created a sense of accountability in the players. Carter has very high expectations for his team which allows them much room for improvement and the ability to reach for something bigger than what they had previously known. He teaches discipline by strictly adhering to rules outlined, using physical conditioning, and teaching that winning is not enough. To increase the cohesion of the team he chose to punish all players for the actions of one. He punishes the entire team when some of the players taunted the opponents in one of the games. He asked them to show some class and act like winners. It was an important component of the mental conditioning that he used. In another instance when a player who had broken many rules and who had been excused from the team for being violent and disrespectful begged to come back, Carter made an allowance for the player to come back providing he met a conditioning requirement that was impossible to attain. He told the player to give up and to leave

because the task was impossible to achieve but in the end the entire team helped him complete the task and he was taken back. 3. How did Coach Carter and his team learn to respect each other as the season progressed? When Coach Ken Carter took up the job of coaching at the Richmond High School, where he himself had been a champion athlete 27 years ago, he had a very tough task at hand. He had a very undisciplined set of young, rowdy boys who grew up in the poor area of Richmond. The area had a bad reputation in terms of having high criminal activities and many young boys often ended up behind bars or even murdered. His objective was not only to make them play good basketball, but also academically proficient so that they can find their place in a good university. From the word go, Coach Carter laid down some basic rules and regulations that needed to be followed by every player. Some of these aimed at building respect towards each other and maintaining a certain level of dignity. He always addressed the boys as gentlemen or sir. Generally, a coach at high school will address the players as boys, but Coach Carter deliberately addressed each one of them as sir as a symbol of respect. He also asked them to wear jacket and ties on every match day as a part of displaying professionalism as players. Such things gave the payers a sense of discipline which lacked before. Earlier, they used to abuse each other, fight at each other and stamped their authority over each other which gradually changed over a period of time. At one instance, we also notice that he reprimands one of the players for he was using abusive language on court and acting abrasive with another player. Coach Carter maintained that they should not indulge in such activities even though the opponents were doing it. Also, his strategy of asking players sit on the front row of the classes and scoring above the minimum required GPA made sure that all the players scored good marks. This ended up in each one of the players earning significant respect of others. Such moves and other team building exercises of Coach Carter ensured that each player on the realm of Richmond Oilers respected the other person for who he was and gave each player a sense of achievement and honour. 4. Did helping his team achieve academic success ultimately mean more than winning basketball games?

Richmonds lost their final game, but gained enormous success in building team cohesion, camaraderie, spirit, and love for each other, self-respect, and academic achievement. Even though the Richmond Oilers did not win the State championship but they won 5 college scholarships and 6 members of the team went on to college. Junior Battle who could not meet the set standard of 2.3 GPA earlier got a full scholarship from San Jose State University. He feels that the disciplined approach that he puts the players through will help them respect the law in the longer run and will inform their lives and give them choices. He did not want them to end up in prison unlike some of his own team members for which he played 30 years ago and who considered themselves above the law. Therefore we can say that in the long run the academic success helped the players in achieving life long success. 5. Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. How does this quote apply to this movie? Explain. This movie exemplifies the phrase Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. In the every first match that Ken Carter saw the Richmond Oilers play, he realised that they were a bunch of angry and undisciplined boys. They fought amongst each other and abused each other, both during and after the match. And the previous coach said that he was not as upset by their losing matches as he was by the complete lack of discipline in these boys. When Ken Carter agreed to take on the position of their coach, it proved to be a life-changing decision for these boys. The first thing that Coach Carter taught the boys was respect, for each other, for their coach and most importantly, for themselves. He gave them respect by addressing them as Sir. He made them sign contracts before they were allowed to play basketball that required them to attend all classes, sit on the first bench and maintain a grade point average of 2.3. He stressed on the importance of discipline in academics before they were allowed to play ball. Anyone who showed attitude was punished with punishments that required them to do push-ups and suicides. This strict and clear strategy that the Coach adopted led the team to win match after match and finally, the Bayhill Tournament Championship. The team, in which the players could hardly even stand each other, was now a cohesive team that won match after match. This showed persistence on the part of the players and the coach. The players were made to work

very hard by the Coach. They were made to change their attitudes, their way of talking to each other and their outlook towards academics. But given the fact that basketball was so important to them, they stuck to their end of the deal as far as could and practiced as hard as the Coach made them. The Coach was dealing with a bunch of stubborn teenagers, but he never gave up on them. It was his persistence and his belief in the team that translated into the persistence of the players. Most importantly, the persistence of the Coach not only made the team win but also made them very cohesive and respectful of each other. After Cruz walked out of the team after an altercation with the Coach, he expressed his wish to join the team back later. The Coach set him an impossible target for 2500 push-ups and 1000 suicides before a certain day. Cruz persistently kept trying to achieve this target without giving up. But at the stipulated time, he was 500 push ups and 80 suicides short of the target. At this time, the team decided to complete these on his behalf telling the Coach that it was he, who stressed on teamwork. Cruzs persistence earned him respect in the eyes of his teammates. The Coachs persistence and subtle strategies made the team cohesive. However, the best example of persistence was not in the many wins of the Richmond Oilers, but in their journey together. After the team won the Bayhill Tournament, they went to a wild party without telling the Coach. Later, the Coach also got their report cards in which he saw that most of the players failed to achieve the minimum grade requirements as decided in the contract. It was then that he decided to cancel all practice sessions and matches till they start taking their academics and their life seriously. This led to huge controversy, with everyone from parents, to teachers to the media speaking against Coach Carter. After everyone voted for removal of the lockout, the Coach decided to resign. However, he found all his team members sitting in the basket court and studying. This was the moment where the Coachs persistence truly paid off. He was able to get through these young men and start them on their journey to become men. 6. There are examples of many types of coaching styles used in the movie. Choose two and explain it with reference to a particular scene in the movie. Autocratic Style: The movie revolves around the autocratic ways which Coach Carter adopts right from the day one of his coaching assignment. Features of autocratic style are: The coach decides on what is to be done

The athletes (coaches) are not involved in decision making. The coach defines how things should take shape.

Carter establishes himself as a tough coach in the first training session when he demands that players should respect each other and him. He addresses them as Sir and demands the same respect for himself. (When Cruz says Im not a sir, carter quips are you a madam?). He doesnt hesitate in getting physical with Cruz to teach him a lesson. He coached the team a different style than the normal coach would do, made the players sign a contract that made them learn self-discipline. They were forced to have an average of 2.3 GPA and it was a mandate for everyone to sit in the front row of every class, not to miss a class, wear ties before the game etc. Getting late for the training session would mean that the player has to do pushups or suicides. Arguing with the coach or showing attitude would fetch the player pushups or suicides in the multiple of 500! In a particular scene when Cruz comes back to join the team after feeling excluded from the group, carter first ignores him out rightly then asks to do 2500 pushups and 1000 suicides in order to be included. Cruz tries hard but fails to reach the target by thin margin but carter seems to be indifferent and asks Cruz to go back home. (This move eventually emerges as the turning point in the players life with the realization of themselves as a part of a team.) Success was a major point with coach carters coaching style. If there was no great success there was no point for the autocratic coaching style, as the players would not bother putting up with the hard coaching sessions, the suicides, the pushups, and critical coach carter belief Winning starts now. Motivational Style: Though Carter was highly autocratic but at the same time he infused consistent motivation in the team. During the match with San Francisco, after third quarter the scores were 57-42 in San Franciscos favor. Carter immediately calls for a time out and the subsequent speech brings the players back to their natural self who seemed to be awed by playing in states championship against the No. 1 team. Carter roared When we step on the floor every second that clock is ticking, we are pedal to the metal, we run the ball, we pressure the ball, and most importantly we control the tempo of the game, we make them play Richmond Oiler ball Carter throws the statistics as how only 50% students from Richmond are able to graduate and only 6% of them go to college. How most of them end up being in jail or lead a not so

respectable life in ghettoes. He persuades the player to become student athletes, earn grades, earn good scholarship and secure a prosperous future. His Motivational influence is so much so that even after he the gym which he had locked is opened after popular voting decision the students refused to play and focus on academics. Timo Cruz summarizes the inspiration the players received from coach when he says- Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people don't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine as children do. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own lights shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others 7. If you were telling a friend about this movie and how it can be related to coaching and mentoring skill, what would you say? How would you explain the concepts with examples from the movie? As the name of movie Coach Carter clearly suggest that ken Carter majorly played the role of a basketball Coach to Richmond high school boys team. But he also mixed it up with the role of a mentor as and when required. He had this bigger picture in mind to make each boy to take up responsibility and making way for the future through discipline in education, athletics and life. He started off with this idea which is way beyond than the task of only teaching them how to win basketball games. He begun by getting the contract signed by the players. The contract mentioned that the boys should hold a solid 2.3 grade and more to emphasize the role of education in ones life. As we know that Mentors in either a formal mentoring program or informal relationship focus on the person, their career and support for individual growth and maturity while the coach is job-focused and performance oriented. In the movie Ken Carter plays the role of both a mentor as well as the Coach. They had won only 4games in the last season and under the guidance of Coach Carter they won all the games in this season. This refers to the specific task which Carter addressed as a Coach. But Ken Carter as a mentor also focussed on teaching them how to to respect each other and most importantly respect themselves. He also made them to focus on academics as he didnt wanted these boys to fall into wrong lines which was quite a trend in that region. He taught them that there is life beyond Basketball which is also very important taking future perspective into consideration.

In summary, the mentor has a deep personal interest, personally involveda friend who cares about you and your long term development. The coach develops specific skills for the task, challenges and performance expectations at work. So Ken was concerned for the boys and wanted overall development for the boys not only in sports but also in academics, their personality and their outlook towards life. He knew what he should do for long term development but at the short term Ken never forgot why he was hired for. He ensured that boys are mentally and physically fit for matches in this session and put forward their best game possible. So these examples tell us that how Ken Carter was able to successfully manage the roles of a Mentor as well as the Coach.