This is a story of adaptation involving changing countries, languages, cultures and sports in a very demanding environment. Nico has just finished up a role with Chinese Rowing culminating with his team’s performances at the Olympic games in Tokyo. Originating from the north of Italy and completing his PhD in Sports Science at the University of New England in Armidale, Australia. His background lay in Rugby Union, but he was given the chance to work with the Chinese Olympic Program and found himself part of the rowing staff. Nico talks about the cultural differences between working in China compared with western cultures, the communication hurdles and the variation in training modalities utilised.
Some of the key takeaways for me from this chat were that you need to do your homework before you embark on a coaching role in another country especially where the language and culture is so different. Nico was lucky he had experienced changing countries before and this was a massive help for his move to china.
In Australia we tend to have a very athlete centered style of coaching – be aware that this philosophy changes nation to nation and a coaching style that fits the culture is generally what is utilised.
And lastly as part of the coaching staff, sometimes you are required to speak up if you think what other coaches are doing is not what is best for the athletes and at the very least have that difficult discussion.