Half Court Press sat down to speak with John Bagnall, current Scotland National Team assistant coach and Head Coach of Birmingham City. In this discussion, John covers life as a coach in the ‘EKNL – England Korfball National League’ (England’s top tier korfball competition), the challenges of coaching within an amateur sport, and also the psychological aspects of coaching and playing that sometimes get overlooked.
Photo Credit: Marco Spelten
The experience of coaching a side in the England Korfball National League will naturally vary between clubs, as different clubs vary in membership size and geographical location, factors which both have a big impact on the way a team can be managed in the EKNL.
As coach of the smallest of the national league clubs (~25 full members), and geographically isolated from the other teams in the league, this undoubtedly frames my own coaching experience and how I can coach the first team. However, there are a number of elements which all the teams competing in the EKNL will need to manage, most prominently; how to balance the demands that come with playing in the EKNL and performing to a high standard with players’ welfare and recognition of the wider, and more important, elements of a player’s life.
One of the most interesting aspects of Korfball at the highest level is that although it is very much an amateur sport and there is no financial reward to be gained from playing it, there are many elements which mirror semi-professional and professional sports.
At Birmingham, over the course of the season we face three away games in London, two in Kent, two in Norwich, one in Cambridge and one in Bristol. Across a season, that brings a combined travelling time of roughly 46 hours spent in the car travelling to and from games. The shortest of those journeys is still a three hour return trip.
When the season is played across ~24 weeks with a break over Christmas, players are asked to give up an entire day of their weekend roughly every other week to play a game. Added to this the fact that players are funding this travel themselves, alongside paying for their subs and kit, it is a huge ask of anyone.
(Photo Credit: Birmingham City Korfball Club)
As a coach, I also have to recognise that all of my players are either in full time work, full time education or some combination of both and they have to balance playing Korfball with their work and life commitments, and I have to be able to give the players the space and freedom to do that. With a small squad this can be difficult to manage, but for me as a coach, it is vitally important that the players are getting something out of the experience of playing in the National League and that they are all enjoying it. I need to ensure that the players are enjoying coming to training, they are enjoying playing the games and so I know that I can push them and drive them to succeed, and also so that they will buy into what we are trying to achieve as a club.
Ultimately, if you aren’t enjoying playing a sport then there is no point in paying to do doing it and if that is not at the forefront of what we as a team do, the players won’t come back. This has been harder as the club has decreased in size through the effects of the pandemic and we are now trying to manage with one training session to meet the wants of all club members but, for me it is so important that each person in the club, enjoys playing. From the enjoyment, will come the drive to improve and succeed which will only benefit us as a club.
All that being said, as a competitive individual, coaching a side at the highest level Korfball can be played in this country, I also have to balance the performance and competitive element of the league that we play in. As a coach, I have a lot of faith in the squad that we have, and strongly believe that this group of players can push on and establish themselves in the National League.
(Photo Credit: Scotland Korfball)
Given the circumstances in which we were promoted (due to the pandemic, England Korfball ceased the season’s competition and awarded promotion and relegation places based on the standings at the time of cessation), I am aware that for many, there will always be an asterisk next to our name in the NL and I have a drive to prove to those people that we as a team deserve to be in this league.
The gulf between the National League and Regional League is big and has grown in recent years, but as teams like Bristol and Cambridge have shown in recent seasons, it is not a gap that is impossible to breach. As a team, we want to be in the mix for the mid-table positions and to get a consistent run of seasons in the EKNL. To achieve that as a coach, I do have to make difficult decisions in terms of game time and players not necessarily playing as much in the team they would want to.
This is difficult, where in the Regional League, it was easier to rotate players more, it is less so in the National League if we want to maintain and compete at that level. As such, it is important as a coach to maintain dialogue with players, keep their own development in mind and ensure that I am maximising the opportunities for them to get the right level of experience and improve. This is not only for them but also to ensure that the depth of the squad overall develops and we are able to rotate more in the months and seasons ahead.
Finally, I think it’s important to recognise the psychological demands that come with playing in a highly competitive environment. Even as an amateur sport, I believe one of the best elements of Korfball is seeing the passion it breeds in those who are involved. I think the sheer weight of volunteers involved in the sport across the country, is testament to that.
However, passion can also come a great psychological drain. This has been a difficult element to manage coming up from the Regional League into the National League. In CERL, as a team, we won a lot more than we lost but as a team in our first season in the EKNL, we were always going to lose a few more games.
This season so far, we have also taken some heavy defeats which can be very upsetting to the players. As a coach, it is important for me to look after the players through those difficult times, and get them to focus on the lessons we learn in defeat, improve and protect them from their own worst critic, which is always themselves.
One of the steepest learning curves for me this year has also been realising that I am not immune from that and that I need to protect myself and my family from the psychological burden that the competitiveness brings. Many an evening is spent re-watching games and questioning my own decisions or retrospectively criticising myself. For me, it’s become just as important to know that I need to protect myself and take some time away from Korfball to enjoy the other things in life so I can be the best coach I can be. It’s not an easy process but I sincerely believe, that coaching in the EKNL helps me to develop both as a coach and more importantly, a person.