ABSTRACT
Coaching is about striving to contribute to the success of each athlete. The Australian Oxford Dictionary defines success as ‘a favourable outcome; attainment of what was desired or attempted’. In sport, an outcome is seen traditionally as winning or losing a particular competition. This view of outcomes is narrow and limited. Winning is important, it is one of the reasons for organised sport; however, as an outcome, it is uncontrollable. Though success is commonly defined as an outcome, we need to look more broadly at what it means. Ralph Waldo Emerson has written about success as more than just an outcome:
To laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. That is to have succeeded.
