USA Basketball spoke to Vanessa Nygaard to gain her insight and perspective on coaching . Dec 2020
Currently
entering her ninth season at Windward (2012-13 to present), Nygaard has led
Windward to a striking 210-40 record during her time there.
As
you embark on a season over maybe the first month or so, what is the focus
during that time?
So, there are regular years, but not this year.
This year is really unique. Our
season actually has been moved to start in March. So, our practices will start
in January or February, and I think there are some things to be addressed, some
trauma that everyone has gone through over the break. I think that is going to
be a really important thing. To get into the season and address that.
In a regular year, I think what
we would look to accomplish at the start of the season as a coaching staff
would be first to build trust. There will be new players, and there will be
returning players. And so, get them to understand where we’re coming from and
start to really understand them, and to set a tone of: we’re together on a
journey. Here's where we're going, and we need you. This is how we get there,
and this is what I need you to do. Being very clear with them and putting in
that time and investment. That means having individual conversations early in
the year with the players to build that trust. The second thing I think would
be to set some standards for the non-negotiables in our program, which is
things that every coach in America knows – show up with a great attitude, have
a great effort, be a great teammate. If you can't do those things, you have to
go home. And occasionally, a kid does sit out of practice or is sent to the
locker room because they can't do one of those. And you just have to do that
once or twice, and I think that that sends that message. That's important early
on. And then I think, especially as a youth coach and a high school coach,
keeping it fun and interesting, because I want them to get a love of the game.
I want them to want to come to practice, and I want them to love basketball. As
a high school coach, you can really build that passion. You have to think about
how you can make it fun every day and how you can keep it interesting. You
can't just do the same drills. It should be lots of playing. They all play
basketball, because they want to play.
You
mentioned in this year, you will need to address some of the trauma from this
past year or so. How will you begin to try and do that?
I'm fortunate to work at a school where they continue to educate us about these
traumas and things, and we talk about trauma-informed coaching and trying to
help kids deal with it, and the coaches as well. If you haven't dealt with
things, it's hard to help other people around you. But giving them space to
talk about it and acknowledging that it's there, and not pretending like it's
not there. ‘Oh, wow, this is really hard. How did that affect you?’ And giving
them a chance to say, ‘Hey, if they want to do something together, what can we
do together to address this?’ So, it's really great to be working at a school,
because we do have counselors who are constantly giving us new information.
What's
one of the most important characteristics you work to develop in your athletes?
You hope that they learn a lot of things that are going to help them in life.
But, I would say number one for us is just toughness. I think sometimes people
get caught up in being competitive, but I really want the players to learn to
be tough, both physically and mentally. And to us, I think it means being resilient
and persistent through whatever adversity and challenges come their way. Those
are controllable in a game of basketball, right? You know, you have the
turnovers, things like that, but a lot of things happen in life that are hard
to control, and so having that toughness to stay optimistic through great
challenge. And what a great opportunity to work on that right now. We get to
work on that every single day we wake up during the pandemic. So really, we
want to cultivate toughness. It goes into every single thing that is important
for our program.
What
are some factors in terms of developing relationships with your athletes?
It's trust, trust, trust, trust, right? You have to establish that with
everyone in your life, especially your players, and I think I have to earn that
and that's with consistency every single day. I have to come with the things
that I ask of them. I have to be consistently positive, and I have to be clear
about expectations and clear about as a team holding everybody accountable. I can't
let one kid slide, because they're talented or something like that. I have to
make sure that those things are consistent. And then, we really emphasize just
communicating. The more that we communicate, the more that we talk, the better
we'll understand. So, the longer I've been a head coach, the more meetings I
have with the players. And it can be exhausting as a coach, but we need it.
Before the season I meet with the players and their parents, and I meet
individually with the players before the season. I meet with the players like
three different times for a sit-down meeting during the season. The more that
we talk, and they can understand what we need from them, and they can express
their frustrations or their challenges. And also, I think it's important to let
them express who on the team needs support, to help us with the team. So, it's
a constant conversation. The other thing I have developed over time is just
real empathy for them as young people and the challenges they have, and then
just curiosity. I used to be mad if a kid was late. And now, I'm like, I wonder
why that kid was late? I think it's more of an approach. So just having real
curiosity about how I can help them. I keep that in the front of my mind. That
helps me to understand them better and their challenges.
In
your coaching career, is there a most important lesson that has really hit home
for you?
I was a player, and I love basketball. I love going to basketball practice. And
so I thought, what better job than going to basketball practice? I want to win,
like everyone else, and so I thought I'd be a coach. I thought my job would be
coaching basketball, and I think what I've learned is that my real job is not
coaching basketball. My real job is helping people, and solving problems and leading
with intention. I have to set a tone. I try to keep those ideas in my head –
that my real job is to help people, and my real job is to work on problems,
because everyday problems come. I get to solve them. I don't have to solve
them. I get to solve them, and that I have to lead, and I have to set that tone
constantly. And yeah, that can be exhausting, but that's why you're a coach. I
learned that those things are more important than the basketball things. I say
to my players all the time, ‘if you want to improve the team, improve
yourself,’ and that applies to coaches, too. If you want a better team, you got
to be a better coach. You have to just constantly be bought into the idea of
growth. I have to keep getting better. Oh, and you need to rebound. If you
don't rebound, you'll never win.
