Coaching the Australian Women's Water Polo to the Olympics

Greg McFadden – Waterpolo (women’s)

I first started playing at age 13 with Balmain before moving to Cronulla at 17. I played for 20-odd years with the Cronulla team, winning 5 national league titles out of 10/11 and coming second in 5. At one point, we won 10 or 11 games in a row. With the national team, I played a lot of centre back and centre forwards, then with the club team, I filled in as needed.

While I was still only playing first grade in the late 1980s, I started coaching the lower grades at Cronulla. I was at the AIS with the Australian Men’s team and still had aspirations to go to the Olympics as a player but Charles Turner, our head coach, said I could do both – train with the team and do the coaching course alongside – which I did over two years (1990-1991).

I was still in the Olympic squad in 1992 and was selected for the Barcelona Olympics, so Charles put me on as an Assistant Coach at the AIS while I was still playing. I remained in the team until 1996, but unfortunately we didn’t qualify for the Atlanta Olympics, so I retired from playing and started concentrating on my coaching career.

I became the NSW Intensive Training Centre (ITC) Coach and at the end of 2001, I became the AIS Head Coach of the junior men’s program. It was a residential program, so we’d have 18 boys there, half Year 12 and half Year 11. At the end they would leave the AIS and go back to their clubs, or play overseas, and we’d have a new batch in. Through those years, we produced a lot of players who have gone on to play for Australia and at the Olympics, such as Richie Campbell, Reese Howden (Australian captain), etc. We took some chances on young kids who we thought had potential and were able to teach them the basics and train at high intensity, which we don’t often have the opportunity to do. It’s as close to the European junior club system that we get. They were exposed to a very high level of competition at a very young age. The program ended after a few years, which is a pity as if we had continued to produce good players, it may have changed the senior men’s results.

Then at the end of 2003, I was asked to assist with the women’s national team, and became head coach in 2005.

PREPARATIONS

At the start of the Olympic cycle, we consider who are going to be the players who can get the results that we want. Obviously we’re focusing on doing the best we can, which is to win a gold medal. We believe we have the ability to win, so we’re trying to work out the best combinations, see who has mental toughness and the physical capabilities.

We don’t spend a lot of time together as a team in the first 3 years because a lot of the athletes are either full-time students or working. Our international season is virtually May through to August, and at the end of each year is a World Championship/World Cup/World League competition. We get together as a team for perhaps 2 weeks prior leading up to each major event. Over this time, we’re experimenting with different players, rather than progressing as one team.

By comparison, the Americans and Europeans are virtually together right through from May to the World Championships in August, so they’re working together constantly. It’s built into their college system and culture to do this and to train with scholarships. Australia is obviously a big country, so logistically it is difficult to have a centralised program. We try to find a happy medium that allows us to be together as much as we can, but also allows the athletes to have a fairly normal lifestyle.

In the Olympic year, we ramp it up and come together as full-time athletes as much as possible. Then we can really work on the systems and combinations we want to use. I think the team and the coaching staff become a lot closer over that period. We couldn’t do this for 4 years straight as we’d end up losing a lot of our players, but for 8 months it is achievable. We do lose a lot of players after each Olympics anyway, as the girls finish up studying or starting a career. It’s a battle to keep them involved in the national programs so we don’t lose them altogether.

When you compare to countries like America, Australia does very well. In California alone, they have 62 universities with full-time water polo programs, and 250 high schools with the same, all with 50m pools. And that’s just California. The students even have their training times scheduled around university times to make it easier for them.

TEAM DEVELOPMENT

For the last 4-5 years, we’ve been working closely with a sports psychiatrist, and now with a clinical psychiatrist. That’s been an area where we’ve really improved over these last 8 months – building the team culture and making sure everyone in the team is able to have their say. We want the girls to get into a situation where if they see something wrong, they say it straight away, rather than letting it build up until it affects their decision-making in the heat of battle. We’re trying to get the girls out of the culture of keeping this internal. We’ve made some huge inroads in this area.

Part of this is due to building open relationships and two-way discussions with the coaching staff. In the past, the players have been a bit scared to say what they actually feel, thinking in the back of their minds that they might get dropped. All we want is the best for the team, and we’re there to try to help them become the best they can be.

RIO

We’re on track for Rio, but we knew going to the USA [WHEN] was always going to be a challenge. The USA is the top team in the competition. It’s good to get some reality now rather than get to Rio and find out we’re a little off the mark. We’re now [when] off to China and the World League Finals, where most of the top teams will be competing, so we’ll be able to compare our playing and see what we need to improve over the final months.

We’ve got the team down to a squad of 16, and after the World League finals we will announce our 13 players for Rio. We won the bronze medal in Beijing, and another bronze in London, and both times we were beaten by America in the semi-final. In the last 2 Olympic Games, we only lost 2 games of water polo, of which 1 was in overtime (both to America).

I think we’ve probably been up there, as one of the best teams in the world, over the last 12 years. We’ve got aspirations of being the best team at Rio, and I believe we can do it but it’s not going to be an easy task. The Americans are an extremely good team, and all the top European teams will be there, plus China. In the women’s competition, there’s probably 7 teams who can win medals out of 8 teams competing. It’s a pretty even playing field. If we have our best day, I believe we can beat any of those teams.

SACRIFICES

This is my 12th year coaching the women’s team, and I probably spend 3-4 months of the year away from home in a non-Olympic year, and 7-8 months away in an Olympic year. I have two children, and it’s a major sacrifice to be away, missing out on their development and achievements, or watching them play sport in school. They’re growing up quickly and you don’t get that time back. As a coach, that time is part of the commitment you have to make for the team to be successful. Both of my children play water polo. While they obviously started playing because of my involvement, they’re starting to make their own decisions about their commitment to the sport. In some ways, I would probably like them to play another sport, but it’s up to the kids to choose that.

FUTURE

After each Olympics, I sit back and evaluate my career. I talk with my wife and family about what they want me to do. If we’re not successful in Rio, I won’t be in charge of the women’s team. I’d probably look at stepping down as the national coach and give someone else the opportunity. If we are successful… I don’t know either! Because of the commitment away from the family but also being passionate about the sport, it’s left me at a bit of a crossroads. If you’d asked me 4 or 8 years ago, I would have definitely said, “I want to keep on coaching.” Now? I don’t know. It’s something we’ve got to discuss as a family.

TOP TIP

A lot of coaches try to be other people, or try to copy other coaches’ styles. I think what you’ve got to do is take the good from the coaches you’ve experienced and try to incorporate that into your program, but stay true to yourself. I’m very passionate at times, and the girls understand where that passion is coming from. It’s something that you can’t fake; it’s natural. Try to be yourself as much as possible.

When you’re young, you think that you’ve got all the answers, but as you get older, you realise that you’re still learning. You can never stop learning. The more you talk to coaches from all different sports, not just your own, the better experience you have as a coach and the more you can incorporate into your programs.