Veteran head coach, trying to boost team into playoffs, is more than just a motivator as he’s drawn the best from players in all his stops.
“Performance for me has always been motivated athletes who are in an environment that demands a high level from them, and the job of the coach is to facilitate an environment that allows that to happen,” Hansen said. “And to do that you need to ensure there is the right balance of simulation and fun. Simulation is learning, and athletes get off on learning, but they also need to enjoy it.”
Ben Ryan coached the Fiji rugby sevens team to gold in at the 2016 Rio Olympics and now works as a performance consultant, and has worked with people in many sports beyond rugby including the New York Knicks, the English Premier League and at Nike. “If I was going to go any longer today, I would have had a game at the end to make it fun for the guys, but I didn’t want them to go more than 35 minutes, so when I saw that time was up, I said OK,” he said.“In today’s meeting, I had to show that there’s hope.”