In my few months in Estonia I was given the opportunity to do a bit of frisbee coaching. I was a little out of practise so it was hard work to begin with, but was much easier (and more rewarding) by the end.

My first stint was coaching about 30 Estonian kids, a range of ages but around 10 years old. For the most part they didn't speak any English, the teachers weren't all that helpful, and not all the kids were particularly keen. There were a couple of kids who seemed to be friendless and devoid of any coordination, and there were a couple who didn't want to be there. They needed special attention and I just didn't have the manpower to give it to them. It was bloody hard work.

Then in July eleven Estonians attended a tournament in Prague, for which I played captain/coach. We had only four training sessions and they started off rusty, but by the last it was running like clockwork. At the tournament we had a new defence and a few endzone plays working beautifully, and a bit of improvement in our execution of everyday things like cutting and marking. It was mostly drops, silly throwaways, and some terrible throwing options which prevented us from finishing in the top 4. In fact our offence was sometimes terrible, but the execution of our defensive strategies allowed us to do OK in spite of this.

Most importantly, my coaching is improving and I'm learning more about what it involves to be a good coach. Coaching requires practice and hard work, and quite a lot of problem solving (which I enjoy). You need to keep up with current strategies and "best ultimate practice", then fit it to the group you are working with. Each situation offers different problems and requires a bit of imagination to solve it.

And I'm loving it.