Trace Nishiyama, who coached me when I was younger, was a compulsive liar at practice.
“Two more rounds!” – is coachanese for 5 more rounds
“Five more minutes!” is coachanese for 20 more minutes
whatever your coach says, its probably a lie.
Not only that, but they have to shout and repeat everything
“Come you guys!!! Come on come on come on!!! Let’s go!! GO GO GO GO GO GO GO!!!”
And I’m always like “OKAY!!! I’m standing two feet away from you and heard you the first time! I’m not deaf!”
My mom mentioned something that reminded me of the 2003 US Open. In 2003 I was 16, tore the ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament) in my knee, and got surgery in April. By August I had only fought in the senior division at local tournaments, and had never been on the national roster.
By October I was ranked #1 in the USA.
At the 2003 world championships something like 12 juniors recognized as having potential were sent to the world championships in Tokyo, Japan. So they could see what judo’s largest stage of competition was really like.
Among those selected were taraje, nikki kubes, marti malloy… not me though. I guess I didn’t show enough promise.
Needless to say, I was pissed. Before coming out into the senior competitions, I was convinced I was the next new big thing. I was gunna win the US Open at 16 and show everybody how much potential I really had - get real respect and recognition – as well as a great review in RealJudo magazine! (of which I’ve STILL never been on the cover!!)
But then my mom told me that the previous year, (2002) at the US Open, Gella Vandecaveye fought at 63kg and would most likely be there again. Gella was a 2 time world champion and had tied the record for the most consecutive European Championships ever won. My mom would later confess that she knew for Gella wasn’t coming and only happened to be at the US open in 2002 cause she was in the USA on vacation.
But I didn’t know that, so I taped a picture of Sarah Alverez from spain (who I would later beat on the way to winning my first world cup medal in 2006) pinning Vandecaveye to my wall. I also started watching Olympic tapes and was convinced I was gunna throw her with left ogoshi - cause she was right handed and lunged to get her overhand grip.
So I guess my mom justified lying as a way to motivate me. I got to the US Open, came out of left field and went straight to the finals. I ended up losing to Sarah Clark from Great Britain in the final (Who would later go on to beat Lucie Decosse to win the European Championships in 2006).
I was absolutely devastated. I saw this tournament as my chance to prove myself to everyone. I’d already started to do high school through correspondence, and was giving up a normal life for judo – and I still lost.
I just couldn’t stop crying. My coliflour ear had blown up during the tournament, so right after losing I went to the doctor to drain it, which was really painful and made me cry even more. I had cotton shoved up my nose from getting a bloody nose in the final, and my whole head wrapped up after getting my ear drained. Not to mention I still had a limp from surgery - I was a pretty pathetic sight.
I just sat behind the bleachers with my mom and cried with my head on her lap until it came time to give the medals.
Of course I cried through the whole medal ceremony. Afterwards I went to be alone outside, and threw the silver medal down a flight of stairs.
Funny thing is even though I was so devastated, I had nothing but people congratulating me. People who never paid the slightest bit of attention to me before. It was really weird because up till then, I’d only really been home training with my mom, and her big philosophy was “No one has the right to beat you.” The idea of being happy with a silver medal was so foreign to me that I will never forget that day for the rest of my life.
I don’t really know what the point of that whole story was… I guess it was to rant about not being recognized as having enough potential to go to the worlds with the kids that WERE selected. And it felt pretty good to throw it in their faces later…. And that you don’t have to have a coach or parent with all the right political connections to get somewhere.
16 responses so far ↓
1 Your mom // Jul 14, 2008 at 3:26 am
A. No one has the right to beat you. That was true then and it is true now.
B. How would I know that Van de cavaye or however you spell her name wasn’t coming? She came the year before. I think you imagined that part. The cauliflower ear and all I do remember. I even have a video of you wearing head gear at the camp afterward. I found it in some videos the other day and you looked SO cute and young.
C. Ha ha. Someone ought to go through the list of people picked for “potential” over the years and see how well those predictions panned out. I was never picked for any of those things either. I think potential is just another word for politics. If your coach is politically connected you get picked because they talked you up.
2 Samantha and half of my Karate Studio // Jul 16, 2008 at 11:04 pm
So I read the first part of your post about coachenese to my instructors. And they say that “Students won’t get pumped up if you say “go”. We NEED to say GO GO GO GO GO! And if we ask for two minutes will get 30 good seconds. And if we ask for 5 good minutes we get two. Students suck.”
hehe.
3 Coach Ferguson // Jul 18, 2008 at 3:31 pm
Not only that, but they have to shout and repeat everything “Come you guys!!! Come on come on come on!!! Let’s go!! GO GO GO GO GO GO GO!!!”
And I’m always like “OKAY!!! I’m standing two feet away from you and heard you the first time! I’m not deaf!”
From a Coaches’ Perspective, “Yeah, you’re not deaf, but you’re not moving any faster either!!”
4 Annmaria // Jul 21, 2008 at 8:45 pm
Ha ha ha, Rhadi you are so right!
5 Loren // Jul 22, 2008 at 5:39 pm
You know, I noticed that last night! Spot on Rhadi!
6 Jerry // Jul 25, 2008 at 10:47 am
There was a very interesting story about gymnastics and the coaching/regimen on Real Sports on HBO this month - I wonder if you saw it and have any comment, in light of this post… They interviewed Dominique Moceanu, the ‘96 gold medalist, and she was saying that the Karolyi style of coaching hurts the athletes and that a less dictatorial style would be better…
7 Jason M Struck // Jul 25, 2008 at 10:50 am
I am concerned. I have observed a marked rise in the number of posts about, involving or ending in crying.
8 ronda // Jul 25, 2008 at 1:14 pm
in reference to to dominique’s comment i would believe that after reading “Little Girls in Pretty Boxes: The Making and Breaking of Elite Gymnasts and Figure Skaters” by Joan Ryan. but I don’t think my coaches are harmful. Big Jim is definitely the tough love type, but he really does care.
9 Annmaria // Jul 28, 2008 at 8:03 pm
And Ronda cries if: A) We don’t have her favorite type of cereal B) We are out of milk C) One of her sisters got the prize in the cereal box D) A movie has a sad ending E) She can’t find the charger for her cell phone F) She can’t throw everybody with uchimata on Thursday night G) It’s cold outside …. I could go on to Z but I have to get back to work
10 tragopan // Jul 29, 2008 at 12:39 pm
You sound whinny…you complain about your coaches…yet gloat about the sucess you have obtained with their training…I think it’s time to join the real world.
11 ronda // Jul 30, 2008 at 8:21 pm
lol well im sorry you couldn’t tell i was being sarcastic and joking (coachenese is not a real language, i looked it up) I couldn’t be happier while training and am having the time of my life and my coaches’ mannerisms seem hilarious to me. when reading you give people the tone you want them to have. So if it makes you feel better thinking i’m a whiny ungrateful egomaniac so you can talk down to me, then fine i hope it makes you feel better
12 berryhill_artist // Aug 8, 2008 at 3:45 am
Sarcasm or not you struck a nerve. Not all coaches are the loud overbearing sadists with issues of inadequacy, the good ones never are. Karma prevails though regardless of the outcome of the sport, bad coaches never truly win and good ones never truly lose.
AnnMaria and tragopan stuff it. She’s earned her spot and her right to talk, if she’s as human as the rest of us so be it.
Good luck Ronda, I hope you have all the bone cruching muscle, tendon ligament tearing fun that you heart can handle. Give em Hell..
13 berryhill_artist // Aug 8, 2008 at 4:00 am
Either there are some harsh criticisms on here or most of these comments above are made in jest. I guess if I had looked a the site a little bit more I wouldn’t feel like such an idiot right now, would I?
14 ronda // Aug 9, 2008 at 8:30 am
aww well im sorry guys if this post came across that way, and yes the entire tone was meant to be in jest. Sometimes I forget how different the tone i write something in can be from the tone its read in so that’s my bad. I’ve never really had cute and cuddly relationships with my coaches, no matter who it is its pretty much us always making fun of each other as a way to break the tension. Especially me and big jim, if anyone read our conversations typed it’s probably sound like we’re mortal enemies (when actually he’s secretly a big teddy bear) so i can see how it would be taken out of context.
15 Patrick Kelly // Aug 14, 2008 at 9:16 am
Are you sure that was “coachanese”? It sure sounds a lot like the “Parentese” that my wife and I seem to speak every day.
16 Jason M Struck // Aug 15, 2008 at 10:38 am
“”AnnMaria and tragopan stuff it. She’s earned her spot and her right to talk, if she’s as human as the rest of us so be it.”"
Yeah, AnnMaria!
Stuff it!
Leave a Comment