Basketball coach Mike D'Antoni, shown during a visit to UD in 2012, will be featured in a live web event at noon, Monday, Feb. 23.

'Athlete to Coach'

UD professor offers IOC MOOC, partners with NBA coaching legend

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8:51 a.m., Feb. 19, 2015--Matthew Robinson, professor of sport management at the University of Delaware, has developed “From Athlete to Coach,” a massive open online course (MOOC), for the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

"We are delighted to have Dr Matthew Robinson's course, 'From Athlete to Coach,' on the IOC Athlete MOOC. It is a brilliant addition to our free, online education platform that has been accessed by more than 4,200 athletes from 189 countries,” said Alex Rice, program producer for IOC Athlete MOOC. “Dr Robinson's course is already one of our most popular."

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Interested parties can sign up to the IOC Athlete MOOC for free at this site

Supporting Robinson’s MOOC sessions will be an exclusive live web event with Mike D'Antoni, the 2005 NBA coach of the year and assistant coach of the United States’ Olympic champion basketball teams in 2008 and 2012. 

During this free online web event, D’Antoni will share how he made the initial transition from his 17-year career as a professional player in the U.S. and Europe to a professional coach. Participants will have the opportunity to ask questions to the coach.

The event will be held at noon, Monday, Feb. 23, and participants can register online. Places are limited.

Robinson, a member of the faculty of UD’s Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics, and Jeff Schneider, instructor in the Department of Kinesiology and Applied Physiology in the College of Health Sciences, lead the IOC Olympic Solidarity and USOC-funded International Coaching Enrichment Certificate Program (ICECP), which has trained over 180 coaches from 80 countries in seven years.  

Robinson and Schneider also lead the International Coaching Apprenticeship in Basketball (ICAB) program -- also funded by Olympic Solidarity, the USOC and the Federation Internationale Basketball Association (FIBA) – and the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) and UD-sponsored Advanced Director of Coaching (ADOC) Certificate program. 

“I made the transition from athlete to coach over 25 years ago and now I have the opportunity to train and mentor coaches,” Robinson said. “I brought some of my personal experiences into the ‘From Athlete to Coach’ lectures and I was fortunate to be able to interview a number of former athletes who competed at the highest level and who are now coaches.”

Robinson said he also incorporated theories on athlete development and theory presented in the International Sport Coaching Framework so participants can consider the different levels at which they can coach and recognize the skills and experiences required to excel as a coach.

The “From Athlete to Coach” lectures address transitional paths; the different coaching environments; necessary skills for all coaches and for the specific environments; traits and characteristics of successful coaches; recommended training, education and experiences; and potential pitfalls in making the transition.

“Athletes have to understand they cannot rely solely on their experiences and reputation as an athlete. They must be as committed to learning, training and improving as a coach. They have to make the same commitment to being a coach as they made to being an athlete.” Robinson said.

Along with Robinson’s lectures there are three mini-lectures provided by Bob Bowman, coach of 18-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps; Arlene Limas, coach for PowerKix Martial Arts in Stafford, Virginia, and 1988 Olympic Gold Medalist in taekwondo; and Michael Johnson, winner of four Olympic Gold Medals and eight world championships as a sprinter. 

“It is always an honor to work with the IOC,” said Robinson. “It was truly a rewarding experience to collaborate with professionals who are committed to excellence like Coach D’Antoni, Bob, Michael and Arlene.”

Photo by Kathy F. Atkinson

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