IGNITE Your Spectator Pace

By Shayla A

A couple weeks ago I found myself in the back-back seat (3rd row) of our SUV on our way to my older daughter’s soccer game.  I am usually in the driver seat or front passenger seat.  I am either captain or co-captain.   As I sat in the back, I had a relaxing feeling come over me.  I found myself breathing a bit slower, thoughts settling into a slower pace, and my body relaxing into a legs-out-lean-back stretch.  I was not in the captain or co-captain seat.  I was not responsible for getting us anywhere by a certain time.  I was not responsible for all 5 souls in the vehicle.  I was not in a position to meet music or conversation needs.  I became a spectator in this journey to a soccer game.  This change in perspective allowed me to see and hear my surrounding environment differently.  It gave me the opportunity to march at a different beat.  In this episode of IGNITE we are going to explore the benefits of changing our role, our perspective, and our expectations.

As a coach, we perform many roles throughout a single practice.  You are a facilitator.  You are a leader.  You are a provider.  These roles engage our brains to be aware of behaviors, participation, and engagement when we are actively involved, responsible for the next discussion, leading the activity, distributing materials.  These roles heighten our senses to ensure the practice goes smoothly, the lesson is understood, and the girls are having fun.  Switching up your role in a practice is shifting your perspective and experiencing the practice differently.  It engages and uses a different part of the brain.  Taking the spectator pace, switches our role to observe and interpret, influence and validate our team.  Consider a Chiefs home game and how empowering a stadium full of the loudest fans can be in a tie game.  Consider the last water station in a race and how motivating it is to have your tiredness acknowledged and pushed.  Spectators play an important role in our team’s confidence and security.  According to Fivable, spectators are not passive.  Spectators “actively engage, interpret, and shape the performance experience. Their reactions and participation can significantly influence the energy and outcome of a live event.”

When I became a spectator in our car ride instead of a driver, I listened with less distractions in my thoughts.  I engaged with more attunement to my people’s needs, wants, and desires.  I had more attunement to my own thoughts, feelings, and energy.  It slowed my usual pace.  It made me more present.  I engaged and contributed more authentically.  It also shifted the energy of everyone else in the car.  They could engage with me differently that provided them more attention and focus.  Switching the roles felt uncomfortable, but the outcome provided relief and better energy for my daughter’s soccer game.  It allowed me to use other skills more effectively and be more present.  I performed better and felt better.  More importantly, my people felt better too.  When we take the spectator pace as a coach, we open opportunities to hear our girls from a different perspective, see our team from a different view, and engage with a more reflective approach.  Our captain hat is off, and we validate an unheard feeling, encourage a silent participant, mediate a conflict.  We engage spontaneously and support authentically.  The core roles that make a spectator important are:

1. Being the observer and interpreter-  watch with an outsider’s eye; see the opportunities to enhance and empower your team

2. Being the influencer- strengthen the experience with your expertise when you notice where motivation is needed or direction needs shifted

3. Being the validator- amplify the support and enhance the space to solidify your team of coaches and girls

The spectator pace grows our understanding, validates our reflections, and fills our buckets.  It reminds you of your why.  Shifting to the spectator pace magnifies your influential PACE (Positive and Compensatory Experience) for your team!

Shayla A is the Coach Mentor for Girls on the Run Greater Kansas City.  Her background comes from the classroom, coaching, day treatment schools, wellness, and advocating for children with special needs.  She enjoys empowering and advocating for girls and coaches 

in every challenge and celebration.  Connect with her for support and assistance this season via call, text, or email.  shaylaaranda@gmail.com | 816-284-9770  

RESOURCE LIST TO IGNITE YOUR SPECTATOR PACE:

Spectatorship: The Power of Looking On by Michele Aaron

Passionate Spectator: A Novel by Eric Kraft

Get in the Game: Messages of Inspiration to Stop Being a Spectator and Pursue What Ignites Your Soul by Dr. Cheryl Wood

The Spectator and the Spectacle by Dennis Kennedy

TO WATCH A VIDEO ON HOW TO IGNITE YOUR SPECTATOR PACE: