Coach’s Corner With Bob Barwick

Bob Barwick is a multi-sport coach, who lives in Chatham, Ontario. The current CKSS Senior Boys Basketball coach, Barwick was born in Newport Beach, California, and grew up in Goderich, Ontario before moving to Chatham.

Barwick was the coach of the Chatham-Kent boys basketball team at the 2013 International Children’s Games, and is a former Chatham-Kent Wildcats coach, as well as a house league baseball and soccer coach.

Previously named the Chatham Minor Baseball coach of the year, Barwick has also won three Ontario Basketball Association provincial championships.

Below are Bob Barwick’s answers to CKSN’s Coach’s Corner questions:

1. What is your career coaching highlight/top memory?

Winning the Provincial Championship with our Grade 8 boys Wildcats team at Fanshawe in London. We had 12 guys try out and we beat a team that had 63 kids try out for their team. Total team effort and our first gold!!
I’ve been lucky to have some great memories… another highlight is winning our final game at the International Children’s Games in Windsor last summer – coming back from 7 down with 41 seconds left to win the game on a 3 pointer with 6 seconds left… that was AWESOME.

2. What is the biggest challenge you face as a coach?

I think the biggest challenge is learning to communicate the same thing to different individuals. Everyone learns differently – so taking the time to make sure everyone is on the same page is important.

3. Why did you get into coaching? And what keeps you coaching?

I got into coaching mostly because I know how much I learned about life and responsibility through playing sports. I love the thought that we can teach sport AND help people understand that their preparation and actions can also affect their every day lives.

4. Who was your favourite coach? Why?

Lynn Myers – my high school basketball coach. He knew his sport, and could make adjustments on the fly, but he also knew me as a person. He invested in me as a human, not just a basketball player.

5. If you could give one piece of advice to other coaches, or prospective coaches, what would it be?

I guess I would remind coaches that our job is to help shape individuals – and that everything we say and do should be to that effect. Also, remember that the harder you work, the harder your players will work – what goes around comes around.

Coach’s Corner is a weekly feature on CKSN, where one local coach will be highlighted, answering questions about their career highlights, and their coaching philosophy. If you’d like to participate in coaches corner, or know a coach we should feature, email ian@cksn.ca.