At SoHK SA it is vital for us to develop the soft skills of the Intern Coaches. One of the major skills we focus on is being able to build rapport. This helps the Coaches engage and build trust with the child participants, in the hope that if a child is dealing with something overwhelming, they will reach out during a pitch side therapy session, and we can support them.
Read the interview below with Intern, Coach Mika Wyngaard, about how he has used what he has learned to be a caring consistent adult in a child participant’s life:
Could you tell us about a SoHK participant you have connected with?
Violet (pseudonym) is the type of girl who always has a smile on her face. She is always trying to look at the brighter side of things despite the situation. Emotionally, she is able to understand and comprehend what she feels and why she feels that certain way. This may be due to certain circumstances that she has mentioned to me and the results of those circumstances. However, I feel that even through that, she continues to smile and tries her best to be happy, and she shows it genuinely. There may be some things about her past that do sometimes upset her, but she shows maturity in how she handles the feelings that they bring forth. Overall, I think Violet is emotionally stable and understands herself well already.
Why do you feel you and Violet have connected?
There are few ways in which I can see how Violet, and I are alike. She has the ability to be objective in most cases. When it comes to her past, she can maintain objectivity and speak freely about it while still sounding hopeful. In recent times I’ve found myself being able to do the same thing. In a way, the both of us are looking forward, but we still know where we started. I think that this is the crux of our connection. We have both gone through different experiences in life, but we continue to a future that we want for ourselves. She made this very apparent when telling me about her plans for the near future, which she seems excited for.
She also spoke about her plan for high school and the schools she wants to go to. One of our other interactions was a bit less carefree as she had told me a little bit about her past and the current results of that past and where she is, mentally and emotionally, because of it.
How do you plan to strengthen this connection?
For the future, I plan on strengthening the connection by being something that is constant in her life. My consistency will show that she can trust me and hopefully then we will be able to address any issues that she may have, freely and without fear. I plan to show my consistency by showing up and checking up on her, speaking more about matters that relate to her, and giving her the reassurance that I, as the coach, am there for her. To be that person that she can trust and believe in.
What skills, that you have learnt as a SoHK Intern Coach, have you used?
Throughout our few weeks being with the school, I have implemented and used some of the skills and advice that we were given during our orientation. The first and biggest skill being building a rapport. With Violet, it was done through being relatable. With the other participants it is being done through my actions and attitude towards them. Showing them that I am fun, but also that I can be trusted when it comes to matters that are sensitive. Identifying our values during the orientation has also helped me solidify what I stand for and that has made managing the participants much easier. If I know who I am and what I stand for, then I can always be sure when speaking to them, showing them that they can trust and believe in things that they did not want to do before.
