So maybe she’s not the best coach in the entire world, Azadeh Boroumand jokingly admits. With three Regional competitions under her belt and an 18th-place finish at this year’s Reebok CrossFit Games, the 27-year-old recently attended the Coach’s Prep Course at NorCal CrossFit in Santa Clara, Calif., to improve her skills as a coach.
“I think sometimes as high-level athletes or somebody who’s been coaching for a long time, you start thinking that you know everything,” she says. “I wasn’t sure what to expect. It was a nice little surprise actually once I got here everybody’s on the same level.”
Boroumand describes the first day as a learning experience.
“You think you’re an awesome coach until you get here and realize, ‘Oh my gosh, there’s a lot of work to do,’” she says.
Her biggest take-aways: less jargon, simplify language and give equal attention to all athletes.
“It was very humbling in the sense where it was like, OK, if I really want to be a better coach and really learn how to help , take this feedback and use it positively to just make an impact,” Boroumand says.
Video by Jay Vera.
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Additional reading: Won Two by Hilary Achauer, published June 27, 2012.