18/11/2025
Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable
Coaching Update – 18th November ‘25
As we enter our pre-Christmas training block and my first couple weeks as Head of Women’s Goalkeeping With CCMA, I’ve taken a moment to reflect on how far I’ve come, as a coach and as a person.
I’m now stepping into my 8th season calling myself a coach, and I keep coming back to a few key questions:
What am I doing? Why am I doing it? Who am I doing it for? How do I do things? Where will this coaching journey take me?
Asking myself these questions keeps me driven, focused, and clear on my goals, aspirations, and long-term vision.
The “Why” always comes back to:
“Providing something that Younger Jai would of absolutely Loved and making Future Jai Grateful for the actions I take today”
Over the past two days, I’ve dived deeply into shaping my Goalkeeping Philosophy. It’s been a surprisingly meaningful experience, because I’ve never truly sat down and reflected on what my philosophy is.
I remember being asked this on my C Diploma 4 years ago, and having no real answer, my philosophy back then was simply that I loved coaching. I loved making an impact.
That’s still true today, but now I’m expanding into the “What Outcomes do I vision and then how do I Bring that to life”. Plus my core values, my principles, and the environment I want to Create and Build.
This process has shown real growth and maturity in how I see myself as both a coach and a human being.
Being exposed to environments that push my comfort zone has stretched my mindset and challenged my beliefs. I find myself asking:
What is the winning formula? What creates the best athlete? What do I need to do to support each individual? How can I make a genuine impact? How do I show up as the best coach I can be?
At the end of the day, the answer is simple: it’s easy to give your best when you truly care and genuinely love what you’re doing.
One of the clearest signs you’re in the right place, whether it’s coaching, work, or any other part of life, is this:
You Care Unconditionally. About the big things, the small things, and everything in between.
“Smile, or you’re doing it wrong.” 😊
