Why become a CSS Coach?

[Cobie Fair]

Why become a CSS Coach?  I certainly have an opinion on that subject, and I can say why I did/do coach.  I'd be interested in what some of the other coaches think on this, and what they'd say.  

So, how about Hotfoot and Coffeefirst, why did you become one, and continue to coach?

Best,

Cobie

[Dylan Code]

I like the travel, especially to our foreign branches, the student interaction, lots of tracks and track time, and being part of a team.

[CoffeeFirst]

Primary reason is I enjoy working with people and helping them grow their riding skills. It is pretty cool witnessing the improvements students make and hearing someone say they just had one of their very best days on a motorcycle. Plus riding a variety of tracks and getting plenty of track time is also great! 😁  

[Dave H]

Seeing a rider make huge improvements at the school, and the joy that brings to their riding is pretty special!

Add to that, the opportunity to ride tracks all over the world and work with an amazing bunch of professionals is something I'm very grateful for.  Our team continually drive each other to improve their own riding and coaching skills which keeps it fresh and fun.

[knackers]

I love the CSS product and wouldn't be the rider that I have become without it. It's great to be able to 'give back' to a program that's given me so much and to be able to share another rider's journey and seeing their improvement is something pretty special - CSS has allowed me to do this 🙏. The worldwide CSS family is also a great reason to keep coaching as they're a great bunch of guys and girls I get to hang out with on a regular basis.

[Adam Raffe]

I started for the riding and the racetracks. 
 

I’ve stayed for the people.

The riding and the racetracks still have something to do with it though…..

[Damo]

CSS as a student, and as a coach has the most in-depth training program I've seen. It's elevated my riding ability and enjoyment for the sport significantly, so its a thrill to be able to communicate the CSS tech to students and see them improve every event. Their improvement and excitement reminds me of the joy i felt as a student - its still real! The CSS team both local and worldwide is a privilege to be a part of, still amped every time we get to the track and catchup 🙂 

[Case]

I did the school as a student first and absolutely LOVED the product.  I got to see first hand the enthusiasm of the coaching and support staff and the thought of being able to learn and teach at the same time as riding great racetracks with this team was enough for me.

Best decision Ive made in a long time! 

[Todd Sutherland]

I think as coaches we all know how good it feels to go faster, safer. Learning from the coaching training and getting to see the look on other riders faces, when you help them unlock that, is priceless. And you get track time and hang out with some great peeps too!

Todd Sutherland

[Todd Sutherland]

As coaches we know how good it is as we learn to ride faster, safer.  With coach training, getting to see the look on students' faces when you help them make a step is priceless. Oh and getting on track and spending time with a great team is mega too.

[John Sofo]

The earliest track riding advice I got was "just try harder". This didn't work so well for me.

Discovering CSS as a student was a revelation and it truly transformed my love of riding. Being able to share this and see similar revelations for students at every school, getting to work on my own riding and being around a bunch of similarly passionate coaches are the main reasons I love the school.

[Jorge]

There is something special about the bond that exists in special forces and special operations groups. It is created by entry being difficult and very selective, and the training being super intensive. The outcome of that process is the forming of an incredibly talented group of people bonded tightly by a common thread. CSS is the first time I have seen this same thing outside military and paramilitary organisations. 

It's personally a very rewarding experience to be considered a part of such a team and working environment. The bonus is it is about motorcycles.

[Carly]

I did CSS as a student in 2019 as a super-scared and timid rider, was terrified of lean and had no idea what a motorbike was going to do. I became an addict! Started track riding to get more time in seat and I would have done at least 10 level 4 days. When I was encouraged to try out as a Coach I never would have imagined that I would be accepted.

But the product works... I'm proof of it  I still have a long way to go with my riding and coaching, but knowing that as I improve I can also help students make the journey I have, to help to improve their riding, safety and confidence is so rewarding.

Being able to ride at great race tracks with a group of amazing people tops it off! Honestly, love being a coach!

[Ash Hare]

I'm passionate about the program, so well-structured with guaranteed results for all riders. I love seeing riders improve. Also, there is nothing like riding motorcycles on racetracks as part of a day. BUT the best part for me is the team, for me hanging out with such fantastic people is as good as it gets. Getting my people fix is my biggest pay off.

[earacing]

I love everything about motorcycles: riding, racing, street, dirt, whatever. If it's got 2 wheels, I want to ride it. I also enjoy working with people and sharing what I've learned to help them become better riders. CSS is a great organization, and my colleagues there are some of the best friends I've ever had. We are a great team.

[Jon G]

When I started as a coach with the school a long time ago, I had spent the previous 15 or so years participating in Motorsport of various forms at many tracks in the US and Europe. So my initial reason was because I didn’t want to give up “track life”.

My need for the track fix quickly changed to enjoying riding, enjoying working with the students and developing long term connection and friendship with staff members, and in some cases, students. After all the training I’ve received (everything I know about riding and the level I have achieved is ALL down to that training), and also helping newer coaches with their own training both in the US and at the overseas branches, I still get a kick out of the game changes we can achieve by “helping” the students understand what works for them in their riding.

[Hotfoot]

I came to the school as a student. Then I went to a couple of other schools. The difference between CSS and those other schools was so dramatic that I immediately wanted to learn more about the CSS organization, and how they got a bunch of motorcycle racers all working together so effectively to get such amazing results with students. I was a student many times and eventually was invited to try out as a coach. I did, because I wanted to learn everything I possibly could about the materials that Keith developed, and how the amazing training program works. 

When you actually join an organization that looks great from the outside, sometimes it looks different from the inside - in this case, the Superbike school is even more impressive when you see it from the inside. The people are exceptional, the management and organization of the school is superior, and the effectiveness of the program is indisputable. I came to learn about it, but I have stayed for many years now because of the people, not just the staff but the many wonderful students, and the payoff is seeing the improvements that riders make and how thrilled they are by their achievements.

[SamP]

Coaching for me has been multi-faceted: It has been a tremendous opportunity to travel, meet all kinds of incredible people from around the world who share a passion of riding and self-improvement, and to pursue my childhood dream of being a motorsports professional.  CSS is a well run organization and the coaching program is rigorous.  My riding has significantly improved in the 4 short years I have been a coach, as well as my professional growth in my "day job" as a financial consultant.  There is much more I could elaborate on, but in summary it has been a pleasure and an honor to work with CSS.

Sam

[SP42]

Being asked to tryout and then become a coach, was a great honor and continues to be a great privilege.  Slightly overwhelmed on my first coaching day at Cadwell Park (hadn't ridden this notorious track) on a glorious summers day, I wasn't sure if it was for me afterall.  Then at lunch a student asked for help on something on L3 (wish I could remember what) and I asked him to go and sit on his bike and we'd talk it through.  Then, with an audience, he said 'I've just learnt more in 2 minutes than I have in 12 years of riding'.  The penny dropped for me in that moment.  Helping others is the buzz and why I continue to coach.  

[nipper]

 

Not so much why I became a coach - but the reasons I coach. 

Riding is a leveller, everyone is equal - nobody cares what you do for a living - seldom this is the case in life, this I cherish. 

Coaching a student to that lightbulb moment, when you see it in their eyes at de-brief, they’ve levelled up and it’s a direct result of the coaching..

Yes, we encounter difficult students, it can be VERY hard work finding the chink in the armour and getting through, but oh sooo rewarding getting through!   

Its not always difficult - the student in Bulgaria in floods of tears ( first time on a bike since breaking his spine in a road crash 8 years earlier - something he neglected to tell me until till after two days ! ) The student in India “.. I’ve saved up for six years, not been to cinema, not been for fast food, not been bowling, not been on holiday.. every spare penny I have saved just so i can be here, I can’t believe it ! “ ( This guy didn’t stop smiling one second for the entire three days ). 

It’s not only about the students - my coaching peers aren’t toooo awful either. Through coaching I’ve met some exceptional people who I not only consider friends, they are people I can rely on utterly, they are often generous with their time and their thoughts, they gift these without expectation of something in return, true altruists.

[Simon]

Perhaps embarrassingly, I became a coach for selfish reasons.  As a student, the CSS product changed everything about the way I ride, I was hooked and I wanted more.  I know from other aspects of my life that best way to truly understand something is to teach it.  So I signed up.

However, the reason I continue to coach is the people, the comradery I have with my fellow coaches and the lightbulb moments with my students.  To echo what other's have said, I've met some truly strange awesome people through coaching, people from all different walks of life, people I would not have met otherwise.

It would be hard if it were a job, but it's not a job, it's a passion.

[Ty Smith]

I wanted to become a coach after completing my Level 1 as a student. I worked for many years in the corporate world and really enjoyed developing people through coaching and training. It was clear to me from my time as a CSS student that the coaching was of a very high standard and that I would get a real buzz out of delivering that experience to other students. Combine that with my passion for bikes, being with like minded people within the team and the opportunity to become a better rider myself, it was a no brainer. 

[Glenn C]

The absolute best bit of being a coach, without exception, is the wins with the students and seeing the results! A very close second is being part of the amazing CSS family that you get welcomed into wherever you are in the world.

[Cobie Fair]

I didn't post my view initially, really just wanted to see what would come up, and it hasn't disappointed.  

For me, it's job satisfaction. 

It's hard work and not that many actually achieve the level needed, that is satisfying do well in a difficult field.  The riding is great fun, exhilarating like few other activities.  

The primary point is what happens with students (and staff) of all levels.  The immense pleasure the staff take in providing a top service that can reach the point of changing someone's life (or in some cases, saving it).  The young Marine that came back from day 1 of a school, and told us how he had just missed an intersection collision, certain it was the skill he learned that day that kept him from being hit.  Or the Beverly Hills doctor that came to his second school, started the day by tipping his previous coach.  He explained how he'd missed a car on his big Harley, due to the skills he learned at the school.  Or the gent that told us it was the best day of his life...and listed marriage, kids being born, etc.

Or how about a very senior coach, that took the school as a student himself, and was grinning ear to ear..."That was a great day!"

I know the quality level of coaches we have, terribly proud of each one of them.  They could all do something else with their time, but many stay here for years and years.  

Again, job satisfaction 😃.

[lwarner]

I wanted a job where I could help people, I had comraderie with a team where there was an agreed upon standard of work ethic and behavior.

I was mid the hiring process to join into law enforcement when my wife went back to school and we didn’t know where she would be accepted into college. That meant hiring on at any particular department would be difficult because I wouldn’t want to stay there when she moved for college.

A friend of mine (who I had met at the school) was trying out to become a coach and motorcycles was already a real passion for me. After realizing that the staff aren’t necessarily local and I could potentially move anywhere my wife went to school and keep my job at CSS I agreed (with my buddy) to try out.
 

Initially I intended to still pursue law enforcement but after working at the school I realized it provided everything I was looking for: comraderie, high standard of behavior and work ethic and the opportunity to help people, often on one of the best days of their lives but also perhaps saving their lives. 
 

So I started because I love motorcycles and it was a good fit for my life when I was semi-transient but like Adam R I stayed when I discovered the team and the people!