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HONORS EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING PROJECT PROPOSAL FORM

Basic Information
Full Name: Daniel Thyen Mullen
UC Email: mullendt@mail.uc.edu
College: McMicken
Major: History & Spanish (Double Major)
Title of Project: Leadership Through Coaching
Thematic Area: Leadership
Expected Project Start Date: June 2015
Expected Project End Date: End of October 2015
Project Information
1. Provide a detailed abstract of your proposed honors experiential learning project.
What?
For my experiential learning project, I will assistant coach the high school soccer team in my hometown. As a coach, I
will attend every practice and game, beginning in July and ending in late October. This will entail roughly four hours a
week in July and eight hours a week for the remaining three months of the season. Along with this time spent coaching
directly, it will be necessary for me to attend a coaching clinic over the summer. In order for me to do the best job
possible, it will also be important that I dedicate much of the time that I am not directly coaching to preparation. This may
include anything from studying game film, to scouting, to individual work with players. The time commitment necessary
to do this job well will be significant but impossible to estimate.
Why?
I enjoy soccer and spending time around the game as much as anything in the world. My experience with the game, along
with the wealth of resources, in terms of opportunity and role models that I have at my disposal makes this experience
perfect for me. The need for effective leadership on a team of over 25 people is another factor that makes this experience a
great opportunity for me to improve my leadership skills.
How?
There are various methods through which I will improve my leadership skills over the course of this experience. First, by
attending a coaching clinic before the season starts, I will begin to develop the skills necessary to be an effective leader.
Over the course of the season, through personal experience and studying other coaches on the team, I will continue to
improve my leadership skills. On my own time, I will continue to research leadership techniques in both sports and in
other areas of life. Combining all of these resources, I am confident that I will significantly improve my leadership skill
set.
Clearly and thoroughly address how each of the following elements will be exhibited in your work:
2. Connection to Learning Outcomes within the Honors Thematic Area (identified above)
Possesses knowledge of various leadership theories and identifies with the characteristics of leadership
Identifies the various characteristics of a leader in a given situation/role

Drawing from all of the resources and people I have at my disposal, I will be able to develop comprehensive and diverse
leadership acumen. As a soccer coach, there are many different types of leaders from whom I will derive my leadership
theories. First is a parental or guiding leadership role. As a coach, it is sometimes important to practice an authoritative
leadership role. Although this is sometimes an abrasive style of leadership, it will be an important style to master, as it will
give the team a definitive goal to achieve and an authoritative and steadying influence. Of course, as an assistant coach,
the responsibility for demonstrating this style of leadership will be mostly out of my hands. Watching and learning from
the head coach will help me to learn and develop my skills in this style of leadership, though. Another style of leadership
in which it will be important for me to develop my skills is the consultative style of leadership. This will be more
important for my roe as an assistant coach, as it is not likely that a group of boy only two to six years my juniors will

respond very well to me bossing them around. As a consultative leader, the majority of learning I will do will come
through interactions with players and other coaches. A good role model that will try to emulate in this process is the head
coach of the soccer team, as I feel he practices this style of leadership more effectively than anyone else that I have ever
met. By humbling myself enough to accept, consider, and act on the opinions of the players on the team, I hope to gain
their respect and allow them to teach me to be a better coach and leader myself.
Has the ability to relate, communicate and work effectively with peers

This will be one of the most challenging parts of my experience as a high school soccer coach. As I am only two to six
years older than the kids I will be coaching, I predict that it will be difficult at times to get them to take me seriously as a
leader. Compounding this is the fact that I played soccer with many of these kids while I was in high school. As I said
above, I predict the best leadership style in terms of relating to and working effectively with my peers will be the
consultative style. I know the kids and coaches I will be working with personally, and I have found that they react
overwhelmingly better to this style of leadership as opposed to an authoritative style.
3. Connection to Goals and Academic Theories (include reference list, as appropriate)
A. How does this project contribute to your future personal, academic and/or professional goals?
In relation to my personal development, this experience will help me grow and mature as a person. First, the commitment
to a team bigger than myself will give me experience in this type of work, which I will undoubtedly see in whatever career
I choose. Along with this, the wisdom and experience I gain from both acting as a subordinate to other coaches and also
acting as a leader to the players will go a long way in introducing me to the complicated relationships of the professional
world. From an academic point of view, coaching will serve as another version of the classroom. I view the soccer field as
another place to learn and develop both ones mind, and ones character.
B. Name 2-3 specific theories and/or readings you will use to prepare or gain background knowledge for your
project.

Wooden on Leadership: How to Create a Winning Organization

John Wooden, widely considered one of the greatest coaches in the history of sports, is famous for not only his success as
a basketball coach, but also his undying commitment to the personal lives of his players and their development as wellrounded human beings. Wooden personifies the type of coach every coach hopes to be, but he also represents the type of
human being that every person should one day hope to be. This obviously makes his book a great resource to learn about
both leadership and coaching.

Leading With the Heart: Coach Ks Successful Strategies for Coaching, Business, and Life

Much like coach Wooden Mike Krzyzewski, is one of the most successful college basketball coaches of all-time. Also
similar to Coach Wooden, Coach K is highly revered for his leadership skills and development of his players as human
beings. Where Coach K differs from Coach Wooden is in his highly successful career as a motivational speaker during the
offseason. Through reading this book, I hope to augment my knowledge of various leadership techniques along with
learning some basics of motivational speaking. I believe motivational speaking is a crucial skill for any leader to have, and
I figure there are few better people to learn from than Coach K.
4. Initiative, Independence, and/or Creativity
As any sports fan knows, there is no single formula to being an effective coach or leader. There are some characteristics
that are consistent throughout all great leaders and coaches, but each leader has his/her own personal touch that makes
him/her unique and especially effective in any particular situation. During this experience, I plan to focus on developing
some of the fundamental characteristics of leaders. That is not to say that I will not bring my own experience and
personality into the equation. The most unique thing I will bring to the table is my relationship with the players on the
team. Unlike any of the other coaches, I have been on the team with the majority of the players I will be coaching.

Although many might see this as an obstacle, I see it as an opportunity to make a bigger impact on the players. I feel that I
already have their trust, and therefore can focus more on helping them t develop as players and people. Along with this,
my position as an assistant coach will afford me the luxury to focus less on the technical parts of the players games and
more on the development of their character and work ethic. I understand that as an inexperienced coach, I have a ceiling
as to how much I can help the players improve their game from a technical point of view. Where I can excel is in teaching
them how to be good teammates, develop a good work ethic, and become gracious winners.
5. Reflection
Throughout my experience, I will keep a journal documenting my time as a coach. I plan to make entries every Sunday
until games start. After games start, I will make an entry after each game and every Sunday to document my experiences
over the course of the season. In terms of what I will document, anything I find to be significant will be documented.
Whether that is a conversation with a player, something I observe another coach doing, or something that I overhear
players talking about, I will be sure to keep an eye out for any particular signs of leadership on the team. Once a month, I
will review stat books and the record of the team in conjunction with my journal in order to try to find out what is working
and not working for the team.
6. Dissemination
For my dissemination, I will share a PowerPoint presentation containing my reflections and a summary of my complete
experience. I will share this with three groups: the soccer team, the coaching staff, and OASIS (Oldenburg Academy
Students in Sports), a fundraising organization at the school that provides teams with the necessary funds for uniforms and
equipment along with paying coaches salaries. I will share my experience with the tea, because I believe it is important
for the players to understand and appreciate the value of developing leadership skills. I will share with the coaching staff,
so they can see my findings and hopefully learn from them. I will share with OASIS, because I think they will appreciate
and hopefully support students hoping to return to Oldenburg Academy to coach the sports teams.

7. Project Advisor(s)
Ken Getz
Oldenburg Academy Boys Soccer Varsity Head Coach
kgetz@jtmfoodgroup.com
Luke Wilger
Oldenburg Academy Boys Soccer Junior Varsity Head Coach/Varsity Assistant Coach
Luke_w07@hotmail.com
8. Budget (if applicable)
No budget required