ARTICLE
“One of my biggest lessons learned over the years is to try not to pretend that I have all the answers.
Together we can find answers.”
 

What matters to Patrick Cote is arriving at the right answers for the good of his group.
Not who within the group is responsible for those answers.
 
“I truly believe that drawing the best out of people doesn’t mean pushing them against a wall to squeeze more out of them on any given day,’’ says the tactician spearheading Wheelchair Rugby Canada’s bid for a podium placing at the upcoming Paralympic Games in Paris this August.
 
“Fear works, yes. It is a strategy. Has been for a long time. But it doesn’t last.
 
“You can probably get a little bit more out of someone for a very short time if you squish the lemon. But all it does is create burnout and all types of mental health issues.
“I don’t believe in it. I never did. In the grand scheme of things, if we’re doing things the right way we’ll get the consistent best out of people.
 
“One of my biggest lessons learned over the years is to try not to pretend that I have all the answers.
 
“Together we can find answers.”
 
Trevor Hirschfield, high-performance coach for the B.C. Wheelchair Sports/Wheelchair Rugby Canada, sees Cote’s willingness to listen, to adapt, to implement feedback, as arguably his greatest strengths in the position.
 
“Patrick,’’ he says, “is not afraid to ask for help. He’s not afraid to say: ‘Hey, am I looking at this the right way? What am I missing?’ Confident people can do that. He leans on some of the more veteran players to run ideas by and to work on strategies. He’s a player’s coach and that makes him easy to approach; people feel really comfortable around him.
 
“As an athlete, when you feel you’re valued and not just a pawn in what the coach wants to do, if you’re part of the team in terms of strategy, that helps any athlete buy in.
 
“I think that has helped him immeasurably. He’s willing to constantly learn and look for help, which has helped him constantly grow and not stay stagnant.”
 
One of those invaluable cornerstone veteran voices Hirschfield alludes to is, of course, Zak Madell, Canada’s star man, a soon-to-be three-time Paralympian, silver medal winner at the 2012 London Games and 2014 MVP of the World Wheelchair Rugby Championships.
 
“There’s literally no ego there,’’ says Madell of Cote. “There’s an open line of communication between him and all of the athletes, and there’s a respect because of that. He’s reaching out and using insight and input from the more experienced guys to make sure he’s the best coach he can be and the team’s the best that it can be.
“Not putting words in his mouth, but he’s admitted that as an able-bodied person he’s never played wheelchair rugby so there’s some of the little technical/tactical things that maybe not having that hands-on experience he leans on us a bit.”
 
Cote feels his basketball background, his exposure to different sports and long wheelchair rugby internship en route to the head coaching post, has certainly helped him. The two sports, he points out, are both court sports with many similarities.
 
“The flip side of things: I’ve never played this game,’’ he admits. “Well, a little bit for fun, but never at a high level. I’m not a wheelchair user. So little technical intricacies such as exact positioning took me longer to acquire because I don’t know what I don’t know.
 
“I don’t how, for instance, what it’s like to sit in a chair and get hit without stabilization. What does it mean in terms of moving? So, I had to surround myself with people that experienced that; had the knowledge.
 
“I’ve managed to do that for the most part. And, besides, who better to answer that than the athlete himself.
 
“I ask the questions.”
 
Head coach of the senior national team since early March of 2017, Cote brought a decade’s worth of jack-of-all-trades experience within the program to the top job. Straight out of school, a basketball coach by experience, he began working as sport coordinator for the Quebec Wheelchair Sport Association, segued into managerial duties for the senior national rugby team in time for the London and Rio de Janeiro Paralympic Games, helping out in analytics and video breakdown/strength and conditioning roles before being installed as interim head coach in November of 2016. Only months later, promotion to head up the program.
 
“Outside the sport, he has his own thing where he’s able to create a private part of his life,’’ says Hirschfield. “He owns that and it’s healthy for him, too. But as far as athletes go, he’s all in. He wants to help them be better, so he has the important conversations with them - what he’s seeing, what he feels they need to work on along with what they’re doing well. And that’s important for people who are trying to push themselves. Athletes who are working hard and maybe not getting what they’re expecting in terms of feedback can cause them to lose their passion or tune out.
 
“I think he’s done a great job working through all the different athlete personalities, how they learn, how they react to things, to approach them.”
 
Being a de-centralized program brings its share of challenges. Madell, for instance, is currently in Victoria training with two teammates.
“I do think it’s good for overall team culture, not being away from family and friends and forced to live somewhere,’’ he explains. “We’ve had times at extended training camps historically. If we’re together for too long personalities start to clash or things get a little chippy.
 
“No hard feelings or anything, it’s just part of the reality of it - we’re spending too much time together and not having that life balance side of it.”
 
What makes it workable from a competitive standpoint, he adds, is having a coach as well prepared as Cote.
 
“Pat,’’ he lauds, “is the epitome of a professional. He’s always willing to go the extra mile. If you need training plans put together, more reps to work on your own skills, he’ll gladly put together some more pieces, a specialized program list, for you to work on.
 
“He’s only an e-mail or a phone call away.
 
“There’s reciprocal respect there. He’s respectful of our time and we are of his time so there’s a really symbiotic relationship.”
 
The player ownership piece is crucial in the Cote coaching philosophy.
 
“I don’t see myself as a motivator, necessarily,’’ he confesses. “I mean, I’m not a big rah-rah type of person. So, whenever we need that to - pardon my French here - light a fire under their butts, I struggle a little more to bring that to the table.
 
“Whereas if I have a group that’s committed, motivated, I’m going to do everything in my power to get what they need. What they need might be a challenge, might be tough feedback, or it might just be a pat on the back.
 
“To me, that leads to athletes taking charge of their own journey. That’s as it should be. Because at the end of the day, they will be the ones making the plays, making the decisions.”
 
Canada qualified for Paris last August on the strength of a 58-41 semi-final conquest of Germany at a qualification tournament in New Zealand.
 
Cote and Co. narrowly missed out on gold, dropping a heartbreaking but confidence-building 49-48 overtime loss to currently No. 1 ranked Australia in the final match.
 
Madell feels Canada is in a good spot.
 
“Overall, team atmosphere, chemistry and culture, are things we’ve really been working on,’’ he emphasizes. “And a lot of that is Pat going above and beyond, taking courses for self-improvement to take his coaching game to the next level.”
 
Ahead, the highest level imaginable - the Paralympic tournament – set for the 8,300-seat Grand Palais Éphémère in the city’s centre.
 
“Everything,’’ says Cote, “is super close. We’re right there. But we’re continuing to strive to be better, to keep learning, so come Paris time, the biggest show, we’re at our best.”