BY DOYLE FOX, FOR THE LEADER-POST MARCH 26, 2013
Darren Fisher coaching Robyn Pulloch with the Regina Riot women’s football team at the U of Regina on March 22, 2013.
Photograph by: Don Healy , Regina Leader-Post
Despite having more than 20 years of coaching experience, Darren Fisher is still very much a student of the game.
Now that he has taken over as head coach of the Regina Riot of Western Women's Canadian Football League, he expects the lessons to continue.
Last season, Fisher served as the defensive coordinator, but he always tried to oversee all aspects of the game as well as all the players.
"I think it's important that you know everybody and know their strengths and weaknesses and to get to know them and understand what their fears are and how you can make it easier for them and put them in the best position,'' he said. "You make sure it's part of the experience because if it's not positive, they might not come back.
"What I like about being the head coach is that maybe you can see someone who can be better somewhere else and you have the ability to say, 'I think they would be really good right here,' and move them around a little bit.''
The Riot started holding indoor camps in January, when Fisher wanted the players to focus on conditioning and the basics. So far, he has been impressed with what the players have shown him.
"I'm very happy with how everybody is very positive and very upbeat and the work ethic has just been fantastic,'' he said.
"We aren't just throwing the playbook at them and saying that is what we are going to do. They are giving us feedback on certain things and certain abilities they have and ideas they have."
Getting feedback from the players is an important part of Fisher's coaching philosophy, but he said it was something that he had to develop with experience. He drew a lot of his experience from when he was playing in the military. He said he used the strict style when he coached in the Regina Intercollegiate Football League and the Regina Minor Football league. However, since joining the Riot two seasons ago, he has tried to involve the players in his coaching schemes.
"It's an ever-evolving thing because I know from when I was the head coach of my first team to now, I'm a lot different - I'm a lot more patient," he said. "The military is a little bit more in your face, telling you what to do, but I learned from that."
"With the level of players that we have and how smart they are and how hard they work at it, it's good to get that feedback," he added. "The playbook is a perfect example. It's a collaboration. It isn't me saying, 'Here's our playbook. Make it work.' We are working through it together and working on it a little at a time and building on it and making it better and that's what it's going to take."
Linebacker Ciara Bray enjoys Fisher's openness to getting feedback and thinks it makes the team better.
"I find Darren to be very encouraging,'' she said. "He is one of those coaches who makes you give 100 per cent because he believes in you so much. He doesn't care if you make mistakes or ask questions, he just wants you to try. As long as you do that, he is very happy.
"I think our cohesiveness as a defence has a lot to do with the way Darren coaches."
The Riot will start practising in pads in early April, which is "something the girls are really looking forward to," Fisher said.
They are also looking forward to the season opener on May 5 where they will continue to work on their goal of beating the Saskatoon Valkyries - the team that beat the Riot in a semi-final last season and went on to win the league championship.
"We have everything in place,'' Fisher said. "I think we have the right attitude and we've got the understanding. (The Valkyries are) not going to be easy and that's who you have to measure yourself against. We working towards that goal and that's why we started in January.''
Bray is optimistic the team's goals will be attained.
"We've got the whole package,'' she said. "We've got the support and the knowledge to really take it to the next level and I'm really excited to be a part of it.''
