Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology starts their basketball season this weekend, so it seemed like the perfect time to catch up with Jules Schwalger-Smith, who is a Volunteer Assistant Coach there. Jules has let us know about some of his responsibilities, as a Student, Coach and Graduate Assistant!

 

His tasks as a Volunteer Coach at Rose-Hulman: I assist with day to day tasks both on and off the court. Training six times a week - my main job is assisting the coaching staff at practices. Off the court I have a few tasks which I will complete across the course of the season. Post-game my job is to track more advanced stats, for example what percentage of shots we contest on defence and where our players are shooting from on the floor. I also assist with video exchange, this requires me contacting teams who have played our upcoming opponent (I also will be scouting a lot of our opponents over the course of the season). I recently got back from a quick trip to Chicago where I scouted two opponents we will play later this season. Back home in New Zealand with the University of Canterbury my main role was assisting at practices and at games, I would help with game plans and scouting reports but nothing this extensive.

 

Relationships with Coaches: There is a lot of camaraderie here in the United States, especially between coaches and players. All the players on our team were heavily recruited as high school players. Their decision to commit to our school was based on many factors, one of which was their trust that our coaching staff would help develop them into better players.

 

What being a Graduate Assistant at Indiana State University entails: As a Graduate Assistant (GA) I am required to work for the University to help pay for my degree. To fulfill this requirement I am teaching a first year physical education paper and marking assignments the students hand in every week. (Jules receives all his courses paid for, plus a monthly stipend which is enough to cover rent and food in Terre Haute. He is responsible for his insurance and some ISU fees).

 

How much time is spent on his responsibilities: As a GA I teach eight hours a week and spend rouughly two hours a week marking students assignments. I spend five hours extra in the office doing work. I have seven hours of classes a week (Biomechanics, Sport in American Society, Coaching Theory) and spend roughly ten hours a week studying. I invest roughly thirty hours a week to Rose-Hulman Basketball. Fifteen hours to training and fifteen hours to other tasks and basketball games. I am currently going seven days a week, arriving at work or trainings at 8am and getting home at 10pm. The long days are not too bad though, I get to do what I love every day so I couldn't ask for anything more!

 

What has surprised him about Indiana: Before I left for ISU I was given a lot of great advice from Caleb Harrison, Tim Bennetts, as well as James and Pina Lissaman (all who have undertaken similar programmes at ISU, and RHIT or SMWC) about what to expect, The biggest shock to the system though was the weather, today it was minus 12 degrees celsius and its not even winter yet!

 

 

The Canterbury Basketball community is very excited to see how the RHIT Fightin' Engineers do as they look to qualify for the NCAA DIII tournament again this season, and we're looking forward to hearing more from Jules about his time overseas.

 

Photo courtesy RHIT.