ONE ON ONE WITH CHINA OLYMPIC SOFTBALL HEAD COACH SHAN McDONALD

(Shan McDonald - at left in photo to right following Thursday's game vs. Chinese Taipei. Photo by Franco Bagattini.)

Shan McDonald guided the China Olympic Softball team to a berth in the playoffs here in Greece, but the team couldn’t get past their first game, taking Japan into an extra inning, but coming out on the wrong end of a 1-0 decision. McDonald answered questions for us immediately following the loss, in the latest installment of “One On One With.”

QUESTION: If someone would’ve told you one year ago that you’d be a head softball coach at the 2004 Olympics, what would you have said?
SHAN McDONALD: For me, lots of things are possible in life, so I probably wouldn’t say they’re crazy, but I would probably wonder how that might happen.

Q: You had to move to China when you took this position. What was the biggest challenge for you in doing that? (non-softball-related)
SM: Initially, really, the nutrition. Eating. I’m very picky to start with when it comes to even eating in the western world, and so, I don’t like fish and I’m not very adventurous with food, so, it came down to a lot of rice and some chicken most of the time. And then the worst part of that was, ‘cause there wasn’t much else that I would be brave enough – and probably there’s lots of food that would’ve been fine for me – I ended up eating a lot of chocolate M&Ms, chips, Ritz crackers, all those types of things, so, nutrition was a factor.

Q: Is the fact that the team made it to the playoffs an accomplishment in itself what with having gotten a new head coach only eight months before the Games or was there enough talent already there that they certainly should have made it that far?
SM: I really think – and when you talk about the timeline it wasn’t really until the middle of February that I actually stepped in, and tried to take over, so we’re talking about six months – and in that short a period of time, all you can really do is just work very hard, try to incorporate what you know with what’s already there, and not damage a system that’s already pretty good and pretty talented. And so, the impact as a coach in that short period of time in a system that’s so well developed, I don’t think that you get credit; the credit goes to the players that work hard. They put in many, many hours. There’s a group of veterans on the team that work very hard and are very good players. So, I still think the performance and making it to a semi-finals has to do with the fact that China’s got some good softball players, and they work very, very hard.

Q: How have you communicated with the players over all this time, being that you don’t speak Chinese?
SM: At the beginning it was pretty tough because there were so many things, as far as even setting up drills, mechanics, and it took a lot of time and patience on both sides. Because for players, something that a coach should be able to tell you in maybe a paragraph takes a long time. So to keep people’s attention, and players that are anxious just to play, took a lot of patience. And that was through an interpreter, so everything took triple time – me to them, the interpreter to them, them back, interpreter back. But once we got into it, after a couple months, when some of the basics were resolved, then I could just say keywords or body motions and that would tip them to what they needed to do.

Q: How long did it take you to adjust, meaning, were there times when you caught yourself talking directly to a player in English, only to be reminded by a blank stare that you needed the interpreter?
SM: I don’t know that that ever stopped. Occasionally, because, as a coach, you just try to get the information out and you start speaking, and you know quite quickly, “ugh,” no point, stop, find the interpreter, get it done that way. So, that’s probably actually a very good lesson that, as a coach – and many coaches - might need to learn is that when we’re talking to the players you really need to keep it simple, keep it direct, and I learned that. Because you can’t get too wordy. You can’t go on and on and… there’s no point – you need to get to the point of what you want to say. So, I think I learned a good lesson there.

Q: Despite the many challenges of these circumstances, will you be able to look back and say you had fun?
SM: Oh yeah. I mean, there’s nothing about the experience that I wouldn’t say has really enriched me as a person.

Q: What will you do when the Olympics are over?
SM: I’ll go back to Beijing first and then back to Las Vegas (Nevada, USA) to my home and, I have a few things that I’m considering. I’ll probably teach. I’d like to expand a business – it’s a team building course – and continue to be involved in softball to some extent. And I think it would be interesting…to maybe be involved in the worldwide education of softball.

Q: As someone who was a long-time college coach in the U.S., what do you see as the difference between that and the Olympic level?
SM: When you look at the top college levels – UCLA, Arizona, Arizona State, Tennessee, LSU, you look at the top ten – and you look out onto the field at the U.S. team, and that’s who’s playing, those players. So when you look at the top level, I think it’s comparable. But, what’s different is, the representation from each country has a different sense of pride. And the level that they play and the reason that they play is all different. I can probably speak more accurately to the difference of China softball, or a national team, versus a college team. And I know the Chinese team, they put many, many, many more hours in, in practice, watching video, and just general discipline to prepare for their sport. College athletics, I know, has limitations by the NCAA, because of the academic side, but, college athletes have no idea of the number of hours and the commitment that it takes for certain countries, and China would be one of them.

Q: Why is softball a sport that deserves Olympic status?
SM: The sport of softball is a game that every country can play. And the opportunity for several athletes, and young people, to really get involved. To play it at the elite level? I think ISF has made a real commitment to educate throughout the world, and you can see a difference in the numbers of people that are playing softball. So, I think the opportunity is good. It’s a sport that requires specific talents, but, you don’t have to be a world-class sprinter, you don’t have to be a world-class lifter, it’s a sport that a good athlete can play.

Q: Is there any message you’d like to send out to readers of this article who have logged onto our website from China, or even Canada (where she was born) or the U.S. (where she coached)?
SM: I think that those that have followed China Softball, really need to know the inside story is that the players really do put in hours. They’ll practice sometimes three times a day, six days a week. Most of the time it’s twice a day, but, six days a week, and, they’ve been doing it for many, many months. They’re very committed, but, they also have – which they might not see on the field – they have great personalities, they’re a lot of fun, and they have a desire for living life at a level that the western country takes for granted.