Not only did I play this past weekend, but I managed to get around to view a few matches and couldn’t help but notice how many coaches are actually still playing.

Part of me understands why we are still playing, while another part of me is questioning if it’s right. Why should coaches have to play week in, week out or do we just opt to?

The coaches that are still playing are Wendell White, Ryan Steede, Irving Romaine, Lionel Cann and myself.

Years ago I remember having a chat with a former player and he said that the older guys needed to play as long as possible so that the younger players could learn from them. I didn’t really understand what he meant until being out in the middle. As a coach you are always analysing and talking with players to help them understand a situation better.

As a coach you can give players pre-game instructions, but when they are out in the middle they have to think for themselves and more than often they end up making simple mistakes through lack of experience. Experience tends to help a player cope with various situations better.

Looking at the coaches that play, they all offer something different to their team, but should they be on the field or should their focus be solely on coaching? What is coaching and what is the role of a coach?

For me, I like to do all my coaching during the week and then watch how the players go about executing the game plan. Lately, I’ve been on the field so I’m closer to the situation and can often predict what’s going to happen next. But I still try and let it pan out before offering advice so that my captain and players can learn to identify for themselves.

Mind you, there are times when my instincts take over and I just can’t help myself and have to say something prior to a situation occurring.

I believe the other coaches are in the same boat. They would prefer to be on the sideline coaching, but by them being on the field they can offer first-hand advice. On top of that, the coaches are performing at a standard whereby their team is requesting their participation in an effort to help them win matches.

The biggest downfall with the player-coaches is the fielding aspect of the game, as most of the coaches are up in age and our mobility is extremely limited.

I dropped a relatively simple catch off of OJ Pitcher when he was only on one. Fortunately, for me he only went on to make three. Boy was I relieved.

As I stated earlier, I saw some other games over the weekend. I managed to watch Warwick in the field against Devonshire Recreation Club.

Lionel Cann, who in his day was a fairly agile fielder and very sharp, put down three catches, of which two were schoolboy drops. This made me ponder, are we doing the right thing by playing?

In this case his drop catches clearly cost his team a victory, along with a few decisions that went against his team. The flip side of this story is that Lionel scored 80 runs, thus giving his team a realistic chance of winning the game.

Irving has also told me about instances where people on the side are shouting out to him about pack it in, but he, too, is making a major contribution to his team’s success.

I also got a little ear bashing on Saturday against St David’s, but that doesn’t bother me one bit. We have to weigh the pros and cons and determine what’s best for our team.

Coaching is an art and in most cases coaching is best done prior to game days, however, coaches have different coaching styles. Some coaches believe in coaching during the week and observing to see how their team reacts to their strategy.

Other coaches tend to enjoy coaching from the side. If they see something is wrong correcting it right there and then, but are the players actually learning?

Whether we are coaching on the field or off of the field I think what is most important is that the players are learning. Players these days need to be more tactically aware and think for themselves.

As for learning from the coaches who are up in age, it is better that players do as we say, not as we do!