Stress of Olympic coaching was nothing compared to lecturing in the classroom
General Studies instructor Florian Linder has had quite a year.
Having started at Lethbridge College as an hourly instructor in January 2017, he landed a full-time teaching job for the 2017-18 year. This spring, he won the Lethbridge College Faculty Association and LC Students’ Association Rookie of the Year award. About two months earlier, Linder helped coach the South Korean Olympic men’s bobsled team to a silver medal in front of their home crowd in PyeongChang.
Linder says he did the job he was hired to do, as coach and teacher. He doesn’t say it to be falsely humble. The attitude reflects his approach to responsibility and performance. And don’t let the honours fool you, the year was stressful and he was filled with self-doubt.
“It was more stress than I’ve had in a long time,” he says. “Having to step into a classroom and lecture on something scared the daylight out of me.”
Linder earned his Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology degree from the University of Lethbridge in 2000. At that time, he was chasing his dream of becoming an elite track athlete. Spotted by a bobsled coach at a track event, he was recruited to Canada’s bobsled team. He reached the pinnacle of his sport, earning a spot on Team Canada for the 2006 Turin Games.
Linder then made the transition to full-time coach. Before joining Lethbridge College, he worked briefly with Swiss Timing, the sports division of Omega, the official timekeepers of bobsled. The company makes the data boxes found on bobsleds that feed speed and times to spectators during events. Linder was one of the first to use that data, such as G-force and acceleration, to improve team performance.
He never envisioned being an educator, but when the opportunity came up, he took it, using his coaching experience as a foundation.
“Building trust,” Linder says. “Students, athletes, it’s the same thing. They need trust to have a discussion so they can open up.”
He also used his coaching experiences to illuminate course content, whether anatomy or sports psychology.
“Out of the textbook, here’s the theory, and this is how I did it in the real coaching world.”
The approach worked. According to his award nomination, students and colleagues “appreciate your authenticity and creativity. . . You have demonstrated outstanding commitment to your students through your course development and delivery methods.”
He says he has a list of ideas of how he’d improve his teaching next time.
“I think the students deserve that,” he says. “Things change and evolve and progress and I want to progress with that. I know I can teach now, which is something I never thought.”
The award was an unexpected honour.
“When I got the email, I was like ‘Wow.’ ”
As for his highlight reel from a year of teaching, he picks two things — connecting with students and getting to know college colleagues.
“Everyone’s great. Everyone has been supportive from the moment I stepped into this job.”
While Linder received the Rookie of the Year award, the LC Faculty Association and Students’ Association Teaching Excellence awards also honoured Cherie Reitzel (Interior Design Technology), Shane Roersma (Environmental Science) and Cyndi Starzyk-Frey (General Studies). All four were recognized at the Honouring Excellence event April 26.