Month: August 2015

August 25, 2015

WYC 054 – Youth Soccer – Chris Stricker talks turning around a culture so kids believe they can win

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What does it take to be a winning youth coach? Listen in as Chris Stricker shares stories and discusses his journey to becoming a successful youth sports coach.

Chris has been the Head girl’s soccer coach of perennial powerhouse Coppell High School in Texas. His accolades include: 7-time District Coach of the Year, 17 straight years of playoff appearances, 2009 and 2014 Texas 5A State Champions, 2009 NSCAA Texas Large School, Dallas Morning News, and TASCO Texas Association of Soccer Coaches Organization Coach of the Year. Chris also has built one of the best soccer camps in the country.

Chris is married and has 4 children – 15 year-old son, 13 year-old twin sons, and a 11 year-old daughter.

Twitter: @stricker_soccer

Website/Camps: strickersoccer.com

Listen Now:

Listen in ITunes: Itunes link

Listen in Stitcher: Stitcher link

Quote

‘As a coach – you can’t be pulling the wagon by yourself. If your best players are pulling the wagon – everyone is going to on board.’

Turning around the culture on a team

You have to instill the vision so the players believe they can win
Have them set goals – and every practice you’re reminding them of what there goals are

HUGE IDEA #1

4 Pillars of the program:
- CALI:
  - Commitment
  - Accountability
  - Love
  - Integrity

Establishing goals/guides

Break everything into relatable levels: Barclays level, National level, College.

HUGE IDEA #2

If your best players are your hardest workers – you’re going to always have a good team:

‘As a coach – you can’t be pulling the wagon by yourself. If your best players are pulling the wagon – everyone is going to on board.’
Every kid on the team needs to be crystal clear on what their role is on the team

Culture – Discipline/Rewards/Teambuilding

Everyone will be treated fairly, but that doesn’t mean everyone will be treated equally

Teaching Skills

At the younger ages – the most important thing to teach is technique. To keep the kids engaged you have to find creative ways to keep it fun.
An effective way to teach is have your most talented kids help teach the less talented kids.

The One that Got Away

Losing to their big rival the first 2 years, which kept them out of the playoffs. But those losses were used as fuel

Favorite sports movies

When the Game Stands Tall
Miracle
Remember the Titans
Facing the Giants

Best Stolen idea

Jim Tressel – The Winners Manual – You have to invest in people
Lead for God’s Sake – Todd Gongwer

Parting Advice

Don’t try to be the kid’s friends – be their teacher who cares about them
Have a plan

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August 13, 2015

WYC 053 – Youth Baseball – Al Ainsworth talks coaching defense first and making big ugly mistakes

What does it take to be a winning youth coach? Listen in as Al Ainsworth shares stories and discusses his journey to becoming a successful youth sports coach and author.

Al has coached middle school and high school baseball for 16 years. He currently also does the high school color commentary for his local baseball team. Al is the author of the sports books series ‘Coach Dave.’ Al is married, lives in Mississippi and has 3 children – 2 boys and a girl.

Twitter: @alainsworth

Facebook: /alainsworth

Websites and blog: alainsworth.com; coachdavebook.com

Listen Now:

Listen in ITunes: Itunes link

Listen in Stitcher: Stitcher link

Quote

‘Coach defense first’

Coaching my own kids

Al coached some of kids early teams, but really saw the value in handing them off to experience other coaches. With Al’s extensive coaching background – he was often asked to help, but he preferred to help coach the coaches instead of coaching the kids, so that the coaches could learn and keep all the authority.

My Cringe & ‘Ah-Ha’ Moments

Al had to learn that if you coach players who might not be as die-hard about the sport as you are – you can still value them and enjoy coaching them.
Have fun. In Al’s early years he was too focused on the box score and winning.
Don’t coach between every pitch – competitive situations are tough enough – don’t talk too much – game time should be minimal instruction.

Teaching Children & Keeping it Fun

Build from the ground up. Start with the why behind the what
Be careful of your terminology
12 things not to yell at a game: alainsworth.com/boosting-baseball-iq-12-things-not-to-yell-at-the-game/

Self-Confidence and teaching kids to achieve peak performance

Remember that sports seasons are long – so you really have to make an extra effort of keeping things fun towards the end of the year

HUGE IDEA #1

Define roles. If a kid understands his role, he is far more likely to perform at the highest level.
Good analogy – in singing: you can’t hold back – ‘Make big fat ugly mistakes’

Culture – Discipline/Rewards/Teambuilding

Establish the culture, but don’t overdo it trying to set up a bunch of rules
Celebrate the non-obvious things – the bunts, the sacrifices, the little things
Andy Stanley: ‘What is celebrated is what is repeated’

Connecting with Kids

Al had to make a move to move a younger kid into a position over a senior who was a super hard worker. But the kid later told him that he really respected that he made a tough decision.

The One that Got Away

Al’s team lost a state championship in a 7-6 game. But the other team rode one pitcher’s arm most of the way, whereas Al’s team used several pitchers – and his pitchers went on to have more successful college careers.
Al also shared a story of coaching basketball – and how he learned from a mistake he made early in his career and benefited from that mistake by getting it right later in his career

Best Stolen idea

HUGE IDEA #2

‘Coach Defense first’ – Learned from Bill Marchant at Delta State University
Kids will lose focus as the practice goes on – so when you need their full attention teaching them something – do it early in the practice.

Coach Dave – The book

Fictitious account of a recreational baseball league
Written at a player’s level, through the eyes of a parent, with the catalyst being the coach
Lots of game action, very positive
Great book for fathers to read with their sons
Find it at: coachdavebook.com or on Amazon

Parting Advice

Don’t try to coach above what you know – reach out for help
If you can, try to stay with the same group for several years
Have fun

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August 5, 2015

WYC 052 – Youth Lacrosse – John Doss talks Committing to your Dream and Using the bench to teach not to punish

What does it take to be a winning youth coach? Listen in as John Doss shares stories and discusses his journey to becoming a successful youth sports coach.

John is entering his first year as the the Brownsburg Lacrosse High School Head Coach after 2 years as the 7th/8th grade coach. John played collegiate lacrosse as a goalie at San Jose State University. He was named a West Coast Lacrosse League (WCLL) All-Star 3 times. Coach Doss also played 3 years of post-collegiate lacrosse with San Francisco Lacrosse Club and still remains active as a player with DOGS Lacrosse in Indianapolis. John is married, lives in Indianapolis and is a supply chain sales manager.

Twitter: @laxcoachdoss

Websites: brownsburglacrosse.com; indyelitelacrosse.com

Listen Now:

Listen in ITunes: Itunes link

Listen in Stitcher: Stitcher link

Quote

‘Play hard, have fun’

My Cringe & ‘Ah-Ha’ Moments

‘The Dreaded Playbook’ – installing too many plays and confusing the kids. Learned that simple is better, fundamentals are more important than game theory.
Teach kids: ‘That’s a cone, not a magnet’

Teaching Children & Keeping it Fun

Lots of games to keep kids engaged and competitive
Teach a concept, drill a concept. Then allow time for free play for them to try it on their own

Free Play

John grew up playing with kids in his neighborhood – and had to figure it out on his own without parents/coaches hounding him

Self-Confidence and teaching kids to achieve peak performance

The Knute Rockne-type speeches by a coach often take the fun out of the game and cause the kids to tighten up – just let them go play and have fun
Coach says these 4 words before every game: ‘Play hard, have fun’
Coach has a goalie that beats himself up after any goal allowed – he tells the kid he can take 3 seconds to be upset, then move on. He will even count 1,2,3 out loud so the kid remembers.
‘Make the right lacrosse play, we’re not worried about the results’

Culture – Discipline/Rewards/Teambuilding

Have a well-thought out team meeting with parents to set the expectations and guidelines
1 rule: Respect. Respect coaches, teammates, opponents, referees, yourself, and the game.
Coach Doss uses the lacrosse game format to discipline during practices – he has the player take a knee for 1 minute – he is taking away what they really want, which is to play.

HUGE IDEA #1

John will pick out a kid before practice and tell that kid to keep his eye out for a player putting out extraordinary effort during practice, then let that kid recognize the player they choose at the end of practice
John asks his players what they are seeing during a game – but they have to phrase it as a ‘we’

Connecting with Kids

One of John’s goalie’s parent was debating about having their son try out for a travel team – John encouraged the parent to have the kid tryout – regardless of the outcome – try it! Don’t be afraid of failure, just go for it.

The One that Got Away

John’s team was overmatched, got down early, then scored several goals and had a bunch of momentum – and John called timeout to set something up – and he totally killed the team’s momentum.

Best Stolen idea

HUGE IDEA #2

When coaching a kid in a game – if you want to pull them out to teach them something – don’t pull the kid out and put them at the end of the bench. Pull them out, teach them, then put them immediately back into the game. That way kids don’t see coming to the bench as a punishment, they see it as an opportunity to learn.

Recommended resources

TeamSnap – increases communication to the parents
Positive Coaching Alliance
US Lacrosse
Championship Productions – Instructional Sports Videos (paid)

Coaching/Leadership Quote or Book

Roger Federer when asked his definition of mental toughness: ‘Committing to your dream’

Parting Advice

As a coach – you have to set the example of every behavior you want to see