Tag: winning

April 23, 2015

WYC 042 – Changing the Game – John O’Sullivan talks Sports Specialization vs Early Engagers

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

John is the founder of the Changing the Game Project – whose mission is to is to ensure that we return youth sports to our children, and put the ‘play’ back in ‘play ball.’  They want to provide the most influential adults in our children’s lives – their parents and coaches – with the information and resources they need to make sports a healthy, positive, and rewarding experience for their children, and their whole family.

John started the Changing the Game Project in 2012 after two decades as a soccer player and coach on the youth, high school, college and professional level.  He is the author of the #1 bestselling books Changing the Game: The Parents Guide to Raising Happy, High Performing Athletes, and Giving Youth Sports Back to our Kids and Is it Wise to Specialize? John is also a regular contributor for SoccerWire.com, and his writing has been featured in many publications including The Huffington Post and Soccer America. John is an internationally known speaker for coaches, parents and youth sports organizations, and has spoken for TEDx, the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, IMG Academy, and at numerous other events throughout the US, Canada and Europe.  He resides in beautiful Bend, OR, with his wife, Dr Lauren O’Sullivan, and two wonderful children and aspiring young athletes: Maggie Shea, age 9, and Tiernan, age 7.

Twitter: @coachjohnnyo

Facebook: /SportsParentingResourceCenter

Website/blog: changingthegameproject.com

Listen Now:

Listen in ITunes: Itunes link

Listen in Stitcher: Stitcher link

 

Coaching/Leadership Quote

 

‘When you are coaching sports – you don’t coach a sport, you coach a child’ – Dr. Martin Toms

 

Coaching Your Own Kids

  • Coaching your own kid is a tough challenge because you are discipling their friends and can off-the-field ramifications

My Cringe & ‘Ah-Ha’ Moments

  • There is so much to learn as a new coach – early on John didn’t realize how powerful his actions and words are as a coach – they will stick with these young people for their lifetime
  • A-ha moment: John coached a young man in high school – and after college he called John to thank him for the lessons he had taught.  This was eye-opening on the seriousness of the responsibility of coaching young people.
  • You’re going to make mistakes- and that’s OK – but use this as an opportunity to be humble and apologize – this is a great example to the kids.

Teaching Children & Keeping it Fun

  • Dr. Martin Toms’: ‘When you are coaching sports – you don’t coach a sport, you coach a child’
  • Don’t professionalize youth sports – focus on developing the kids, not for the win today.  Long-term goals instead of short-term.  What do kids need from a youth sports coach? – Enjoyment, ownership, and to be intrinsically motivated.

Winning

  • It very much depends on what/who you are coaching – if you are coaching a prospective olympic gymnast, who’s physical activity peaks at 14-15 – you have to start earlier
  • But for all of us coaching kids ages 6-12- the focus has to be development over winning – so don’t not play a kid just because it’s a close game

HUGE IDEA #1

  • Study done by Amanda Visek from George Washington University – asked kids: ‘why do you play sports?’ – 9 out of 10 answered because it is fun.  Then she asked them to define what fun is: they came up with 81 different characteristics of what fun is – and ‘winning’ was down at #48 on the list.  Link to article: Fun not winning
  • Coaching high-level youth soccer – Coach O’Sullivan started every player 1/3 of the games – this gives you the opportunity later in the season/game you can go with who is ‘hot’ because they are all having opportunities to shine

Specialization in Youth Sports

HUGE IDEA #2

  • Unless you are coaching female olympic gymnastics, figure-skating, diving – the rest of athletes don’t hit their peak until their 20’s
  • Kids who specialize early:
    • 70-90% more likely to get hurt
    • Far more likely to burn out
    • Far more likely to develop psychological issues
    • Don’t develop all-around sports athleticism
  • There is a huge difference between specialization and early-engagers:
    • Specialization is adult-driven, organized environment, focused on long-term goals
    • Engagement is child-driven, play-centered, focused on enjoyment of the game
      • There is tons of free-play
      • They fall in love with the game
      • They have the space to fail, the freedom to be creative without an adult looking over their shoulder telling them what they are doing wrong
    • What if your 7-year-old says he only wants to play 1 sport? – You are the adult and you need to guide them to branch out and try different things.

Mental Peak Performance

  • Every kid is different.
  • Preparing a kid doesn’t start the night before a tryout
  • The important thing is to encourage kids to work hard, and learn from situations, good and bad.  Don’t make excuses, don’t blame coaches – just learn teaching moments.

Discipline

  • Great teams don’t have rules – great teams have standards.  Rules are meant to be broken – standards are expectations that the team agrees upon and holds each other accountable to.

The One that got away

  • John shares that the games he looks back upon with the most regret are ones where the opponents just produced such a toxic environment of negativity

Best Stolen idea

  • Jerry Yeagley from Indiana Univ – Jerry could make whoever he is talking to feel like the most important person in the room

Changing the Game Project

  • Teaching parents how to help kids become the most competitive athletes they can be
  • Teaching coaches to develop positive significance in your players’ lives
  • Online coaching and parent education, books, blog
  • Currently developing 7-week online course for coaches with world experts in each area

Parting Advice

  • You don’t coach a sport, you coach a child
  • Coaching is a calling – respect that.  ‘I am not going to be disloyal to a sport that has given me a life’

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April 16, 2015

WYC Episode 041 – The 10,000 Hour Rule? – Dr. Michael Cathey talks player development and deliberate practice

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

Michael is a professor of exercise science and physical education pedagogy at Tennessee Tech University.  He has coached high school football and baseball as well as his kids’ teams at the youth level.  Michael did his dissertation studying the 10,000 rule and has written and studied this topic extensively.  Michael is married and has 2 children, ages 7 and 5.

Twitter: @m_cathey

Facebook: /catheym

Listen Now:

Listen in ITunes: Itunes link

Listen in Stitcher: Stitcher link

 

Coaching/Leadership Quote

You practice with the intent of getting better, and it’s OK to mess up, because messing up helps you get better

Coaching Your Own Kids

  • Coach shares a funny story when a kid asked if he’s unimportant because he’s playing in the outfield – coach turned it around and made this exciting by saying you have to be like a superhero Flash when playing out there

Winning

  • The importance of winning is very dependent on each kid – it depends on where they are at.

My Cringe & ‘Ah-Ha’ Moments

  • In his early years Michael looks back on how naive he was – too much focus on winning instead of fundamentals and player development.  He wanted to win but wasn’t equipping his players with the skills needed to win.

Teaching Children & Keeping it Fun

  • Michael teaches everything in 3’s so it’s simple and easy to remember
  • ‘Parents come ready and dressed to participate at practice’ – They have competitions and scrimmages against their parents.
  • Teach base running by using high-fives

Mental Peak Performance

  • Teach kids to ignore the noise. And ask the parents not to ‘yip’ instructions at their kids
  • Self-confidence comes from you showing the kids you believe in them

Discipline

HUGE IDEA #1

  • Instead of punishments – have the kids just start that action over again and do it right

Recognition/Rewards

  • They recognize their teammates for hustle,attitude by letting them do the team chant

Inspiring Story

  • Michael shares a story about a kid who was crying at the beginning of practice because he didn’t know anybody- so he had his daughter befriend the kid, and he as the coach got him involved – and once the kid got comfortable he opened up and had a great season

The 10,000 hour theory

  • Michael did his dissertation on this developmental model – specifically studying baseball pitchers
  • Michael found 27 out of 30 pitchers had not specialized in pitching, or even baseball at young ages
  • The professional baseball pitchers predominantly had expert coaches at the high school level – not just a local high school coach or mom/dad
  • Takeaway – think through your travel sports plans when your kids are younger- it might not be necessary, unless there really just isn’t another good option for them to get good competition.  But by middle-school/high-school – seek out paid professionals to coach your kid in the correct mechanics, especially if they want to play at the collegiate level and beyond

Best Stolen idea

  • ‘Talk TO your players, not AT them’

Coaching/Leadership Motivation

HUGE IDEA #2

Parting Advice

  • Have fun, and make sure the kids are having fun.

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April 9, 2015

WYC Episode 040 – Coaching the Mental Game – Dr. Patrick Cohn from Peak Performance Sports talks sports psychology

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What does it take to be a winning youth coach? Listen in as Dr. Patrick Cohn shares stories and discusses his journey to becoming a mental game of sports expert.

Dr. Patrick Cohn has been an athlete and a coach. He has experienced firsthand how beliefs, attitudes, and mindsets influence performance. Dr. Cohn’s passion for sports and sports psychology started early in life and continued to grow as he participated in sports such as football, hockey, baseball, lacrosse, racquetball, and golf.

Throughout high school and college, Dr. Cohn experienced both the joys of winning and the lessons of failure. After competing in sports for many years, Dr. Cohn went on to study and research sports psychology and the way that mental attitudes shape physical performance.  Ultimately, he earned a PhD in Education specializing in Applied Sports Psychology.

The more that Dr. Cohn studied champion athletes and their mindsets, the more he realized that winning attitudes are the key to performing well in competition.

Armed with the know-how needed to build champion athletes, master mental game coach Dr. Cohn has dedicated his mental game coaching business to helping every athlete—whether junior, amateur, or seasoned professional—excel in his or her sport.  His peak performance programs also help coaches, athletic trainers, and even parents of aspiring athletes.

Websites: peaksports.com; youthsportspsychology.com

Listen Now:

Listen in ITunes: Itunes link

Listen in Stitcher: Stitcher link

 

Coaching/Leadership Quote

Accentuate the self in self-confidence.  You can’t give kids self-confidence, because it becomes a false sense of security.  Move from ‘other-confidence’ to ‘self-confidence.’

Mental Peak Performance for Coaches

  • Most youth sports coaches don’t have any training – Define your philosophy and set goals
  • Coaches – are you putting pressure on young athletes to meet your expectations?  What are these expectations – is one of them for them not to make any mistakes?  Instead of putting expectations on the athletes – focus more on letting the kid know you believe in them and are excited to see them be great.
  • When a kid makes a mistake during a game – leave them in, and then address it in practice, at halftime, or some later point.  ‘Games are a reward for all the hard work they put in during practice.’

Mental Peak Performance for Parents

Huge Idea #1

  • Accentuate the self in self-confidence.  You can’t give kids self-confidence, because it becomes a false sense of security.  Move from ‘other-confidence’ to ‘self-confidence.’  The athlete has to think they can do it, regardless of what the parents and coaches tell them.

Mental Peak Performance for Athletes

  • Focus on your strengths.  Rely on practice, put in extra reps.  Focus on past successes.
  • Visualize very specifically what success is going to look like during a tryout/game

Pre-game and Post-game tips for coaches

Huge Idea #2

  • Discuss with your athletes: During games – it’s time to be done practicing.  Go out and enjoy the game.  Play free.
  • Simplify things.  Get the athlete to be thinking about images and feelings, not mechanics.

Inspiring Story

  • A racer saw himself as a top 5 racer, but not the top racer.  He was limited by his own expectations and beliefs.

Winning

  • If you focus on executing your best in the moment, the winning usually takes care of itself
  • At younger ages, the focus should be: developing skills, developing confidence, how to work with teammates, how to take instruction, how to manage mistakes

The One that Got Away

  • Dr. Cohn focuses on not letting the sport define you.  You a person first and foremost, sports does not define you.

Peak Performance Sports and Youth Sports Psychology

Parting Advice

  • Make sure the kids are smiling and having fun

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April 1, 2015

WYC 039 Dr. Michael Phillips talks Long Term Athlete and Coach Development

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

Michael is a professor of exercise science at Tennessee Tech University.  He has coached basketball at all levels – 5th grade AAU, middle school, high school, and 8 years at the collegiate level.  Michael also has studied and presented the concept of LTAD and LTCD – Long Term Athlete Development and Long Term Coach Development – concepts used by the Canadians and British, and being studied by the US Olympic Committee.  Michael is married and has 2 children, a 13 year-old son and 8 year-old daughter.

Twitter: @docphillips1

Facebook: /mikephillips

Listen Now:

Listen in ITunes: Itunes link

Listen in Stitcher: Stitcher link

 

Coaching/Leadership Quote

‘The two most important days in your life are the day you are born, and the day you figure out why’ – attributed to Mark Twain

Coaching Your Own Kids

  • It’s hard to strike a fair balance of how hard to be on your own kid

My Cringe & ‘Ah-Ha’ Moments

  • Being a former player – in Michael’s early years he realized he couldn’t just show up and teach them what he knew – he had to learn how to teach kids

Teaching Children & Keeping it Fun

  • Michael found 2 keys to learning how to teach/coach:

1 – Going to coaching clinics

2 – Talking to other coaches

  • Begin lots of drills without a ball – teach them the footwork first, then add in a ball
  • Great drill – Split the kids in half and have them do drills towards mid-court so they meet their teammates and can watch/learn as they go

Mental Peak Performance

  • Practices have to be fun, challenging, and competitive
  • Preparation is the key to achieving peak performance.  Take the thinking out of it- so they can just perform.  Make practices game-like so they don’t have surprises during the game.

Coaching Resources

Discipline/Rewards

HUGE IDEA #1

  • Spend much more time praising the kids who are doing it right – and much less time getting on the kids who aren’t behaving.  Often the misbehaving kids want attention so if you are giving all the attention to the kids who are doing it right, the misbehavers will fall in line.

Inspiring Story

  • Michael gave a scholarship to a kid who wasn’t as athletically gifted as some others but had an unbelievable work-ethic and attitude.  Michael really connected with the kid and they had a great experience.

Long Term Athlete Development and Long Term Coach Development

  • Canada and Great Britain have created programs that look at long-term athlete development instead of putting kids on teams immediately focused on winning
  • Most new coaches in the U.S. have never been trained on coaching

HUGE IDEA #2

  • When you coach – ask yourself: is your primary goal the long-term development of the athlete, or just winning?

The One that Got Away

  • When coaching college against his big rival – Coach Phillips showed some ‘Braveheart’ clips pre-game – and his guys got over-fired up before the game, and had absolutely no energy left 5 minutes into the game.  Lesson learned: be more methodical and business-like in pre-game, not too rah-rah.

Coaching/Leadership Motivation

  • Quote: ‘The two most important days in your life are the day you are born, and the day you figure out why’ – attributed to Mark Twain

 

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March 25, 2015

WYC 038 Emily Cohen from TeamSnap talks sportsmanship and lessons learned from great coaches

 

What does it take to be part of a winning youth team? Listen in as Emily Cohen shares stories and discusses her journey to becoming a successful youth sports team manager.

Emily has been a team manager for youth sports teams for over 10 years.  She also is a blogger for TeamSnap, and also hosts a podcast for TeamSnap.  As a youth sports podcast host and blogger, Emily is passionate about sportsmanship, injury prevention, and sideline etiquette. Emily is married and has 2 kids, ages 18 and 15.

Website: www.teamsnap.com/community/podcast

Twitter: @emilygcohen

Listen Now:

Listen in ITunes: Itunes link

Listen in Stitcher: Stitcher link

 

Coaching/Leadership Quote

  • ‘Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming’ – John Wooden

Coaching Your Own Kids

  • Always have an assistant to provide balance for being your own kid’s coach
  • The Team Manager can be a conduit to hear concerns/complaints from parents – embrace this!

Team Managing Cringe & ‘Ah-Ha’ Moments

  • If the coach you work with is a bad communicator – don’t be afraid to step up and take over the communication role
  • Delegate!  Have specific roles assigned to a bunch of the parents – and assign them right at the beginning of the season (even if it’s something that you don’t need until the end of the season – i.e. coaches’ gifts, team videos)

Teaching Children & Keeping it Fun

  • Talk to the kids physically at their level – take a knee so you’re not talking down to them which can be very intimidating (this can be especially important when coaching girls)
  • Minimize lines – have multiple stations to keep the kids constantly moving
  • Free-play – 30 minutes of no adult involvement

Mental Peak Performance

  • As a parent – Have your child own the experience and stay out of the way, and don’t attend tryouts
  • As a coach – put each kid in the best position for them to succeed – which is different for each kid
  • Coaches – you have to format your communication to your athletes – so that they don’t freeze from the pressures you are putting on them

Coaching Resources

  • TeamSnap – Software program and app that allows you to enter team rosters, schedules, and tons of team info. You can send scheduling updates easily and it’s a lifesaver for team managers.

Discipline

  • Corporate punishment for individual mistakes – You really need to think through your team chemistry and be careful if you are going to ever use this.
  • Community service can be another positive way to discipline kids.

Teambuilding/Rewards

  • HUGE IDEA #1 – Juggling competition – Each week you try to beat your previous record of how many times you can juggle the soccer ball.  Good reward because it encourages you to practice on your own outside of practice.  And you can set individual and team goals for each week and for the season.
  • When setting up teamwork goals – make sure you include the parents, not just the kids

Inspiring Story

  • Be on the lookout for a kid having off the field home problems – being late for practice, etc. – then seek to understand and see how you can help this kid out

Winning

  • Winning is a happy result – but there are so many more lessons to be learned from losing

The One that Got Away

  • Emily’s son’s final high school start as a baseball pitcher – they were up 5-1, and then one play rattled him and the team
  • HUGE IDEA #2 – Coaches – practice situations going wrong and momentum swinging against them – you have to practice it and be prepared for it
  • Teach your kids to be idiot-proof

Coaching/Leadership Motivation

  • Quote – ‘Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming’ – Coach John Wooden

Parting Advice

  • Forget about the win/loss record – and instead focus on making the experience fun

The TeamSnap Youth Sports Podcast

 

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March 12, 2015

WYC 037 Ray Lokar from Basketball4ALL.net and Positive Coaching Alliance talks teaching athletes to focus on WIN-Whats Important Now

 

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

Ray Lokar is the Director of Basketball4ALL (basketball4ALL.net), which provides a variety of lessons, camps, clinics, competitions, and events for the benefit of the Southern California basketball community. Coach Lokar was the Head Basketball Coach of the 2002 CIF Champions while at Bishop Amat High School led St Anthony High School to the semi-finals, Western Christian High School to the quarterfinals, made 4 NCAA tournament appearances in his 9 years as an assistant coach at Pomona-Pitzer College and is a Past-President of the Southern California Interscholastic Basketball Coaches Association.

Always an advocate for the multi-sport athlete, “Coach Lok” coaches baseball at Covina High School and has two DVD series titled  “The Fundamentals Factory” and “Effective Practice Planning” for both basketball and baseball that are available at ChampionshipProductions.com. Ray’s book “101 BasketballTips”, published by Lifetips as part of their Lifetips Book Series,  is available at Amazon.com and his eBook titled “Creating Confident and Coachable Players” can be found on his website, basketball4ALL.net, where you can also book his sport-specific “Gold Standard Coaching” clinics. Lokar also serves as the Southern California Lead Trainer for the nationally renowned Positive Coaching Alliance (positivecoach.org) that provides tremendous resources for everyone in youth and high school sports. He has spoken for hundreds of organizations in over a dozen States on ethics in sports,  peak performance, getting the most out of your players, and being a good Sports Parent.

For over 30 years Coach “Lok” has taught basketball, baseball, softball, volleyball, football, swimming and track in the San Gabriel Valley at the youth, high school, and college levels and has worked countless camps and clinics during that time for ages 8-18. He coached his children Shawn, Heather, and Brittany throughout their participation in youth and high school sports and they each went on to compete at the college level. Ray enjoyed it so much he is doing it all again  with his young son, Tyler, who he hopes learns all the same life lessons as his older brothers and sisters.

Website: basketball4ALL.net

Twitter: @CoachLok

Listen Now:

Listen in ITunes: Itunes link

Listen in Stitcher: Stitcher link

 

Coaching/Leadership Quote

  • ‘When you take the time to teach your boys, there’s an implied confidence, that you believe they can achieve, and that’s praise in itself” – Coach John Wooden

Coaching Your Own Kids

  • Remember often kids like things their team’s name being the RoboSox as much as the wins/losses
  • Before volunteering to coach – make sure to ask your kid if they want you to be their coach
  • Err on the side of being a little tougher on your own kid- but communicate continually with your child, explaining to him why you are doing what you’re doing

My Cringe & ‘Ah-Ha’ Moments

  • Early on – Coach Lok would start his coaching points being critical – after listening to a Coach Wooden observation, he started focusing on spending more time praising little successes and less time being critical
  • Coach each game possession by possession

Teaching Children & Keeping it Fun

  • Kids respond to recognition and rewards (think about kids in a classroom who will do anything for a sticker)

HUGE IDEA #1

  • Your results will come from what you measure, recognize, and reward

Mental Peak Performance

HUGE IDEA #2

  • WIN – Whats Important Now – In high pressure situations – have the kids focus on ONE thing that is important(i.e. hold your follow through) – don’t tell them more than one thing or their head will be swimming with too many concerns

Coaching Resources

Discipline/Rewards

  • Advice from Larry Brown: ‘I don’t have a lot of rules, but I have a lot of suggestions’ – If you make any hardfast rules – you have to enforce them – so be careful making too many rules, especially because each individual situation is usually very different.
  • When things tend to go bad – the tendency is to crack down on the bad stuff – but often if you start praising more the kids doing it right – the rest will come along.  You can even come up with a rewards program for rewarding good behaviors.

Inspiring Story

  • You often won’t know the impact you’re having until years later: when John Wooden was asked if the season was a success: ‘We’ll find out in 20 years’
  • Coach Lok tries to draft at least 1 kid each year who is a little challenged and he could impact
  • Biggest challenge to mom/dad coaches – Make them love the game so they keep playing. ‘Don’t ever be any kid’s last coach’

Winning

  • Be careful about talking about end-of-the-year goals of winning a championship – you want to focus on winning each game, one play at a time
  • Jim Thompson, founder of Positive Coaching Alliance – ‘The heat that competition provides is crucial to the recipe of success’
  • Nelson Mandela – ‘Sports speaks to our youth in a language they understand’

The One that Got Away

  • Coach Lok went against his gut – in a game-winning situation – he didn’t let his son (who was his best player) take the shot – he was too worried about the perception from the parents.  When you’re the coach – you need to separate out emotions and do what’s best.

Coaching/Leadership Motivation

  • Books – anything by Coach Wooden
  • Coach Wooden stories:
    • Coach Lok asked Wooden about Wooden’s lack of verbal praise for his players: ‘When you take the time to teach your boys, there’s an implied confidence, that you believe they can achieve, and that’s praise in itself’
    • Coach Wooden talked about a player he kicked off the team for smoking – the kid quit school and didn’t go to college.  Coach Wooden said from that point on, he always thought about the consequences of his consequences.

Positive Coaching Alliance/ Basketball4ALL.net

  • Coach Lok is involved with the Positive Coaching Alliance – Their Double Goal Coaching material is a great starting place for a coach at any level
  • Coach also provides great resources for basketball coaches at Basketball4ALL.net

 

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March 4, 2015

WYC 036 Keith Van Horn, 10 year NBA veteran, talks youth basketball and the importance of free-play

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

Keith was the ESPN NCAA Player of the Year in 1997, and went on be drafted with the 2nd pick in the NBA draft.  He spent 10 years in the NBA, averaged over 16 points per game, and went to NBA finals with the New Jersey Nets and the Dallas Mavericks.  He currently serves as the Founder and Executive Director for Colorado Premier Basketball Club which is the largest youth basketball club in the state of Colorado, and works with over 1,000 youth in the communities it serves.  He also serves on the National Advisory Board for the Positive Coaching Alliance.  Keith is married and has 4 kids, ages 11 to 19.

Website: keithvanhorn.com

Blog: layupsandrebounds.com

Twitter: @coach_keith44

Facebook: /keithvanhornofficial

Listen Now:

Listen in ITunes: Itunes link

Listen in Stitcher: Stitcher link

 

Coaching my own kids

  • Keep the proper perspective – have fun, learn the sport, learn life lessons

My ‘Ah-Ha’ Moment

  • Youth basketball coaching is very unorganized (vs. other sports like youth soccer, which requires accreditation) – Coaches need to take a little time to get organized so they can teach well

Teaching Children & Keeping it Fun

HUGE IDEA #1 – 1st look at it from the kid’s performance – why are the kids playing? – To have fun, spend time with friends, run and jump a little bit?  This might be different based on their gender also.  When looking at the 4F’s for goals – Fun, Friendships, Fundamentals, Fight – You need to individualize these for each player – some kids just want to hang out with their friends, others want to improve a skill, others just want to win – so create motivation/goals for each individual based on where they are at.

Teaching skills

HUGE IDEA #2

  • Spider – Ball handling game – 4 or 5 defenders, 3 or 4 offensive players – Players have to dribble to the other end of the court while the spiders are trying to knock their ball out of the court, if you get your ball knocked out you join the spiders.
  • Teaching shooting – Do form shooting in 2 player groups – Shooting the ball back and forth to each other (without a basket) to work on form

Mental Peak Performance

  • If you are coaching an organization with tryouts – have good options for everyone – give the parents/kids good
  • As a player – the key is to play present and stay focused on what you are doing – you have to block out the fans/other coaches, etc.
  • The biggest thing a parent can do is instill the right priorities- a basketball tryout is not the most important thing for your child or your family

Inspiring Story

  • Keith is working with youth to teach more than basketball but real life lessons – dealing with losses, working in a team environment, the discipline of practice.

Layupsandrebounds.com

  • Blog created to encourage parents and kids on lessons learned off and on the court
  • Keith encourages more free-play time with no coaches – just learn the game and have fun

Parting Advice

 

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February 24, 2015

WYC 035 Brian Brunkow from ZeroOffseason.com talks Football, Concussions, and Coaching kids with Divorced Parents

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

Brian is the founder of ZeroOffseason.com, where he trains wide receivers and blogs about youth sports, concussions, recruiting, and many more topics.  Brian is a divorce attorney and financial planner.  His background in divorce law has given him a unique perspective on the importance of dealing with divorced parents when coaching young athletes.  Brian began coaching his Junior year of High School, and has been coaching football ever since.  He recently was added to the speaker bureau at Glazier Clinics and will be speaking at their Head Coach Academy this spring on “Recruiting Regulations Every High School Head Coach Must Know.”

Website: zerooffseason.com

Blog: zerooffseason.blogspot.com

Twitter: @ZeroOffseason

Listen Now:

Listen in ITunes: Itunes link

Listen in Stitcher: Stitcher link

 

Coaching/Leadership Quote

  • ‘We run a forward-looking operation’ – Chip Kelly after tough loss

My ‘Cringe’ Moment

  • Ego – Early on Brian ran a no-huddle offense just to get penalties on the defense – but in retrospect – what was he really accomplishing?
  • Priorities – Was he focused on winning, or developing ALL of the kids?
  • Leadership – It’s easy to get caught up in the moment and fail to communicate with your assistant coaches – prioritize over-communicating with your assistants

My ‘Ah-Ha’ Moment

  • Importance of communicating at the level they can understand – and keep the explanation short (under 10 seconds)

Teaching Children & Keeping it Fun

  • Cross-train kids on different positions within a sport – they learn the game much better
  • Explain the ‘Why’ – so they can truly learn the game
  • From post-game to Monday practice – have kids think of:
    • 1 thing they did well
    • 1 thing they want to improve on
    • 1 lesson they learned

Huge Idea #1

3 areas to have the kids focus:

  • 1 – set process oriented goals (setting mini-goals within the game)
  • 2 – get present (teach the kid the big red delete button)
  • 3 – control the controllables

Mental Peak Performance

Huge Idea #2

  • Play present – The delete button, and ‘put on the thought-brakes’
  • Visualization – 2 things:
    • 1 – Visualize the worst-case scenario – and realize that failure will not define you
    • 2 – Post-game – Parents/coaches – Don’t discuss suggested improvements for at least 24 hours after a game

Coaching Resources

  • Bookmark your state’s interscholastic site – free resources on safety, concussions, etc.
  • ‘Peak Performance Sports‘ newsletter by Dr. Patrick Cohn – lots of mental tips
  • Ted Talks – Great talks, one on ‘grit’ is great
  • Your library

Concussion Safety

Discipline

  • Don’t use conditioning as a punishment
  • 3 Types of mistakes:
    • 1 – Mental errors – Find a consequence that hits home with the athlete
    • 2 – Behavior errors – 3 strikes then you’re sitting out the rest of practice
    • 3 – Safety errors – get parents involved

Rewards/Teambuilding

  • Focus rewards on process more than outcomes
  • To inspire conditioning – when offense scores, offense gets to do 7 push-ups; when defense stops offense, defense gets to do 7 push-ups

Inspiring Story

  • Kid whose parents were going through tough divorce – Brian really poured into this kid and tried to make a difference in this young man’s life

The One that Got Away

  • In a game where they were heavily outmatched physically – Brian and his coaches spent halftime trying to figure out technical adjustments – he wished he had spent the time just teaching life lessons

Best Stolen/Borrowed Idea

  • Chip Kelly – after tough loss, talked about moving forward not looking back: ‘We run a forward-looking operation’

Coaching/Leadership Motivation

  • Quote: ‘Fall down 7, get up 8’
  • Book: ‘David and Goliath‘ – by Malcolm Gladwell – problem-solving creativity

ZeroOffseason.com

  • Book, blog, coaching and parenting advice
  • Developing student athletes
  • Tips on coaching kids with divorced parents
  • Book on amazon: Zero Offseason

Parting Advice

  • ‘Don’t send a 10 year-old into early retirement’ – Make them love the game and love being on the team

 

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February 10, 2015

WYC 034 Upward Sports President Caz McCaslin talks about Playing with Purpose

 What does it take to be a winning youth coach? Listen in as Caz McCaslin shares stories and discusses God’s journey in developing Upward Sports to reach Hundreds of Thousands of kids through youth sports.

Caz is the founder of Upward Sports.  Established in 1995, Upward Sports is the world’s largest Christian youth sports provider.  Today, approximately half a million players at more than 2,000 churches in 47 states participate in camps, clinics, and leagues through Upward Sports’ Recreation Division.  In 2012, Upward Sports created its Performance Division – Upward Stars – aimed at young athletes wanting to further develop their skills and participate in a higher level of competition. Within the first year, approximately 900 athletes competed on Upward Stars teams.  Caz is married and has 3 grown daughters.

Website: upward.org

Twitter: @CazMcCaslin; @UpwardStars; @UpwardSports

Facebook: /UpwardSports

Listen Now:

Listen in ITunes: Itunes link

Listen in Stitcher: Stitcher link

 

Coaching/Leadership Quote

  • ‘Caz, you don’t need another gym…What you need is 1,000 gyms.’

Coaching Your Own Kids

  • Remember that each kid is different so you have to coach them differently

Teaching Children & Keeping it Fun

HUGE IDEA #1

  • The 360 Progression – Grow children mentally, athletically, spiritually, and socially
    • Children want to grow – so give them the right direction
    • The progression for each kid is very different – you have to build on where they are at – then progress them.  It has nothing to do with their age or grade.
    • The greatest challenge for a parent/coach – is to understand where each child is in their journey – then progress then appropriately

Mental Peak Performance

  • Confidence and arrogance are 2 very different things – They are the same on the inside, but the difference is on the outside – are you confident internally or are you bragging externally?
  • Getting better, progressing – builds self-confidence on and off the court

Coaching Resources

  • Upward equips and trains their coaches in all elements of coaching

Discipline

HUGE IDEA #2

  • Billy Graham on sports: ‘It’s the last thing left where there is immediate discipline for wrongdoing’ – so make discipline immediate and make it be something the kids really want:
    • Freezeball: If a kid is dribbling and picks up his dribble – yell ‘Freeze’ – everyone freezes, then explain to the child that he cannot dribble again or it is a double-dribble.  His options are to pass or shoot.  Then unfreeze.
  • Let the team come up with the rules – i.e.: If someone talks when the coach is talking – let the team decide at the beginning of the season what the punishment is

Teambuilding

  • Every team should do a service opportunity in their community as a team

Inspiring Story

  • Being on a team often has a powerful impact on individuals but on and off the field
  • Coach K response to Duke’s only loss of one season: ‘How could I be disappointed in how these kids have grown and matured? I don’t have one ounce of disappointment in anything that has happened with this team’

The One that Got Away

  • In Upward Stars’ early days – they had a game ripped away from them by a referee – but Caz actually wouldn’t change a thing – because the Upwards Coaches, players, and parents handled it perfectly with class

Upward Stars

  • Created to bring the positive impact of Upward Sports to post 6th-grade athletes in competitive levels
  • 480 areas across the country targeted
  • Currently 41 areas served and growing

Parting Advice

  • The tagline for Upwards – ‘Play with Purpose’ – Coaches have a purpose with everything you are teaching these young men and women – a purpose on the court and more importantly a purpose off the court
  • ‘The moment you decided to be a coach – you became a legacy.  What kind of legacy are you going to leave?’

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February 3, 2015

WYC 033 Athlete Development – Olaniyi Sobomehin from Pro Squad Athletics and the New Orleans Saints talks self-confidence and ‘Prime-Time’

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

Olaniyi is the founder of Pro Squad Athletics, which inspires and propels young athletes to their ultimate potential by showing what it takes to be great, providing a plan that works, and the systems, habits, and mindset that greatness requires.  Pro Squad has successfully trained athletes at the youth, high school, college, and professional levels.  Olaniyi played college football at Oregon State and was an All-American his senior year at Portland State and went on to play for the New Orleans Saints in the NFL.  Olaniyi is also a full-time firefighter, and is married and has 5 children, 3 sons and 2 daughters, ranging from ages 11 to a newborn.

Olaniyi has also generously offered a free 12 page e-book on the Power of Habits to Winning Youth Coaching listeners, check it out here: prosquadathletics.com/winning-youth-coaching

Website: prosquadathletics.com

Twitter: @NiyiSobo

Facebook: /ProSquadAthletics

Listen Now:

Listen in ITunes: Itunes link

Listen in Stitcher: Stitcher link

 

Coaching/Leadership Quote

  • ‘Leaders are stubborn on vision but flexible on details and approach’ – Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon

Raising my kids

  • Who is taking control of how my kids are being conditioned(mentally and physically)?  If I don’t do it – somebody else will.  You have to invest in them and have a plan.
  • The Daily D system (Daily Disciplines) – each kid has a set of daily habits that are tracked and rewarded

My ‘Cringe Moment’

  • Early on Olaniyi thought his approach was the only right one.  He learned each kid, each team – have individual personalities and will respond uniquely.  So you have to constantly be learning.
  • ‘Leaders are stubborn on vision but flexible on details and approach’ – Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon

Teaching Children & Keeping it Fun

HUGE IDEA #1

  • Communicating in a way that the kids understand is your ultimate goal/challenge.  Use analogies with something they are passionate about (Legos, basketball, singing, etc.)
  • Tony Robbins: ‘The only way to know if you’re communicating well – is if your point is getting across’

Mental Peak Performance

  • Fear of failure- Great analogy – Olaniyi’s son hates to lose and might quit in the middle of a race – So he used the analogy of how obsessed his son is with Mari0 Kart to beat a level – when he fails to complete a level – he doesn’t quit, he keeps pushing reset until he eventually will beat the level.  So use this analogy to show your athlete the type of passion you need to accomplish something – quitting is the only way you will fail.
  • Quote: ‘As long as I take action, evaluate the effectiveness, and adjust according to my desired result, then it’s a win’
  • Initially the first killer of confidence is a lack of skill.  So initially establish a baseline and define some quick improvements where they can see their skill improve by doing some Daily disciplines.

HUGE IDEA #2

  • Confidence is a choice.  Olaniyi’s kids start each day by looking in the mirror and do ‘Affirmations’, they call it ‘Prime-time.’  They flex their muscles and tell themselves they are strong, confident, and proud.  They also record audio of their affirmations in GarageBand laid on top of their favorite track.

Discipline and Teambuilding

  • The #1 challenge for a coach is to establish a purpose for being on this team.  The athlete should be excited about coming to practice, not dread it.

Inspiring Story

  • One of Olaniyi’s students did not have much self confidence.  Olaniyi has worked with her to establish a life vision, purpose, morning mastery routine – now she is taking massive action towards these goals.

The One that Got Away

  • As an assistant coach- Olaniyi saw an athlete who was having a rough game – and he chose not to say anything because he was worried about overstepping his boundaries.  He regrets choosing passivity.

Coaching/Leadership Motivation

  • Quote/Book –  ‘ Never cut anything, never dilute greatness, never pull back on your horsepower, and never put a limit on your ambition, drive, and passion. Demand obsession of yourself and all those around you.’  – Grant Cardone in ‘The 10X Rule‘

Pro Squad Athletics

  • ProSquadAthletics.com
  • Inspires and propels young athletes to their ultimate potential by showing what it takes to be great, providing a plan that works, and the systems, habits, and mindset that greatness requires.
  • Pro Squad has successfully trained athletes at the youth, high school, college, and professional levels.
  • The Daily D habit system – for parents and for athletes
  • Athletes feel free to email Olaniyi with questions – [email protected]

Parting Advice

  • Be a student – invest in learning about your athletes- what makes them tick, what are their goals/expectations

 Promotions Partners

Screen Shot 2015-02-03 at 10.35.39 AM

Free 12 page e-book on the Power of Habits to Winning Youth Coaching listeners, check it out here: prosquadathletics.com/winning-youth-coaching

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January 26, 2015

WYC 032 Cheerleading – Sean Timmons talks BLT – Believe, Love, Trust; and access to Club Zero

 Screen Shot 2015-01-26 at 12.53.36 PMWhat does it take to be a winning youth coach? Listen in as Sean Timmons shares stories and discusses his journey to becoming a successful sports coach.

Sean is the Director of All Stars for all Premier Athletics facilities.  Sean cheered at Rutgers University, and was a member of the first open team at World Cup, The Wild Stars.  In 1996 Sean started his coaching career at the Pop Warner level with the Toms River Angels. During his time with the Angels they won three consecutive National Championships and his success landed him a job coaching at The World Cup All Stars in 1999. Within the 14 years at World Cup he has coached and choreographed for levels 1-5, and has won numerous State, Regional, and National Titles. While working at World Cup Sean also coached Lacey High School, Jackson Memorial High School, Howell High School, and was the Head Coach of Rutgers University from 2009 until 2014.  Sean has traveled all over the US and Canada teaching camps, choreography, judging, and speaking at conferences. He is a former member of the USASF National Advisory Board and is an inaugural member of the NACCC.  His certifications include USASF Level 1-5 (United States All Star Federation), AACCA (American Association of Cheerleading Coaches and Administrators), NCA (National Cheerleading Association), and USAG (USA Gymnastics).

Website: premierathletics.com

Twitter: @PA_Premier

Listen Now:

Listen in ITunes: Itunes link

Listen in Stitcher: Stitcher link

 

Coaching/Leadership Quote

  • ‘BLT – Believe, Love, and Trust’

My ‘Cringe’ Moment

  • Early on – ‘I coached with a lot of ego’ and coached to his own agenda instead of putting the agenda of the athlete first

Coaching AH-HA Moment

  • Coaching Rutgers – Sean realized the importance as a role model/ parent role he held as a coach

Coaching Girls

  • You have to work with them through the changes in their athletic ability as their bodies go through changes
  • Your communication style needs to take into account how they respond – sometimes boys respond to ‘yelling’ more than girls – with the girls you need to adjust for this

Teaching Children & Keeping it Fun

HUGE IDEA #1

  • Set up drills/stations strategically so you can be watching multiple stations at the same time.  And having 5 or 6 stations for the athletes to rotate through keeps standing-around time to a minimum and the athletes’ more interested and engaged
  • You have to get the fundamentals right first before trying to put the whole team routine together

Mental Peak Performance

  • Mastering skills in practice is best preparation
  • Visualize with your eyes closed your perfect routine
  • If you can walk-through your performance the day before the event at the actual location.  Take out surprises.

Skill Development at young ages

  • Learning skills young can help – but make sure you learn them right first!  It’s much easier to teach them correctly instead of trying to correct bad habits developed.

Discipline

  • Talking to the parents and getting on the same page is key

Reward, Recognition, and Teambuilding

  • Moving up a level is a big recognition – the girls get a bow and they celebrate.
  • ‘Club-Zero Bracelets’ – Anytime an athlete has a perfect routine they get a bracelet.  Then the gym/team with the most bracelets at the end of the season gets recognized with sweatshirts.

Teambuilding with Parents

  • 3 parts to every team: 1 – the athlete; 2 – the coach; 3 – the parents.  When all 3 are working well together, success is more likely to happen.
  • Parents night out – they open the gym up and parents can drop off girls and parents go out (hopefully with other couples from the gym).  Same is true when they have closed practices.

Inspiring Story

  • One of Sean’s students wrote an essay about him as one of the most influential people in her life – he kept this and when he is having a tough day he will read it

The One that Got Away

HUGE IDEA #2

  • In a big competition Sean failed to thoroughly read through his score sheets after the first day, so they made the same technicality on day 2 – and it cost his team first place. -‘My head might as well have popped off my shoulders’.  READ THE RULES/BE THOROUGH!  And don’t be shy about bringing in another coach as a 2nd set of eyes to make sure you are doing things the right way.

Best Stolen Idea

  • Sean learned from a coach who had an amazing gift for communicating everything in a positive way

Coaching/Leadership Motivation

  • Every team is different, so each team has a different quote that applies to them
  • ‘BLT’ – Believe, Love, and Trust

Premier Athletics

  • 9 facilities in 5 states – 4 in TN, 2 in KY, 1 in MI, 1 in NC, 1 in FL
  • Multifunctional facilities – gymnastics, dance, preschool programs, class/school cheer, tumbling classes
  • premierathletics.com

Parting Advice

  • Love the kids unconditionally – regardless of their athletic performance

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January 17, 2015

WYC 031 Mental Sports Psychology – James Leath talks achieving peak mental performance

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

James is currently getting his masters in mental sports psychology, has coached youth sports for many years, and is a student of all aspects of sports performance.  James started coaching when his 8th grade coach had to leave the team, so James took over and coached his own 8th grade team!  James played college football and played for the Los Angeles Extreme in the XFL.  James is married and works in sales.

Website: jamesleath.com

Twitter: @jamesleath

Listen Now:

Listen in ITunes: Itunes link

Listen in Stitcher: Stitcher link

 

Coaching/Leadership Quote

  • ‘Spend less time in the strategy books, and more time in how to talk to kids’

My ‘Cringe’ Moment

  • Not being organized
  • When he was just out of college – Not being on time actually got him fired from a coaching job.

Coaching AH-HA Moment

HUGE IDEA #1

  • Keep it simple; Run less plays.  Learned from a coach that ran only 1 formation – that coach only lost 3 games in 4 years.  When you simplify formations and the kids don’t have to think about where to line up – the kid’s confidence and success skyrockets.
  • ‘If your goal is to freeze an athlete – give them a whole bunch of stuff to think about’  Give them only 2 decisions to make on a play, and you’re OK as long as you only choose 1 of these 2(even if it’s the wrong choice, because we can teach you how to choose better).  I’m only going to be upset if you choose something other than 1 of these 2 choices.

Teaching Children & Keeping it Fun

HUGE IDEA #2

  • 2 absolute foundational books:
  • Remember to keep the kids accountable – while you love the kids, you are ultimately their mentor and coach, not their peer friend
  • ‘Spend less time in the strategy books, and more time in how to talk to kids’
  • Everything in short bursts – John Wooden would talk in 20 second bursts
  • How to Improve my Youth Practices:
    • Don’t scrimmage very much.  Only the best athletes touch the ball in scrimmages, plus it’s hard to coach in this environment.
    • When teaching  a skill – try to find a way to make the focus the technique, not the result.  So for basketball – teach them against a wall to try to work on form and hit a crack on the wall.  Then add steps that eventually progress into actually shooting at the basket.  This process builds their confidence and makes the focus perfecting their technique.

Coaching Resources

  • Youtube
  • Reach out to your local high school basketball coach
  • ‘The Talent Code‘ by Daniel Coyle

Inspiring Story

  • James and his wife have fostered kids, so some of his athletes have actually stayed with him.  James had one kid who stayed with him for a while in 6th grade – that kid in 11th grade was about to play in state championships and called James up at 11 o’clock at night to talk – very cool.

The One that Got Away

  • Coaching girls basketball – He smacked his plastic clipboard and it shattered in 20 pieces.  He was upset about the girls not getting rebounds – then afterwards he thought about it and he had never spent any time teaching them how to rebound.

Coaching/Leadership Motivation

Parting Advice

  • Pay less attention to strategy and more attention to fundamentals

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January 8, 2015

WYC 030 Performance Training – Amanda Kephart from Akron General Sports Performance talks getting faster, stronger, and more powerful

What does it take to be a winning youth coach? Listen in as Amanda Kephart shares stories and discusses her journey to becoming a successful sports coach.

Amanda is the Sports Foreman Supervisor at the Akron General Sports Performance center.  Coach Amanda Kephart, MS, CSCS, USAW, has been training athletes for nearly a decade. She has worked at the Division One level with hundreds of athletes at both the University of Akron and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Her energy brings out the best in her athletes and allows them to reach their athletic goals more quickly.  Amanda played basketball in high school, then picked up racquetball in college, where she went on to become a 2-time All-American at Balwin Wallace.

Website: strengthcoachamanda.com

Twitter: @_coachamanda_ ; @akrongeneralsp

Facebook: /akrongeneralsportsperformance

Youtube: /AGSportsPerformance

Listen Now:

Listen in ITunes: Itunes link

Listen in Stitcher: Stitcher link

 

Coaching/Leadership Quote

‘Coaching is a great opportunity to allow the child to practice being what they want to be, not what their classmates think they are’

My ‘Ah-Ha Moment’

  • Sports conditioning is a science – there is a lot to learn about the body

Have Awesome Warm-up Routines

HUGE IDEA #1

  • ‘Why do you do what you do’ – Is this helping your athlete?
  • Your goal isn’t to develop better runners – you want better (fill-in-your-sport) players
  • ‘It’s 2015 – telling the kids to take a lap isn’t going to cut it anymore’
  • 3 core areas – the shoulders, the core, the glutes
  • No static stretching during warm-ups; after practice/after game static stretches make total sense (because the point of static stretching is to move your body into a range it normally doesn’t want to go, so your body is not ready before practice but it is ready after practice)
  • 10 minutes is a good amount of time for warm-ups – use this time to share something inspirational and transition the mind of the athlete from being in their ‘day-job’ or ‘school’ mode into ‘athlete/team’ mode

Teaching Children & Keeping it Fun

  • Know what the child really wants – some want to be a professional athlete, some just want to have fun on the team
  • When teaching any skill – demonstrate it visually AND explain why you’re doing it

What age should my child start working out?

HUGE IDEA #2

  • The biggest factor isn’t what age – the biggest factor is who is coaching your child
  • MetaStudy on strength training safety: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/23015875/. Results:
    • Injuries occur because of:
    • Poor/no supervision
    • Improper technique
    • Improper use of equipment
    • Inappropriate amount of weight
  • There is NO research that shows strength training stunts growth plates.
  • When looking for a good strength coach, look for coaches that focus on the quality and form/ not the total amount of weight or speed of the reps.
  • Core stabilization exercises – Instead of sit-ups there a lot of better options – like planks

Sports Specialization

  • If your athlete absolutely loves playing just one specific sport – make sure they are taking breaks throughout the year to allow their body to recover
  • If you are playing year-round travel teams – when are you learning new skills?

Winning

  • ‘It’s not about winning at any level except varsity.  Your entire job before that level is developing the players’
  • ‘Your win/loss record as a parent coach does not matter.  The only thing that matters is that the kids had a blast, they learned, and they became better.’

Inspiring Story

  • Amanda loves to work with the athletes that come in shy, and she can build confidence in them and bring out their full personality
  • ‘Coaching is a great opportunity to allow the child to practice being what they want to be, not what their classmates think they are’ – Set up your practices and teams to be safe environments that are full of positive encouragement and build up each athlete.

Coaching Resources

Parting Advice

  • Get a system – write it down.  Have a exercise bucket- where you keep a list of drills/exercises to plug in.

Interview Links / Promotional Partners

strengthcoachamanda.com

 

 

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December 18, 2014

WYC 029 Performance Training – Scott Jones from AthleteOnFire talks Weekend Warriors to Mount Everest climbers

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

Scott runs Athlete On Fire, which is involved with equipping and training athletes all over the world – he also hosts a podcast called Athlete On Fire, in which he has interviewed over 100 top athletes from around the globe.  Athlete On Fire was started to bridge the gap between amazing athletes all over the world and everyday athletes with inspiring stories, resources, and tools.  Scott is married and has 2 young sons, ages 3 and 1.

Website: athleteonfire.com

Athlete on Fire Podcast:  – AthleteOnFirePodcast

Twitter: @Athleteonfire

Facebook: /athleteonfire

Listen Now:

Listen in ITunes: Itunes link

Listen in Stitcher: Stitcher link

 

Coaching/Leadership Quote

  • ‘I don’t even count reps until I’m burnt out, then I’ll do 20 more’ – Muhammad Ali

My ‘Ah-Ha Moment’

  • Consistency in coaching – don’t show favoritism – Output/effort is always what is rewarded
  • Do what’s best for the kids, not what’s best for your wins/losses

Teaching Children & Keeping it Fun

HUGE IDEA #1 – When teaching a specific skill – DON’T GUESS!  Ask for help from a high school coach or local community college, or even Youtube.  If you don’t know if they’re doing it wrong – Don’t correct them

  • When you do know how the skill – be consistent in not allowing bad habits to form.
  • One way to correct during a game – as a coach bring a notepad with you and make notes then work on it during practice

Athlete On Fire

  • The biggest takeaway Scott has taken away from the athletes he has interviewed is that it is less about athletic ability and more about the fire and persistence they possess
  • Muhammed Ali quote: ‘I don’t even count reps until I’m burnt out, then I’ll do 20 more’
  • Check out everything at: athleteonfire.com
  • Podcast:  – AthleteOnFirePodcast

Mental Peak Performance

  • First, understand expectations.  Is the parent pressuring a kid to make a team, or is the child’s true passion?

HUGE IDEA #2 – Best way to minimize performance anxiety is practice: ‘For every minute of a presentation, you need 1 hour of preparation’

Favorite Quote/Book

  • Book: J.D. Rockefeller’s attention to details – Titan
  • Book: ‘The River of Doubt‘ – about Teddy Roosevelt dealing with defeat by challenging himself to a huge audacious goal
  • Book: Ed Viesturs (summited Everest 7 times without oxygen) ‘No Shortcuts to the Top‘- speaks to patience

Parting Advice

  • It’s a game!  Teach them something that will last beyond the game they are playing

Interview Links / Promotional Partners

AthleteOnFire.com

 

 

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December 12, 2014

WYC 028 Strength & Conditioning – Robert Taylor from SmarterTeamTraining.com talks Doing One Perfect Rep Ten Times

What does it take to be a winning youth coach? Listen in as Coach Robert Taylor shares coaching stories and discusses his journey to becoming a successful coach.

Coach Taylor runs Smarter Team Training, which is involved with equipping and training athletes all over the world – his clients include Super Bowl champions, World Series champions, and players who have been drafted #1 in the NBA draft.  Coach is married and just had his first daughter.

Website: smarterteamtraining.com

STT Podcast: Coach Taylor hosts a radio show on iTunes and iHeart Radio – Half hour released every Sunday – interviewing coaches and athletes around the world – Join the 37,000 subscribers listening to over 280 episodes – STTpodcast.com

Twitter: @SMARTERTeam

Facebook: /smarterteamtraining

Listen Now:

Listen in ITunes: Itunes link

Listen in Stitcher: Stitcher link

 

Coaching/Leadership Quote

  • ‘At the youth level of sports – you don’t want more reps- you want better reps.’

click to tweet!

My ‘Cringe’ Moment

  • One thing they don’t teach you in college is how to value and develop relationships – with the athletes, the parents, your coaches

My ‘Ah-Ha Moment’

  • Stop chasing the word success and start chasing the word impact

Teaching Children & Keeping it Fun

  • Keep it fun!
  • Don’t expect perfection – instead enjoy the process of incremental improvements
  • Have very few rules
  • ‘We don’t do 10 reps.  We do one perfect rep ten times’

HUGE IDEA #1 – ‘At the youth level of sports – you don’t want more reps- you want better reps.’  More leads to drudgery and hating the sport.  Better leads to excitement and loving the sport.

Best Stolen Idea/Advice from another Coach

  • Praise in public.  If needed criticize in private.

Discipline

  • Have the kids take a picture of their bed made in the morning and send it to one of the coaches – ‘You can’t start the day undisciplined then expect to be disciplined the rest of the day’
  • Coach doesn’t like making them run as a punishment – we want them to love exercise and running – so don’t use it as a punishment.  ‘If they miss a layup – don’t have them run – have them practice layups!’

Reward and Recognition

  • Count high-fives during a practice.  Then try to beat that number in a future practice.
  • At the end of practice – have players say something positive about a teammate.
  • Spend one practice evaluating players’ GPA – Good Positive Attitude.  Are they giving a high-five coming off the field; are they picking up a teammate’s water bottle, etc.   If there’s a bunch of 4.0’s – the team spirit is good, if not – think of ways to recognize those who have the best GPA to encourage the whole team to raise the GPA level.

Mental Edge

HUGE IDEA #2 – How do you de-emphasize the importance of the moment?  One method is a trigger mechanism – something you have practiced and evaluated what works with each individual – something to get the player to smile and realize it’s just a game.  Maybe it’s slapping your leg.  Maybe it’s a teammate saying ‘Spongebob is ugly’, etc.  But you have to practice putting kids in those situations during practice!

The One that Got Away

  • Coach Taylor believes in living/playing present – so doesn’t get caught up in reliving wins and losses in the past.

Favorite Quote/Book

SmarterTeamTraining

  • SMART – Speed, Movement, Agility, Reaction, Technology, Education, Resistance
  • Work with teams and individuals – do clinics and can revenue-share
  • Teach coaches
  • Check out the awesome results their clients are seeing: smarterteamtraining.com
  • STT Podcast: Coach Taylor hosts a radio show on iTunes and iHeart Radio – Half hour released every Sunday – interviewing coaches and athletes around the world – Join the 37,000 subscribers listening to over 280 episodes – STTpodcast.com

Parting Advice

  • If you want more, you must become more.
  • If you want your kids to give more, you need to give more to them.  If you are their lacrosse coach, go to one of their football games or band concert.

Interview Links / Promotional Partners

SmarterTeamTraining.com

 

 

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December 3, 2014

WYC 027 Youth Football – Mike Frederick talks High School Football, the NFL, and Joe Ehrmann

What does it take to be a winning youth coach? Listen in as Mike Frederick shares coaching stories and discusses his journey to becoming a successful coach.

Mike played 5 years in the NFL, including a Super-Bowl run with the Tennessee Titans, 1 year with the original Cleveland Browns, and 3 years with the Baltimore Ravens. He is now the head football coach at his alma mater, Neshaminy High School in Philadelphia.  Mike is married and has four children.

Neshaminy H.S. on Twitter: @neshaminy

Neshaminy H.S. Website: neshaminyfootball.com

NFL Player article on Mike: nflplayerengagement.com

Listen Now:

Listen in ITunes: Itunes link

Listen in Stitcher: Stitcher link

 

Coaching/Leadership Quote

  • ‘The reason I coach is to make each player feel valued – from the top player on the roster to the bottom’

click to tweet!

The Music City Miracle

  • This was a play they practiced every week all season – so the team was prepared, the coach did not panic, and even though it didn’t go exactly as planned – the players were prepared and executed the play successfully.

My ‘Cringe’ Moment

  • Pulling players immediately after they make a mistake – you teach your players to play in fear instead of aggressively

My ‘Ah-Ha Moment’

HUGE IDEA #1: ‘The best time to implement change is after a win’  – players are in a good mood, your voice will come across less irritating, studies show kids are apt to listen more after a win.  After a loss is when you need to be more encouraging.

Teaching Children & Keeping it Fun

  • Each kid responds to different types of teaching – and the only way to figure it out with each kid is trial and error
  • Change things up: Play loud music during practice(learning to communicate in a loud setting); set fun goals: if our running back out-rushes their running back then we get ice cream(great goal b/c it affects the offense and defense)

Best Stolen Idea/Advice from another Coach

  • ‘The reason I coach is to make each player feel valued – from the top player on the roster to the bottom’

Recommended Resources

  • HUDL – allows him to watch film with his coaches while at their own home.  Also they exchange 3 films with each team they play- so they physically don’t send any scouts to any games.  You can also track how long players have been on HUDL – so they try to catch their players doing something right and recognize players that are putting extra time in.
  • Other coaches – if you’re struggling with something – call up some other coaches and ask for a few tips

Discipline

  • 4 step process for a player who has a concern or is upset:
  1. Talk to your position coach
  2. Talk to your coordinator
  3. Talk to the head coach
  4. If there is still a problem – then the head coach can pull in the parents if needed

Reward and Recognition

  • Mike asked the players if there were any ‘entertainers’ in the group (artistic, musicians, rappers, etc.) – told them to prepare something  – and on the last 3-a-day of the summer – they skipped the last practice and let the players ‘entertain’ the team

Inspiring Story

  • Joe Ehrmann has been a personal mentor to Mike, and Mike has implemented Joe’s philosophy of how to love these kids.
  • Mike shared a story of a kid from Haiti who didn’t have much money or insurance, but when he turned 18 he purchased his own 4-month insurance rider and is playing for their team his senior year.  Very inspiring to Mike and the whole team.  ‘That’s why I coach’

Winning/Goals for a Youth Coach

HUGE IDEA #2– Priorities for a Youth Sports Coach:

  • Top priority: teaching safety techniques
  • Next priority: Avoid specialization – play multiple different sports – not only are their mental benefits(keeping things fresh) but also there are physical benefits(mixing up which muscles you are using)

The One(s) that Got Away

  • Mike shares a high school memory of fumbling on the goalline in a game they lost 7-6.  The thing he remembers though is ‘I am glad it was me.’
  • Mike also shares a story from college football at Virginia where they let a game get away from them against a team they normally should have beaten.  The QB got hurt and the backup QB came in and did well – b/c his team had done all their preparation for the starting QB.

Favorite Quote/Book

Parting Advice

  • Embrace the differences in kids and keep it fun – make them love the sport! The majority of kids stop playing sports by 3rd grade – we’ve made it too serious and taken the fun out of it.

Interview Links / Promotional Partners

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November 19, 2014

WYC 026 Youth Basketball – Rich Czeslawski talks High School Basketball and BetterBasketball.com

What does it take to be a winning youth coach? Listen in as Rich Czeslawksi shares coaching stories and discusses his journey to becoming a successful youth coach.

Rich has been coaching high school basketball for 18 years in Crystal Lake High School in Illinois, the last 8 years as head coach. He also is the CEO of BetterBasketball.com – a resource founded by Rick Torbett – for basketball coaches to get training material and videos to help them move from good to great, and the origin of the Read and React Offense.  Rich is also the communications director for the National High School Basketball Coaches Association.  Rich is married and has a 5 year-old son and a 10 month-old daughter.

Twitter: @coachczes

Website: betterbasketball.com

Listen Now:

Listen in ITunes: Itunes link

Listen in Stitcher: Stitcher link

 

Coaching/Leadership Quote

  • ‘It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts’ – John Wooden

click to tweet!

My ‘Cringe’ Moment

  • ‘Early on I was more interested in telling others what I knew instead of learning from others’
  • ‘I was more intense in a negative way instead of being intense in a positive way’

My ‘Ah-Ha Moment’

  • At a Final Four coaching clinic – an older gentleman in front of Rich was furiously taking notes during a session – he turned around afterwards and it was Don Meyer – one of the winningest coaches in college history!  John Wooden quote: ‘It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.’  Be a life-long learner.

Better Basketball

  • Founded by Rick Torbett – great videos for player development – and it’s cornerstone: the Read and React offense.  If you like watching the San Antonio Spurs play basketball – the Read and React is this type of system that you can put in to teams as young as 3rd grade.
  • Player development – videos from Alan Stein and Drew Hanlen
  • Website: betterbasketball.com

Teaching Children & Keeping it Fun

  • Your #1 objective is to make the kids fall in love with the game
  • Small-sided Games!  Kids younger than 5th grade really gain nothing from 4-on-4 or 5-on-5 activities

HUGE IDEA #1: Don’t put young kids in front of a basket when you first start teaching them to shoot!  They will immediately gauge their shooting form based on whether the ball goes in the basket or not – and if the ball is not going in – they often will start implementing bad form if it increases how often their shot goes in the basket.

Best Stolen Idea/Advice from another Coach

  • Always remember that everything a parent does – is because they love their child.  In return – as a coach you ask the parents to remember that as a coach – you have to worry about all the children in the program (not just their one kid they love.)

Recommended Resources

  • Pure Sweat Basketball – Brand new site/app that has awesome player development drills for any level.  Developed by Drew Hanlen and Alan Stein.  puresweatbasketball.com

Discipline

  • Rules are very individualized by your team.  A mature team that knows what they want – might need very few rules.  A less mature team with lots of troublemakers might need many rules.
  • ‘Equal is not always fair and fair is not always equal’

Reward and Recognition

  • Catch people doing something right on a daily basis

HUGE IDEA #2 – Each week – ‘A me, a we, and a you’: What is something I did well this week, what is something the team did well this week, and what is something another individual did well this week.

Inspiring Story

  • Sometimes it’s tough to immediately realize the impact you are having on the kids – but it comes together when kids connect with you years after you’ve coached them

Winning

  • Below 5th grade – Rich does not think winning should be a goal.  It teaches the wrong messages.  Probably don’t even need to be playing in 5-on-5 leagues.
  • In 5th grade/6th grade – practice to game ratio should be heavily weighed on the practice side
  • ‘Nobody cares what your 6th grade record is’

The One that Got Away

  • Coach Rich went with the percentages instead of going with his gut – the lesson learned is to know your players and know what types of situations they thrive in

Favorite Quote/Book

  • ‘A leader is best when people barely know he exists.  When his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say ‘we did it ourselves” – Lao Tzu

Parting Advice

  • You will impact the young people you coach permanently – have the approach of making this a positive impact

Interview Links / Promotional Partners

Krossover

 

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November 14, 2014

WYC 025B – Craig Haworth turns the microphone around – interviewed on Janis Meredith’s Positive Sports Parenting Podcast – talks Winning

Craig Haworth, the host of the Winning Youth Coaching podcast, turns the microphone around and shares his interview with Janis Meredith on the Positive Sports Parenting Podcast.  Listen in as he discusses the role winning plays in youth sports, as well as what he’s learned in the first 24 interviews conducted with Winning Youth Coaches from across the country.

Twitter: @craighaworth1

Listen Now:

Listen in ITunes: Itunes link

Listen in Stitcher: Stitcher link

 

Interview Links / Promotional Partners

JBM Thinks – Positive Sports Parenting

 

 

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November 11, 2014

WYC 025A – Craig Haworth turns the microphone around – interviewed on Dave Westwood’s New and Noteworthy Podcast – talks Winning Youth Coaching

Craig Haworth, the host of the Winning Youth Coaching podcast, turns the microphone around and shares his interview with Dave Westwood on The New and Noteworthy Podcast.  Listen in as he discusses what he’s learned in the first 24 interviews conducted with Winning Youth Coaches from across the country, as well as his own personal coaching experiences.

Twitter: @craighaworth1

Listen Now:

Listen in ITunes: Itunes link

Listen in Stitcher: Stitcher link

 

Interview Links / Promotional Partners

New and Noteworthy Podcast with Dave Westwood

 

 

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November 4, 2014

WYC 024 Youth Basketball – Randy Montgomery talks High School Basketball and shares stories from John Wooden

Randy picBook picWhat does it take to be a winning youth coach? Listen in as Randy Montgomery shares coaching stories and discusses his journey to becoming a successful youth coach.

Randy has been a high school basketball coach in Northeast Ohio for the past 31 years and coached over 700 games. He coached under Bob Huggins at Walsh College in Canton for 3 years. He then coached varsity basketball at Triway High School in Wooster for 19 years and North Canton Hoover High School for 12 years. Randy also became friends with John Wooden and got to learn and share stories with Coach. Randy is married and has 3 grown daughters.

Twitter: @coachmont73

Website: beyondthehardwood.com

Listen Now:

Listen in ITunes: Itunes link

Listen in Stitcher: Stitcher link

 

Coaching/Leadership Quote

  • ‘You don’t handle people, you work with people’

click to tweet!

Coaching your own Kid

  • Make sure you take into consideration the age and make-up of the teams you are coaching

My ‘Cringe’ Moment

  • Coming from an era of Bobby Knight, Coach Montgomery shares being really intense and focusing on winning

My ‘Ah-Ha Moment’

  • Know that if you set an aggressive goal like making it to the State championships – it is grueling on the coaches, players, families, and fans.

Teaching Children & Keeping it Fun

  • In 31 years – they never scrimmaged in practice – they spent practice time doing drills that were applicable to the game
  • HUGE IDEA #1 – Whole-part-whole teaching method – Show it all, then drill it, then run it in full. Start it at 2-0, then 3-0, then 4-0, then 5-0. Then add in a defense.
  • Dribble tag – put it to music and do it for 5 to 7 minutes to keep it fun

Best Stolen Idea

  • Figure out what your team needs to work on – then seek out 1 or 2 drills to focus on that

Discipline

  • It’s a team sport – Coach Montgomery would end every practice with a 90% drill – he picks 5 different players to shoot 2 free throws, if they don’t collectively make 9 out of 10 – the whole team runs
  • Use the Bench – One of the most effective discipline tools is to use playing time/the bench

Reward and Recognition

HUGE IDEA #2

  • 3 Huge awards at end of season:

1 – Most charges

2 – Best free-throw shooter

3 – Leading rebounder

Parent Involvement

  • Coach would never talk to parents about playing time

Inspiring Story

  • A lot of kids don’t appreciate what you are investing in them at the time – but come back years later and thank you

Winning

  • Winning should be one of the goals, but not the goal. Coach Wooden never talked about winning, but rather about playing your best
  • Kids need to learn to win, and more importantly need to learn how to lose

The One that Got Away

  • Coach Montgomery has no regrets on his preparation for each game – but certainly there are games that hurt

Spending time with Coach – Randy talks about spending time with Coach John Wooden

  • ‘You don’t handle people, you work with people’
  • Awesome story about how he ended up at UCLA instead of Minnesota

Parting Advice

  • Write down 2 or 3 things you want to accomplish, then set up your plan accordingly – don’t overcomplicate things

The Best-Laid Plans of a High School Basketball CEO

  • This book has a unique perspective in each chapter – From the perspective of a 100-win coach(Coach Matt Kramer), and from the perspective of a 500-win coach (Coach Randy Montgomery)
  • Find it here: beyondthehardwood.com

Interview Links / Promotional Partners

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October 28, 2014

WYC 023 Youth Football – Clint Schumacher talks youth football and how he implemented Dave Cisar’s Winning Youth Football System

Clint picWhat does it take to be a winning youth coach? Listen in as Clint Schumacher shares coaching stories and discusses his journey to becoming a successful youth coach.

Clint was raised in Nashville, TN. Clint is an Attorney and now lives outside of Dallas, Texas. He has been coaching flag and tackle football over the last 7 years. Clint played football, basketball, and track growing up. Clint is married and has 3 sons, ages 12, 10, and 7.

Twitter: @J_Clint

Listen in ITunes: Itunes link

Listen in Stitcher: Stitcher link

 

Coaching/Leadership Quote

  • ‘Put aside your positional authority to demand, and think about your relational credibility to expect’ – from 2 Timothy in the Bible

click to tweet!

Coaching your own Kid

  • Clint shares a story of being too hard on his own kid

My ‘Cringe’ Moment

  • In dealing with an assistant coach that was being too hard on his own son, Clint regrets he ‘let that go’ and didn’t correct that situation with assertiveness

My ‘Ah-Ha Moment’

  • Learned from Dave Cisar: Conducting everything at a much faster pace. Teach against air and instead of running a play every 2 or 3 minutes, run 4 plays per minute.

Teaching Children & Keeping it Fun

  • Break everything down into small pieces – A football stance can be broken down into 5 micro-steps. Use visual images, using kid’s terms, so it’s easy for the kids to remember.
  • Clint will bring out a boom box for a segment of practice to lighten the mood and keep things fun.
  • Speedball – Wide open, fast-paced frisbee football – This is also great ‘hidden conditioning’

Coaching Resources

Discipline

  • 2 things they punish whole team for:

1 – Lack of effort

2 – Jumping offsides

  • Everything else is case-by-case. Making kids sit out is one of the most effective punishments.
  • HUGE IDEA #1: Criticism sandwich – Sandwich criticism between praise

Reward and Recognition

HUGE IDEA #2:

  • Practice Warrior – every practice they have a blue jersey that is lettered ‘practice warrior,’ and whoever is best teammate get to wear jersey next practice
  • Helmet stickers – If team accomplishes all 4 goals for the game, everyone gets a sticker:
    • 1 – Win the game
    • 2 – Score 26 points
    • 3 – Hold the other team to 7 points or less
    • 4 – Win the turnover battle
    • Individual stickers: ‘hidden victories in a game’:
    • 1 – Pancake block
    • 2 – Anyone who forces or recovers a fumble/interception
    • 3 – If a back carries out such a good fake that he gets tackled
  • Character quality of the week – 4 kids win each week – the 4 kids that win that week are captains for the game

Inspiring Story

  • Clint prayed in the offseason for some kids who came from tougher backgrounds so they could impact them – he has 2 kids on this year’s team that they have really poured into

Winning

  • Winning is important – but not because of the scoreboard – more importantly it is a grading of your process

The One that Got Away

  • Clint’s 2nd grade flag-football team just lost a heartbreaker on a last second play – but he was extremely proud of the great way they competed

Coaching/Leadership Motivation

  • Books: ‘Inside-out Coaching’, ‘Season of Life’ – both by/about Joe Ehrmann
  • Quote: ‘Put aside your positional authority to demand, and think about your relational credibility to expect’ – from 2 Timothy in the Bible

Parting Advice

  • Many kids will remember their first coach – are you going to feed positive qualities into them, or negative ones

Interview Links / Promotional Partners

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October 18, 2014

WYC 022 Youth Basketball – Kevin Furtado talks girls basketball and the Intensity of Winning

Kevin picWhat does it take to be a winning youth coach? Listen in as Kevin Furtado shares coaching stories and discusses his journey to becoming a successful youth coach.

Kevin is a Girls weight training coach and P.E. teacher at Upson Lee High School in Thomaston, Georgia. He is the Head Coach of Upson Lee’s Varsity Girls Basketball team. He has been coaching basketball for over 24 years. Kevin grew up in San Jose California and played football, basketball, and baseball growing up.

Twitter: @kevinfurtado

Website: coachfurtado.com

Listen in ITunes: Itunes link

Listen in Stitcher: Stitcher link

 

Coaching/Leadership Quote

▪   ‘Winning is a process driven by character’ – Brett Ledbetter

click to tweet!

Coaching your own Kid

  • Kevin recalls several stories of his Dad’s coaching style – how inclusion of all kids was a priority ; and how his Dad pushed him to be a better team player

My ‘Cringe’ Moment

▪   ‘My first few years of coaching I focused on winning more than development. I don’t remember the wins as much as I remember the kids that have gone on to be better players’

Teaching Children & Keeping it Fun

  • ‘The Intensity of Winning’ – This is measured by hard work. Hard work is a skill that can be developed. We are going to commit to dominating our opponent through hard work.
  • #1 skill is footwork – Balance, pivoting. Get a low chair stance. Ripping the ball, sweeping the ball. 4-Line Pivot drill – they do it every day at practice.
  • Lots of small-sided games. You get more touches with the ball if you are 3 on 3 vs. 5 on 5.
  • Fun game: Passing tag – have to pass the ball and ‘tag’ someone. Stop, catch, pivot, then tag. Timed drill –team with the lowest time wins. Can do it with more than 5 per team.
  • Every kid must have a ball! If you have 12 kids on the team you better have 12 balls!

Best Stolen Idea

  • Gene Durdin – Girls basketball coach at Buford H.S. in Georgia – taught Kevin:

o  The Breakfast Club. Ball-handling and shooting drills they do at 6 a.m. during the summer.

o  HUGE IDEA #1 – Pre-game warm-up – ‘How you warm-up is how you play the game.’ They start with high-intensity pass-catch drill. Then 4-corner pivot drill. Fast-paced, 6 or 7 drills. Everything together (take warm-ups off together.) Part of development is players learning how to prepare to win.

Coaching Resources

▪   I-practice builder – App that lets you build practice plan, and you can have video library.

▪   Coaches Eye – Can break down video in slow-motion. Be careful to show positive things when doing it as a team, then if you want to improve a specific skill with an individual

▪   94 50 Smart Sensor basketball – Basketball that analyzes your shot

▪   Beyondthehardwood.com – Developed by Matt Kramer and Randy Montgomery – great system for developing a program

Discipline

▪   Discipline starts with being prepared as a coach

▪   Coaches – speak/teach in quick short phrases:

HUGE IDEA #2: 30 second/ 10 second time-outs – In the middle of a drill – call 30 second time-out – to teach a new concept

  • The biggest discipline is to have them sit out something they enjoy

Reward and Recognition

▪   ‘Practice-player of the day’; ‘Best communicator of the day’ – talk your action’; ‘Charge-card award’

▪   Circle of Giving – After games(particularly a loss) is not the time to rip into your team. Kevin has each player share something they saw the person on their right do well in the game.

Coaching Girls

  • Coach them as athletes just the same as boys. But social interactions are usually more important with girls than boys so make sure you take time to develop relationships

The One that Got Away

  • Coach Furtado shares a story where he didn’t handle a loss well – he learned poise

Coaching/Leadership Motivation

▪   Quote: ‘Winning is a process driven by character’ – Brett Ledbetter

▪   Book: ‘Competitive Drills for Winning Basketball’ by Jan Lahodny

▪   Book: ‘The Best-Laid Plans of a High School Basketball CEO’ – Randy Montgomery and Matt Kramer

▪   Favorite Podcasts:

▪      Winning Youth Coaching 🙂

▪      Hardwood Hustle – Alan Stein/Adam Bradley

▪      Athlete by Design – Jeremy Boone

▪      Whistle and a Clipboard – Jason Oates

▪      Who are You Sports – Rob Elwood

Parting Advice

▪   Focus on long-term athletic development

Interview Links / Promotional Partners

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October 8, 2014

WYC 021 Youth Baseball – Jason Larocque from ‘Winwithinbaseball.com’ – talks Culture, and Avoiding the Worst Case Scenario

jason pic 2What does it take to be a winning youth coach? Listen in as Jason Larocque shares coaching stories and discusses his journey to becoming a successful youth coach.

Jason is a Middle School Director at St. Johns Prep in Massachusetts. Jason is a lifetime baseball player, including 4 years at Harvard, where he was captain his Senior year. He has also been actively involved in training and coaching youth through Winwithinbaseball.com. He is married and to a wife who coaches Division 1 Field Hockey.

Twitter: @CoachWonk

Website: winwithinbaseball.com

Listen NOW:


Listen in ITunes: Itunes link

Listen in Stitcher: Stitcher link

 

Coaching/Leadership Quote

▪   ‘It’s hard to make policy in the middle of the season.’

click to tweet!

My ‘Cringe’ Moment

▪   ‘My first year I thought I had to fix everybody’ – Sometimes you just need to encourage players and let them struggle a little bit before you offer advice. Also often times kids have unique motions and you need to evaluate whether it’s a problem that needs fixed

Teaching Children & Keeping it Fun

▪   Be relaxed – Avoid phrases like ‘Try harder’ or ‘Run faster’ – these commands often tighten up a player’s muscles and stiffens them instead of loosening them up
▪   Teach the kids to watch what great looks like. Go to a high school game and show them what to watch for in the good players
▪   To keep a fast-paced practice – use a throw-back – can have 5 kids on each side so they are practicing throwing, fielding, then have a net for them to throw into
▪   If you don’t have parents available to help coach – talk to the high school and see if you can get 1 or 2 varsity players to help you coach.

Best Stolen Idea

▪   HUGE IDEA #1 The Worst Case Scenario – Have a few unbreakable rules – so the kids are clear on what is never allowed
▪   Bill Bellichick – Put 6 hours of preparation into a 1 hour practice

Coaching Resources

▪   Gamechanger.io – App that does baseball scoring and stats. Parents can watch game on gametracker

▪   Coaches’ Choice – DVDs to show skills

Discipline

▪   HUGE IDEA #2 Before you talk about discipline – you have to set up the culture- and you cannot bend on what you set up as the culture. Players’ shirts always tucked in; hats always worn forward; equipment always carried by kids not parents; kids always thank parents when dropped off,etc. ‘It’s hard to make policy in the middle of the season.’

▪   Have a discussion with the team before disciplining the whole team for an infraction. Visually show them your expectation.

Reward and Recognition

▪   Don’t keep stats at the youth level! Most of the time keeping stats will teach the wrong behavior.

▪   Idea: Print T-Shirts: Print shirts and number them – Win 1, Win 2, etc – and whoever was the best teammate during the game/week – earns the shirt after a win.

▪   Instead of coach giving recap after a game- have the kids commend their teammates

Inspiring Story

▪   You have to show your players you care about them beyond their ‘use’ as an athlete. Sometimes call a player at home if they had a rough game.

The One that Got Away

▪   In championship game against rival – 2x in 2 innings – his star pitcher balked with runner on 3rd. Sometimes that stuff just happens.

▪   Other team had gimmicky play to fake out his team and get 3rd out. It’s bad coaching – but prepare your team for other coaches to do it.

Coaching/Leadership Motivation

▪   Book: ‘Drive’ by Daniel Pink – how to motivate people

▪   Book: ‘Talent is Over-rated’ by Geoffrey Colvin

▪   Book: ‘The Talent Code’ by Daniel Coyle

Parting Advice

▪   Don’t try to re-invent the wheel, but you have to inflate the tires.

▪   Be prepared- take the time to be ready for practice. Then relax and enjoy the time with the kids.

Interview Links / Promotional Partners

Better Basketball

 

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October 2, 2014

WYC 020 Youth Baseball – Dave Westwood from ‘New and Noteworthy Podcast’ – talks Leadership and Having a Plan

dave-westwoodnew-and-noteworthy-logoWhat does it take to be a winning youth coach? Listen in as Dave Westwood shares coaching stories and discusses his journey to becoming a successful youth coach.

Dave is a business consultant from Pennsylvania. He recently launched a podcast called the New and Noteworthy Podcast. He played baseball and football growing up. He has coached youth baseball over the last 20 years. He is married and has 1 child – an 8 year-old son.

Website: newandnoteworthy.net

New and Noteworthy Podcast: iTunes ; Stitcher

Twitter: @QWestwood

Facebook: /newandnoteworthy

Listen NOW:

Listen in ITunes: Itunes link

Listen in Stitcher: Stitcher link

 

Coaching/Leadership Quote

▪   ‘A leader is best when people barely know he exists. When his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say ‘we did it ourselves’’

click to tweet!

Coaching your own Kid

▪   It’s hard to not be harder on your own kid

My ‘Cringe’ Moment

▪   Dave shared story of confronting umpire in a quiet, non-threatening way. The umpire flipped out and caused a big scene. Dave doesn’t regret the way he confronted him, just regrets that the kids had to witness this umpire behaving this way. Tweet your thoughts: Should Dave have done something differently?

Coaching AH-HA Moment

HUGE IDEA #1

You have to have:

1 – an organized system

2 – a coaching staff/support system.

‘It takes a village to raise the team’

Teaching Children & Keeping it Fun

▪   Get to know their personalities and embrace the craziness
▪   Teach 2 key things: fundamentals, and sportsmanship. With sportsmanship – modeling the behavior is as important as talking about it.

Best Stolen Idea

▪   Learn skills in small groups! Eliminate standing around.

Coaching Resources

▪   Ripken baseball

▪   Positive Coaching Alliance

▪   Winning Youth Coaching (thanks Dave!)

Discipline

▪   Create teachable moments

Reward and Recognition

▪   Have whole team sign baseball as keepsake at end of year

▪   Constant, positive reinforcement

Teambuilding

▪   Spend time letting them get to know their teammates – name games the first few practices

Inspiring Story

▪   Dave shares story of coach telling him ‘you made the all-star team because your teammate is going to be out-of-town’ – Ouch. Coach – what were you thinking?
▪   Dave now has kid that loves being on his team and comes up and hugs him

Winning

▪   The kids know who win or lose – so don’t hide from it. Teach the kids how to win and how to lose well.

The One that Got Away

▪   Playing another team that was breaking some rules – Dave got frustrated and blitzed 4 straight plays – on the 4th one they got burnt for a TD. HUGE IDEA #2: Don’t let emotions take over your decisions.

Coaching/Leadership Motivation

▪   Quote: ‘A leader is best when people barely know he exists. When his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say ‘we did it ourselves’’

▪   Quote: ‘Before you’re a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others’ – Jack Welch

▪   Book: ‘Success is a Choice’ – Rick Pitino

▪   Book: ‘Team Captains Leadership Manual’ – Jeff Janssen

Parting Advice

▪   Have a plan before you walk on the field

The New and Noteworthy Podcast

▪   Dave has launched a new podcast featuring many new podcasts that are being launched – check it out at: newandnoteworthy.net. (The Winning Youth Coaching podcast was actually featured on his show– check out episode 013 at: N&N Episode 013

Interview Links / Promotional Partners

New and Noteworthy Podcast with Dave Westwood

 

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September 24, 2014

WYC 019 Youth Baseball – Rob Elwood from ‘Who are you-The Life Lessons of Sports Podcast’ – talks Effort over Results

rob-elwood picWHo are you sports - picWhat does it take to be a winning youth coach? Listen in as Rob Elwood shares coaching stories and discusses his journey to becoming a successful youth coach.

Rob is a sports entrepreneur and hosts the podcast ‘Who are you – the Life Lessons of Sports.’ Rob started out as an intern for the Cleveland Indians, and has continued to work in sports throughout his career.  His podcast features over 130 interviews of collegiate and professional athletes, from Rick Barry of the NBA, to Jonathan Ogden from the NFL – and asks the question – ‘Who are you, and what role did sports have in forming who you are?’  He has coached youth baseball for 15 years. He is married and has two children, a 5 year-old son and a 2 ½ year-old son. They live in Annapolis, Maryland.

Website: whoareyousports.com

Twitter: @whoareyousports

Facebook: /whoareusports

Listen NOW:

Listen in ITunes: Itunes link

Listen in Stitcher: Stitcher link

 

Coaching/Leadership Quote

▪   ‘Effort over Results’

click to tweet!

My ‘Cringe’ Moment

▪   Rob shares his early experience as a youth coach – he regrets not laying the groundwork with the parents that:

HUGE IDEA #1 – 2 things he will not take input from parents on:

1-   playing-time

2-   game strategy

AH-HA / Pivot Moment

▪   Rob had opportunity to pursue being a General Manager for Major League Baseball – but made a pivot moment based on where he wanted his life to go

Teaching Children & Keeping it Fun

3 things need to happen as a coach or a parent choosing a sports team:

  • Kids are having fun
  • Kids are learning
  • Kids are making new friends

▪   As far as teaching – It’s all about fundamentals, repetitions. Break everything down into small steps. For baseball fielding – break down into 3 steps – fielding the ball, getting into position to throw, then making the throw. Add positive celebrations as they improve each area.

▪   Take your team to high school game – and find teaching points to show them in the game.

Coaching Resources

▪   Football: APlayADay.com

▪   Baseball: Dr. James Andrews’ injury prevention website

▪   Baseball pitching drills: Rick Peterson’s 3P Sports website

▪   Positive Coaching Alliance

▪   UberSense – Video coaching and sports coaching app

Discipline

HUGE IDEA #2: Discipline starts with a culture:

o  It starts with gratitude: Say thank you to your parents when you get dropped off. Carry your own equipment to/from the field.

o  Be organized – all equipment has a place

o  As a coach – I then need to be organized with a plan

Inspiring Story

▪   Mr. Giggles – A young man Rob coached – always smiling and laughing, but always closed his eyes as soon as the pitcher threw a pitch. Rob and the coaches worked with him, by starting with whiffle balls and tennis balls – to help him overcome his fear.

Coaching/Leadership Motivation

▪   Quote: ‘Effort over results’

▪   Books: Tony Dungy, John Wooden

▪   Books: Malcolm Gladwell: ‘Inside the Tipping Point’ – the stickiness factor

▪   Books: Chip and Dan Heath: ‘Made to Stick’

Who are You Sports

▪   Rob wanted to share stories about who the athletes are and how they became who they are. Podcast link

▪   Project he is working on: coaching videos

Interview Links / Promotional Partners

Screen Shot 2014-08-04 at 5.36.02 PMThe Inspired Treehouse

 

New and Noteworthy Podcast with Dave Westwood

 

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September 18, 2014

WYC 018 Michael Langlois – Author of ‘Are you an Inspirational Youth Sports Coach’– talks youth baseball and Common Sense Communication

Michael Langlois picAre you Book picWhat does it take to be a winning youth coach? Listen in as Michael Langlois shares coaching stories and discusses his journey to becoming a successful youth coach.

Michael Langlois is a communications advisor – he has a background in broadcasting, has worked with NHL coaches, and young athletes. Michael, along with his wife Mary-Louise, have co-written several books on coaching youth sports. Michael and Mary-Louise live near Toronto, Canada. They have 4 grown sons.

Websites: prospectcommunications.com and takingyoubeyondthegame.blogspot.com

Twitter:@ProspectComm and @YouthSportsTYBG (Taking You Beyond the Game)

Facebook: /Prospect-Communications

Listen NOW:

Listen in ITunes: Itunes link

Listen in Stitcher: Stitcher link

 

Coaching/Leadership Quote

▪   ‘In youth sports you cannot play with a piano on your back’

click to tweet!

Coaching Your Own Kid/My Cringe Moment

▪   Michael shares that maybe he was too hard on one of his sons and too critical. ‘Pick it up, it’s not a grenade’ – yelled by Dad from the dugout. Michael’s self-reflection: ‘Who’s being the adult here?’

Coaching AH-HA Moment

HUGE IDEA #1 – ‘In youth sports you cannot play with a piano on your back’ – Kids can’t play with coaches hounding them about mistakes and taking away their confidence.

Teaching Children & Keeping it Fun

  • ‘Common sense communication’
  • ‘How do you want to be remembered in 20 years?’

Reward, Recognition, and Teambuilding

  • Draft kids with positive body language, don’t blame their teammates, are humble

The One that Got Away

  • Trying not to run up the score – other team came back and tied game

Parting Advice

HUGE IDEA #2: Coaches – 2 questions to ask your kids: ‘What do you love about playing this sport?’ and ‘What motivates you?’

Michael and Mary-Louise’s Youth Sports books

Screen Shot 2014-09-17 at 11.14.32 PM ‘A Guide to effective communication for Youth Soccer Coaches’

 

Are you Book pic

‘Are You an Inspirational Youth Sports Coach?’

 

Screen Shot 2014-09-17 at 11.12.55 PM‘You can be an Inspirational Youth Hockey Coach!’

 

Interview Links / Promotional Partners

Screen Shot 2014-09-17 at 11.21.24 PMAlan Stein’s Hardwood Hustle Podcast and Strongerteam.com

 

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September 9, 2014

WYC 017 Shane Sams – CoachXO.com – Youth Football

Screen Shot 2014-09-09 at 1.24.11 PMScreen Shot 2014-09-09 at 1.31.51 PMWhat does it take to be a winning youth coach? Listen in as Shane Sams shares coaching stories and discusses his journey to becoming a successful youth coach.

Shane Sams is the founder of CoachXO.com, a high-school football defensive coordinator, and the co-founder with his wife of Flippedlifestyle.com. Shane brings a wealth of valuable football experience from coaching at the college and high-school levels. He hosts the podcast ‘The Coach X O Show’ and co-hosts with his wife Jocelyn ‘The Flipped Lifestyle Podcast.’ Alan lives in Kentucky with his wife and 2 kids – daughter Anna and son Isaac.

Website: CoachXO.com and Flippedlifestyle.com

Twitter:@CoachXO and @FlippedLS

Facebook: /CoachXO and /FlippedLifestyle

Youtube: /CoachXO

Listen NOW:


Listen in ITunes: Itunes link

Listen in Stitcher: Stitcher link

 

Coaching/Leadership Quote

▪   ‘Don’t just tell me about problems. Tell me about some solutions’

click to tweet!

My ‘Cringe’ Moment

▪   Trying to coach high-school kids like they were college kids. Particularly emotionally.

Coaching AH-HA Moment

▪   It does not matter what I know – it only matters what the players know. Be deliberate and define clearly. ‘I stopped using football terms and used words they know’

Teaching Children & Keeping it Fun

HUGE IDEA #1 – SIMPLIFY! Coach Sams identifies 5 skills for each position – then those are the only skills they teach in practice for the entire year. For younger kids maybe only 3 or 4 skills. Repetitions are key – don’t keep changing things up.

  • Fun games:
    • The give-up drill – 3 blockers defending a pad vs. 1 player
    • Defend the box

Best Stolen Idea

▪   ‘Don’t just tell me about problems. Tell me about some solutions’

Great Resources

▪   CoachHuey.com – Great football x’s and o’s

▪   Football-defense.com

▪   Connect with coaching forums – CoachXO.com/forums, facebook, twitter

Discipline

▪   ‘I have no set rules. Every situation demands my research’

Reward, Recognition, and Teambuilding

  • The biggest reward is: Playing Time

Inspiring Story

  • Kid with great attitude but not very talented – scored a TD on senior night

Winning

  • You play to win – but make sure you evaluate where your team is at.
  • Set mini-goals within the game and emphasize those instead of the winning.

The One that Got Away

  • Freshman long-snapper – enough said

Coaching/Leadership Motivation

▪   Quote – ‘‘Don’t just tell me about problems. Tell me about some solutions’

▪   Book – ‘Developing a Defensive Gameplan’ – Kenny Ratledge

Parting Advice

HUGE IDEA #2 – ‘Don’t re-invent the wheel – You are not Vince Lombardi’ – go find something that works and copy it – you will put your own signature on it

Coach XO and Flippedlifestyle

▪   Coach XO- Great football info and great forums

▪   Flippedlifestyle – Blog about working from home

Interview Links / Promotional Partners

Who are You – The Life Lessons of Sports

 

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September 3, 2014

WYC 016 Alan Stein – Hardwood Hustle podcast and Strongerteam.com – Youth Basketball

Alan Stein pic Alan Stein KD picWhat does it take to be a winning youth coach? Listen in as Alan Stein shares coaching stories and discusses his journey to becoming a successful youth coach.

Alan Stein is the owner of Stronger Team and the strength & conditioning coach for the nationally renowned, Nike elite DeMatha Catholic High School basketball program. Alan brings a wealth of valuable experience to his training arsenal from over a decade of extensive work with elite high school, college, and NBA players. He also co-hosts the podcast ‘Hardwood Hustle’ with Adam Bradley. Alan lives in Bethesda, MD with his wife Rebecca, twin sons Luke & Jack (aka ‘The Born Backcourt’), and daughter Lyla.

Website: Strongerteam.com

Twitter:@AlanStein

Facebook: /strongerteam

Youtube: /strongerteam

Podcast: Hardwood Hustle

Listen NOW:

Listen in iTunes: iTunes link

Listen in Stitcher: Stitcher link

 

Coaching/Leadership Quote

▪   ‘A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle’

click to tweet!

Coaching your own Kid

▪   It is important for your child to have a positive sports experience early on – and if that means you need to step up and be coach, step up and do it

My ‘Cringe’ Moment

▪   There are 100 ways to skin a cat – in Alan’s early years he wasn’t as open-minded about outside methodologies

Coaching AH-HA Moment

  • Meeting Todd Wright, Texas’ strength coach

Teaching Children & Keeping it Fun

  • Kids are different than adults! Physically, mentally, and emotionally
  • Start with the foundation – their body, then move to their skill, then to their brain, then to their heart.

HUGE IDEA #1 – 60 minute practice plans

  • 60 minute practice plan for 8 year-old:

o  20-25 minutes – body awareness/performance

o  30 minutes – fundamentals/skills

o  5-10 minutes – Play games: 2-on-2 or 3-on-3

  • 60 minute practice plan for High-schooler:

o  5-8 minutes – body awareness/performance

o  15-20 minutes – fundamentals/skills

o  15-20 minutes – Situational games, still lots of 3-on-3

Best Practice Warm-up

HUGE IDEA #2 – 6 primary movements to include in your warm-up:

  1. Sprinting
  2. Backpedaling
  3. Defensive sliding
  4. Pivoting
  5. Jumping/landing
  6. Lunging

Watch examples on Alan’s Youtube channel: Youtube.com/strongerteam

Best Stolen Resource

▪   When watching someone else do a drill that you are going to implement- Ask:

  1. Why are you doing it?
  2. How are you doing it?
  3. What is the end result supposed to be?

Discipline

▪   ‘You get what you bring as a coach’ – If you bring enthusiasm, and model the behavior you are preaching, and expect excellence of yourself – most of the time the players will respond in kind.

▪   Positive Peer Pressure – the team all is disciplined together

Reward, Recognition, and Teambuilding

  • ‘Coaching at its most fundamental level is about connecting’

Inspiring Story

  • Kevin Durant – When he was in high school – he was very intraverted and quiet – yet Alan connected with him and appreciated Alan’s passion for making him better

Coaching/Leadership Motivation

▪   Podcast – Andy Stanley’s ‘Your Move’ – the non-negotiables are Dishonesty, Disobedience, and Disrespect

▪   Quote – ‘Do the things others don’t do, and you’ll have the things others don’t have’- also very powerful if you replace the word ‘won’t’ for the ‘don’t’

▪   Book – Coack K – ‘Leading with the Heart’

The One that Got Away

  • ‘Play present’ – You have to focus on the next play- nothing in the past, nothing too far in the future
  • Alan shares a story of a player at Dematha who barely missed setting an incredible record and what he did afterwards that was so impressive

Parting Advice

▪   Always, always, always – do what is in the best interest of the player

Stronger Team/Hardwood Hustle Podcast

▪   Alan co-hosts the Hardwood Hustle podcast with Adam Bradley – Great podcast for people of all ages- Have your junior-high/high-school kids listen!

Interview Links / Promotional Partners

New and Noteworthy Podcast with Dave Westwood

 

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August 28, 2014

WYC 015 Youth Baseball – Brian Beaman – Baseball Boys and Bad Words

Screen Shot 2014-08-28 at 11.32.38 AMWhat does it take to be a winning youth coach? Listen in as Brian Beaman shares coaching stories and discusses his journey to becoming a successful youth coach.

Brian is a sales consultant. He played high school football, basketball, track, and baseball and also played college basketball for 4 years. He has coached competitive youth sports for over 20 years. He is married and has 3 children – all boys: ages 16, 12, and 9.

Twitter: @Beaman07

Facebook: facebook.com//brian.beaman.509

Listen Now:

Listen in ITunes: Itunes link

Listen in Stitcher: Stitcher link

 

Coaching/Leadership Quote

▪   ‘I’m not trying to raise great kids, I’m trying to raise great adults’

click to tweet!

Coaching your own Kid

▪   Having a great assistant coach is key- so you can coach each other’s kids and fairly evaluate talent levels

My ‘Cringe’ Moment

▪   Brian’s team had a large lead in a game so he decided to have his team work on their bunts – the other coach thought it was bad sportsmanship – GOOD DEBATE: Are coaches too sensitive to ‘showing the other team up’ – when is it crossing the line?

Coaching AH-HA Moment

  • No kid should be standing around and watching – keep them ALL involved

Best Stolen Idea

  • Great baseball drill used by Vanderbilt and Belmont –lots of defensive situational reps so kids know what to do in games and it is natural to them

Teaching Children & Keeping it Fun

  • Be consistent. Let the kids set goals on what they want to improve.
  • When doing drills – break the kids into small teams and turn it into a game with points

Coaching Resources

▪   WEBSITES: Paul Reddick Baseball and Ripken baseball

Discipline

HUGE IDEA #1:

▪   3 Things the kid can control:

  1. Hustle
  2. Have a good attitude
  3. Have Fun

▪   ‘No Matter Whats’ – We won’t throw our helmet, glove, or bat; we won’t argue with umpires

Reward, Recognition, and Teambuilding

▪   Recognize accomplishments immediately

▪   Brian had the Dad who kept the scorebook put little notes in the book when a kid made a great play

HUGE IDEA #2: Basketball recognition: Have 2 mini-basketballs: one says ‘Hustle’ and the other says ‘Breakthrough’ – give to 2 kids after each week and they get to keep it for the week and write their name on it

Teambuilding with Parents

▪   Communication is key – ask the parents to deal with any concerns directly with me – don’t just complain to the other parents

Inspiring Story

  • Quote: ‘I’m not trying to raise great kids, I’m trying to raise great adults’
  • Brian coached who a kid who was not a very good dribbler – but loved to play point guard – so Brian tried to find situations to get him in at point guard – and it meant the world to the kid

Coaching/Leadership Motivation

▪   Book: Proverbs – there are 31 books, read one per day

▪   Book: Andy Andrews – The Travelers Gift, and Baseball Boys and Bad Words

▪   Quote: The Golden Rule – ‘Treat others as you want to be treated’– This included the umpires – learn their name and ask them if you can call them by their name

Parting Advice

▪   Don’t take it too seriously

▪   Have fun

▪   Be prepared and organized

▪   My goal: for the kids to love the sport

Interview Links / Promotional Partners

Upward Sports

 

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August 19, 2014

WYC 014 Youth Basketball – Brent Kreid – ‘You’re the Leader, but it’s not about You’

Brent Kreid picWhat does it take to be a winning youth coach? Listen in as Brent Kreid shares coaching stories and discusses his journey to becoming a successful youth coach.

Brent is a school teacher and adminstator. He played high school football, basketball, and baseball and also played college baseball for 3 years. He has coached competitive youth sports for over 20 years. He is married and has 4 children: ages 18, 15, 13, and 10.

Twitter: @BrentKreid

Facebook: facebook.com/brent.kreid

Listen Now:

Listen in ITunes: Itunes link

Listen in Stitcher: Stitcher link

 

Coaching/Leadership Quote

▪   ‘The will to succeed is important, but what’s more important is the will to prepare’– Bobby Knight

click to tweet!

Coaching your own Kid

▪   Know when to lean on another coach to communicate to your child

My ‘Cringe’ Moment

▪   ‘I thought there was success in incorporating a million things’ – Whether it’s a million rules, a million strategies, a million plans – early in his career Brent fell into the common trap of over-complicating things – he learned over time how much more effective it was to KEEP THINGS SIMPLE

Best Stolen Idea

  • Worked with High School coach Dick Corn – Brent learned simplicity from him – Be great at 1 or 2 things vs. being good at 6 to 8.    click to tweet!

HUGE IDEA #1:Tony Barone (Texas A&M, Creighton) – ‘You need to do something everyday to prepare you for your greatest challenge’   click to tweet!

Teaching Children & Keeping it Fun

HUGE IDEA #2: Brent shares an excellent shooting drill to teach the fundamental basketball stroke – to any age group – 5 and 6 year-olds, and all the way up to high school players: ‘L-sitting on a shelf, elbow above the eye, hand in the basket’

Coaching Resources

▪   Book: Leading with the Heart – Mike Krzyzewski

Discipline

▪   A(E+E)=Success: Attitude x (Effort + Execution)

▪   Discipline – have to 1st figure out if it is a heart issue or a head issue – then the discipline is very individualized depending on all of the circumstances

Reward, Recognition, and Teambuilding

▪   Many kids’ love language is words of affirmation – they love public praise – in front of their teammates, their parents

Inspiring Story

  • Brent shares a story of a young man who was afraid on the football field – and how proud he was as the boy continued to face his fear and his teammates rallied around him.

The One that Got Away

▪   Brent remembers a game from twenty years ago – 1994 he was a JV coach and specifically remembers his coaching mistake that let the game slip away.

Coaching/Leadership Motivation

▪   Book: The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership – John Maxwell

▪   Quote: ‘The will to succeed is important, but what’s more important is the will to prepare’– Bobby Knight

Parting Advice

▪   ‘You’re the leader, but it’s not about you’

▪   Keep it simple!

▪   Enjoy yourself and have fun with it

click to tweet!

Interview Links / Promotional Partners

Screen Shot 2014-08-19 at 10.34.11 AM

All Pro Dad

 

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August 12, 2014

WYC 013 Youth Swimming – Kent Julian – Swim it Forward

Kent Julian picWhat does it take to be a winning youth coach? Listen in as Kent Julian shares coaching stories and discusses his journey to becoming a successful youth coach.

Kent is a motivational speaker and founder of ‘Live it Forward’ and ‘Speak it Forward’ businesses. He has coached competitive youth swimming for 13 years. He is married and has three children, an 18 year-old son and twin 16 year-old daughters.

Twitter: @KentJulian

Facebook: facebook.com/kentjulian

Website: liveitforward.com

Listen Now:

Listen in ITunes: Itunes link

Listen in Stitcher: Stitcher link

 

Coaching/Leadership Quote

▪   ‘What you believe in is evidenced by how you live not by what you say’

click to tweet!

How do I Coach when I’m not the Expert?

▪   ‘I hired to my weakness’ – Kent was great at the organizational side of coaching – then he intentionally hired an assistant coach who was an expert at teaching the technical aspects of swimming

▪   Research – spend some time watching videos and learning

Coaching your own Kid

▪   ‘I have pushed them to be the best they can be, but kept everything in perspective so we can all love the experience and have a great time’

Teambuilding

▪   Having parents participate in a relay race at their last meet of the year – kids go nuts cheering for their parents

My ‘Cringe’ Moment

▪   Kent is an expressive person and a few times early in his career he showed his emotion the wrong way – so he has learned that about himself and has to be self-disciplined to not repeat those mistakes. He did not make excuses for his behavior and immediately apologized to the athlete and the parents: ‘When you make a mistake – RUN at the mistake and genuinely seek forgiveness.’

Teaching Children & Keeping it Fun

HUGE IDEA #1: The Pigeon Game: You start telling a story, when the kids hear ‘Pigeon’- they race to the other side. You make it fun by trying to fake them out, i.e.: ‘there was a boy name PETER who really liked PICKLES…’ You could use this for jumping offsides in football, or in any sport just to make conditioning fun while increasing the child’s focus.

Coaching Resources

▪   DVD series: Total Immersion Swimming

Discipline

▪   Take control early on – If you start out trying to be everyone’s friend – the kids will take advantage of you. Be kind and nice, but be firm.

Reward, Recognition, and Teambuilding

▪   ‘Swimmer of the week’ – awarded to kid with best attitude

▪   ‘Most improved swimmer of the week’

▪   Kent and his coaches’ goal for each meet: Talk to each swimmer before one of their five events and encourage them

▪   They also gave beads for the kid to wear if they won their heat in any event

▪   Speed-breaker award(weekly): anyone who achieved their best time in an event gets award

Inspiring Story

HUGE IDEA #2 – Kent shared story of baseball coach when he was growing up – the coach only valued the talented players and tore down Kent. He contrasted that with his 7th grade basketball coach who poured into his life and was a hero to Kent. HE REMEMBERS BOTH 40 YEARS LATER.

Coaching/Leadership Motivation

▪   Book: Wooden on Leadership

▪   Quote: ‘What you believe in is evidenced by how you live not by what you say’

Parting Advice

▪   Big is little and little is big – the little technical corrections often make the biggest difference

▪   Coach individuals according to how they are wired

Live it Forward

▪   Goal: to empower people to ‘Show up and Shine’ in the most important areas of their lives. Includes career coaching, working with direct sales people, keynote speaking, working with career and technology student organizations.

▪   Also teaches others to teach these skills: Speak it Forward

Interview Links/ Promotional Partners


5 minutes with Dad pic5 Minutes with Dad

 

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August 4, 2014

WYC 012 Youth Baseball and Upward Stars Basketball – Lance Akridge – ‘The Enemy to Great is Good’

Lance Akridge pictureUpward Stars picWhat does it take to be a winning youth coach? Listen in as Lance Akridge shares coaching stories and discusses his journey to becoming a successful youth coach.

Lance works for Upward Stars – an affiliate of Upward Sports. He actively coaches baseball and is constantly recruiting basketball coaches for Upward Stars’ teams. He is married and has three children, a 15 year-old son, 13 year-old son, and 12 year-old daughter.

Twitter: @upwardstars and @upwardstarsTN

Facebook: facebook.com/UpwardStarsNashville

Website: upwardstarsnashville.org

Listen NOW: 

Listen in ITunes: Itunes link

Listen in Stitcher: Stitcher link

 

Coaching/Leadership Quote

▪   ‘Be a transformational coach not a transactional coach’ – Inside-out Coaching

click to tweet!

Coaching your own Kid

▪   Lance shares that early on he was harder on his own kids than the other players – ‘I’ve learned to be coach on the field rather than be a Dad.’

My ‘Cringe’ Moment

▪   Taking things too seriously and losing perspective. Lance shares a story of taking his son to the baseball field and putting too much pressure on him to the point he was starting to cry- he regrets he had lost perspective

Coaching AH-HA Moment

▪   Watching other coaches embarrass themselves – ‘That is not who I am and not the type of character I am going to exemplify’

Teaching Children & Keeping it Fun

▪   Have patience; Overcommunicate; Impart confidence

▪   Baseball hitting game – Each player gets 7 swings and earns points based on result(kind of like Home Run derby)

▪   Basketball – Break into 3 person teams and have shooting competitions

Best Stolen Idea

HUGE IDEA #1: ‘Short lines, lots of repetitions, learning fundamentals’ – Baseball – Instead of having one coach hitting to the infield – have two coaches hit to each side of the infield and players run to the next line

Coaching Resources

▪   Baseball: Cal Ripken’s Coaches Clipboard – Daily emails – He sometimes forwards these to his players

Discipline

▪   The best way to keep them focused is to TALK LESS

▪   Make sure your discipline involves taking away fun games – don’t discipline them during talking times

Reward, Recognition, and Teambuilding

▪   Affirm positive behaviors continually

▪   HUGE IDEA #2: Let the players set 2 or 3 objective, realistic(but a slight stretch) goals for their season and continually use those as a target for all of their actions

▪   D-Groups – Twice a month they hang out – 1 hour of fun, 30 minutes eating, 45 minute character discussion ‘Player to Coach: ‘Because you care, I care’’

Inspiring Story

▪   A young man Lance coached in basketball had a really tough home life – was showing anger issues on the court – they loved him and disciplined him in love

 The One that Got Away

▪   Umpires incorrectly ended his game for time limit – Lance yelled at umps – he doesn’t regret fighting for what was right for his team – but wishes he had not displayed his anger towards the umpires the way he did

Coaching/Leadership Motivation

▪   Book: Coach Wooden

▪   Quote: ‘The Enemy to Great is Good’ – Jim Collins

Parting Advice

▪   Be organized

▪   Overcommunicate to the players and parents

▪   Inside-Out Coaching: ‘Be a transformational coach rather than a transactional coach’ – Joe Ehrmann

Upward Stars

▪   Competitive travel teams that are teaching kids to be leaders based on Luke 2:52 – Teaching athletes to grow mentally, athletically, spiritually, and socially

▪   Currently in 10 citites – In Tennessee: upwardstarsnashville.org

Interview Links/ Promotional Partners

Screen Shot 2014-08-04 at 5.36.02 PMThe Inspired Treehouse

 

Hudl cover pictureHUDL

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July 29, 2014

WYC 011 Youth Football – Darin Clark – Step up and Coach even if you’re not an Expert

Darin Clark picWhat does it take to be a winning youth coach? Listen in as Darin shares coaching stories and discusses his journey to becoming a successful youth coach.

Darin is a graphic designer, he is married and father of four boys ages 5-14, and has coached a mix of basketball and flag football for the past 19 years. He also is the founder of the Father and Son Bowl community event in Franklin, Tennessee – which has grown from a few families in 2006 to over 1,100 players in 2013 – which raised over $38,000 for fatherless children.

Facebook: Father and Son Bowl

Twitter: DarinClark@FatherSonBowl

Websites: fatherandsonbowl.com, dclarkcreative.com

Listen Now:

Listen in ITunes: Itunes link

Listen in Stitcher: Stitcher link

 

Coaching/Leadership Quote

  • ‘Encourage fathers to be the loving and strong leaders that they are created to be’

click to tweet!

What do I do when they need a parent to coach but I don’t know much about that sport?

HUGE IDEA #1 : Be willing to step up and coach – even if you’re on an expert in a sport – you can get the help you need to learn!

  • Seek advice from others and don’t be afraid to admit that you don’t know that much about coaching this sport!
  • Evaluate what level the kids are at and adjust accordingly

My ‘Cringe’ Moment

  • Being too competitive and losing my cool during games

Teaching Children & Keeping it Fun

  • Involve the Dads! – Darin has seen good success when he brings in some of the Dads to play some games and do drills with the boys.
  • Be engaged as a coach! – Darin also personally jumps into the games and drills so the players can see his passion and connect with the boys

Best Stolen Idea

  • Having a very simple playbook – and letting the kids name the plays so they can remember them

Playbook for 7-8 year olds & Calling Plays

  • Have 3 or 4 base formations – then 3 or 4 simple variations
  • Don’t overworry about other coaches ‘stealing’ your signals – they usually are focused on their own team and aren’t paying attention to that

Discipline

  • Throw a penalty flag – Darin actually brings penalty flags with him to practice and throws them as needed
  • Consequences have to be tied to kids making a bad decision

Reward, Recognition, and Teambuilding

  • Words of affirmation is the primary method Darin uses – lots of praise, fist-bumps, chest-bumps

 The One that Got Away

  • Listen to your assistant coaches! – Both Coach Darin and Craig share stories of not listening to their assistant coaches – and how this hurt their teams

 Coaching/Leadership Motivation

  • Book: The Bible – be a humble, servant-leader

HUGE IDEA #2 – The Father and Son Bowl

  • Backyard style football – Kids from 5 years old to grandfathers who are 75 play flag football together
  • Grown from a few families in 2006 to over 1,100 players in 2013 – which raised over $38,000 for fatherless children.

Interview Links

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July 21, 2014

WYC 010 Youth Basketball – Rob Jones – Good, Better, Best

Rob Jones pic What does it take to be a winning youth coach? Listen in as Coach Rob Jones shares coaching stories and discusses his journey to becoming a successful youth coach.

Rob played for Coach Nolan Richardson at Arkansas, and is currently an assistant coach at Battle Ground Academy in Nashville Tennessee. He is married and has three children- ages 9-19, and works in pharmaceutical sales.

Battleground Academy link: BGA

Listen Now:

Listen in ITunes: Itunes link

Listen in Stitcher: Stitcher link

 

Coaching/Leadership Quote

  • ‘Good, better, best. Never let it rest, until your good is better, and your better is best.’

click to tweet!

Coaching your own Kid

  • Don’t over-coach your own kid or show any favoritism

HUGE IDEA #1: Take the time on the car ride home – Right when you get in the car – ‘Any thing else you want to tell coach?’ – and ‘Here is the last thing I am going to tell the player(if any)’ – After that just be Dad again

My ‘Cringe’ Moment

  • ‘I was a poor winner – and all about winning.’

Coaching AH-HA Moment

  • Changing the primary goal from winning to teaching the kids how to play the game and have fun

Teaching Children & Keeping it Fun

  • You have to simplify everything and make it crystal clear
  • Cool dribbling drill – Put change (quarters, nickels, dimes) at spots on the court – kids have to go pick it up, then go put the change back using the opposite hand

Best Stolen Idea

  • Everything in his practices is broken into 4 quarters – and the energy level builds up throughout the practice

Coaching Resources

HUGE IDEA #2 – Great Resources!!

Discipline

  • Discipline is almost always done as a team not individually

Reward, Recognition, and Teambuilding

  • When coaching youth – Coach Rob came up with fun and unique rewards – not for the most points, but something like ‘the craziest socks’

Inspiring Story

  • Rob shares a great story about a kid who was very talented but very hard on himself. Coach kept encouraging the young man to play for the enjoyment of the game- and finally his senior year the light bulb went off – and he thrived and led his team to win the state championship.

 The One that Got Away

  • Coach shared a story about coaching his oldest daughter in a 5th grade all-star game and losing his cool and getting a technical foul

 Coaching/Leadership Motivation

  • Quote: ‘Good, better, best. Never let it rest, until your good is better, and your better is best.’
  • Quote: ‘If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, become more – you’re a leader’ – John Quincy Adams

Parting Advice

  • Focus on the little things and set goals around the little things – don’t worry about the scoreboard. Make your priorities around teaching the kids and improving throughout the season.

Interview Links

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July 9, 2014

WYC 009 Youth Football – Jacob Gilbert – Lead for God’s Sake

Jacob Gilbert picWhat does it take to be a winning youth coach? Listen in as Jacob shares coaching stories and discusses his journey to becoming a successful youth coach.

Jacob Gilbert played football through the collegiate level, has coached at Wabash college and now is the Head football coach at Westfield High School in Indiana. In 3 years he has taken Westfield from a 3 win team, to last year they were 12-2 and runners-up in the state championship game. He is married and has three boys ages 10, 9, and 6.

Twitter: @coachgilbert10

Westfield High School link: Westfield HS ; Twitter: @rocksathletics

Listen Now:

Listen in ITunes: Itunes link

Listen in Stitcher: Stitcher link

 

Coaching/Leadership Quote

▪   ‘It’s not what you get from playing, it’s who you become because you play’

click to tweet!

Coaching your own Kid

▪   Try to find an assistant to take the lead on coaching your kid

My ‘Cringe’ Moment

▪   Losing patience when coaching my own kids

Coaching AH-HA Moment

▪   It’s all about relationships: John Maxwell: ‘They don’t know how much you know until they know how much you care’

Teaching Children & Keeping it Fun

▪   All kids learn differently – ‘No learning by the players means no coaching by the coaches’ – Everything you see on the field you either taught or allowed. You have to find a way to reach each different

▪   Make all learning a competition – will lead to better learning, more fun. Start backwards – what do you want to see in the game? – Figure out the skill then make a game out of it.

Best Stolen Idea

▪   His high school coach: ‘It’s not what you get from playing, it’s who you become because you play’ – Character development is the key in coaching.

Coaching Resources

▪   USA Football – great library of drills, practice plans

▪   Don’t be shy about asking middle school/high school coaches for advice/ go to one of their practices

Discipline

▪   Instead of teaching rules – teach character. Spend time discussing who you are representing and how to lead instead of teaching time on rules.

▪   Discipline needs to be swift, fair, and consistent. ‘I still love you, but you own your own decisions, this is the consequence of that decision.’

HUGE IDEA #1 – Story of a kid who was super healthy asked coach to discipline him every time he dropped ball – coach made him eat a Snickers! Drove kid crazy and it worked.

Reward, Recognition, and Teambuilding

▪   Individualized – some kids respond to public praise, some kids respond to one-on-one affirmation, some kids might play harder if you offer a bag of twizzlers to kid who makes the most tackles

Inspiring Story

▪   Coach Gilbert did not have a father at home growing up – so he loves pouring back into kids in that situation and being a positive role-model for them

Winning

HUGE IDEA #2 – Top priorities for a youth sports coach:

1 – Do the kids return next year?

2 – Did the kids learn technique and skills?

3 – Did the kids grow and learn in character? – sportsmanship, responsibility, work ethic – and including learning to compete (and winning)

click to tweet!

 The One that Got Away

▪   They lost the state championship game last year – as a head coach he thinks he learned how to have more poise and be less nervous in big situations.

 Coaching/Leadership Motivation

▪   Book: The 21 Irrefutable laws of leadership – John Maxwell

▪   Book: The Dream Giver – Bruce Wilkinson

▪   Book: Lead for God’s Sake – Todd Gongwer

Parting Advice

▪   Don’t criticize execution – only criticize effort – And when you criticize – make sure you make it very specific, otherwise they take it personally

▪   Frame everything as a positive – Don’t say ‘Don’t drop this pass’, instead say: ‘Make a great catch on this pass’

Interview Links

▪   HUDL

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July 2, 2014

WYC 008 Youth Soccer – Dr. Lindsey Blom – Catch Them Being Good

Lindsey picWhat does it take to be a winning youth coach? Listen in as Coach and Sports Psychology professor Dr. Lindsey Blom shares coaching stories and discusses her journey to becoming a successful youth coach.

Dr. Blom is a lifelong soccer player, she is married and mother of a 6 year-old daughter and 2 year-old son. She is an associate professor of sport and exercise psychology at Ball State University in Indiana. She and her husband co-authored ‘Survival Guide for Coaching Youth Soccer’ and she has actively participated on boards across the country involving youth sports.  She has coached soccer from the youth level through high school.

Listen Now:

Listen in ITunes: Itunes link

Listen in Stitcher: Stitcher link

 

Coaching/Leadership Quote

▪   ‘Catch them Being Good’ – Tony DiCicco

click to tweet!

Coaching your own Kid

▪   After practice or a game – Take the time to stop instructing them and just enjoy being with them

My ‘Cringe’ Moment

▪   Having kids stand around too much and waiting in lines

▪   Used imagery before a game – but it actually caused the kids to be too relaxed during the first half of the game

Teaching Children

HUGE IDEA #1: Imagery

▪   Use an analogy like spaghetti noodles – if the child is nervous they may be stiff like uncooked noodles, but if they are relaxed they are loose like cooked noodles

▪   Teaching a new skill – Have the child picture themself doing the new skill perfectly first, then have them go through the motion without a ball and picture success, then finally add the ball after the first two visualization steps

Coaching AH-HA Moments

▪   Embrace the Chaos

▪   Build relationships and individualize coaching

▪   Slow down and simplify things

Best Stolen Idea

▪   3 things to say to your child:

1 – I love you

2 – I love to watch you play

3 – What do you want to eat?

Coaching Resources

▪   Book : Survival Guide for Coaching Youth Soccer

▪   Positive Coaching Alliance

Discipline

▪   Logical consequences – Take away what the kid really wants. She doesn’t recommend physical punishment(running, push-ups) because we want kids to enjoy doing these activities.

Reward, Recognition

▪   Catch them being Good – Catch Them Being Good: Everything You Need to Know to Successfully Coach Girls by Tony DiCicco and The Champion Within by Lauren Gregg

Teambuilding

▪   Teams work together when they know each other and appreciate each other’s differences, strengths, interests – so spending time away from the field getting to know each other can be a great way to build teamwork

Inspiring Story

▪   Lindsey coached a 12 year-old girl who was a little lanky and not that coordinated yet – but Lindsey stuck with her and kept challenging her – eventually she went on to be one of her best players and played high school and collegiate soccer.

Winning

▪   Winning is a part of sports – you can’t get away from that. But the first goal should be to develop players and develop a love for the game.

▪   Playing time should not be dictated by talent level – but by effort in practices.

The One that Got Away

▪   In her early years of coaching – she had a season where many of the parents had a win-at-all-costs mentality – and she let them intimidate her into coaching with that mindset

Coaching/Leadership Motivation

▪   Anything by John Wooden

Parting Advice

HUGE IDEA #2 – Make each kid have a moment of success at each practice

Sport for Social Change

▪  Dr. Blom and Ball State are involved in a project using soccer and sports to improve social environments in Tajikistan and Jordan – http://www.bsusfsc.com.

Interview Links

▪   HUDL

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June 24, 2014

WYC 007 Youth Football – Damien Wong-Ken – Life as a Vapor

Damien picWhat does it take to be a winning youth coach? Listen in as Coach Damien Wong-Ken shares coaching stories and discusses his journey to becoming a successful youth coach.

Damien was born in Kingston, Jamaica – then moved to Calgary and grew up in Calgary, Canada. He is married and father of a 14 year-old girl and 10 year-old son. Damien is a chef –see him at bluemountainkitchen.com, and does wardrobe design for artists – check it out at aimwide.com. He has coached high school football and most recently been a head coach of flag football in Franklin, Tennessee.

Listen Now:

Listen in ITunes: Itunes link

Listen in Stitcher: Stitcher link

 

Coaching/Leadership Quote

▪   ‘Life as a Vapor – Life Is Short. Eternity Is Long. Live Like It’ – John Piper

click to tweet!

Coaching your own Kid

▪   Damien found that it worked much better to have an assistant take care of any disciplining of his son

My ‘Cringe’ Moment

▪   If you have a non-confrontational style – it can be tough to deal with some of the challenging parents. A key is to establish your team rules and expectations up front

Coaching AH-HA Moment

HUGE IDEA: The Random Points Game- Kids love to have fun and play games – and even though the points don’t mean anything – the kids will go nuts trying to earn points

Teaching Children

▪   It might take longer to teach a younger child through discipline – but as long as you are consistent and immediately welcome them back after disciplining them – they can still be taught to do things the right way

Best Stolen Idea

▪   Good sportsmanship – learned from the first coach he coached under – Darin Clark. They actually made banners for the opposing team as well as their own

Coaching Resources

▪   Best resource is: Other coaches! Don’t be shy about sharing ideas with other coaches

Discipline

▪   Damien uses typical parent techniques for discipline – timeouts – kids have to sit out their favorite drills/games

Reward, Recognition

▪   At the end of each game – he gives out 3 trophies – and the last one is the MVP – and this goes to whoever is the best teammate

▪   To Encourage improving year-to-year – Damien keeps track of stats for each kid for the year – then gives them cards (like Topps cards) at the end of the season – great motivator for them to improve themselves

Teambuilding

▪   Send an email with details around specific accomplishments for each kid – then ask the parents to read the email to their child

Inspiring Story

▪   With a tough child – Damien consistently showed him he would be a man in his life who would not beat him down emotionally, physically, or verbally – but still discipline him.   He earned the MVP trophy for a game towards the end of the season- and the other players rejoiced with him.

 The One that Got Away

▪   Damien coached against a guy that was teaching his kids to play dirty – and things got very heated – they spoke afterwards and did not come to any agreement, Damien out-executed him and beat him, but it was not fun playing against this style of coach

Coaching/Leadership Motivation

▪   Book: ‘Life as a Vapor’ by John Piper –whatever we do in each moment impacts eternity

Parting Advice

▪  Be patient – breathe deep and often – take 20 seconds to think through tough situations

Interview Links

▪   HUDL

Damien’s businesses:

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June 16, 2014

WYC 006 Youth Baseball – Ken Stuursma from Kings Baseball

Ken Stuursma picWhat does it take to be a winning youth coach? Listen in as Coach Ken Stuursma shares coaching stories and discusses his journey to becoming a successful youth coach.

Ken is married and has 3 children- 2 girls and a boy. He played baseball throughout his childhood and through the college level. He is the founder of Kings Baseball in Northeast Ohio, a youth baseball organization that focuses on growing strong men, not just athletes.

Listen Now:

Listen in ITunes: Itunes link

Listen in Stitcher: Stitcher link

 

Coaching/Leadership Quote

▪   ‘Other than Dad, the best thing you can be called is Coach’

click to tweet!

Coaching your own Kid

▪   It’s a joy to coach your own kid – but the challenge is the perception of others who might question your kid’s playing time. You should have discussions with your son/daughter up front about the fact they are going to have to be better than anyone else to earn a position.

My ‘Cringe’ Moment

▪   Early on – it was more about me and my success instead of being focused on the kids

Coaching AH-HA Moment

▪   A conversation with an old-time cowboy, Lou Skeridan – who taught him that kids come to him with their hearts wide open, and you have 2 choices:

  1. You can build into it and make their heart bigger, or
  2. You can crush that and make their hearts smaller

Inspiring Story

▪   Watching his son Jake and some of the other boys on his son’s 17 year-old team develop into leaders and men

Teaching Children

▪   ‘Kids don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care’ – Sam Rutigliano 

click to tweet!

Inspiring Story part 2

▪   Craig shared a story where he witnessed Coach Stuursma show grace to a kid on the opposing team and it really impacted Craig’s outlook on coaching

Coaching Resources

▪   Best resource is: Other coaches! Don’t be shy about sharing ideas with other coaches

Discipline/ Teambuilding

▪   The kids have to first know you are doing it for the right reasons.

HUGE IDEA:

▪   They tell their kids that every practice and game – they have to come to practice for somebody else – selfish attitudes are garbage and selfish behavior is the first and most important item to eliminate

▪   When an individual gets disciplined – they will have the primary offender do 10 push-ups, then when he finishes – the entire team has to do 20

Reward, Recognition, and Teambuilding

▪   Celebrating every accomplishment, whether big or large, is paramount

Winning

▪   You have to define what your wins are. Ultimately winning is having the kids fall in love with the sport. But especially once you put on a school team uniform – yes you should be playing to win.

 The One that Got Away

▪   When Ken was playing college baseball they lost a game to their arch rival in the bottom of the 9th when the coach put in a hard-throwing freshman

Coaching/Leadership Motivation

▪   Book: ‘Raising a Modern Day Knight’ by Robert Lewis – story of bringing a boy into manhood

Kings Baseball

▪  Developed to show boys that if God has given you a gift of athletic ability – there are responsibilities that go with that

▪  4 cornerstone principles (from Raising a Modern Day Knight):

  1. Accept responsibility
  2. Lead courageously
  3. Reject passivity
  4. Expect a greater reward

click to tweet!

Parting Advice

▪  Don’t take the wins/losses too seriously, but take very seriously the impact you are having on these kids

Interview Links

▪   HUDL

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June 11, 2014

WYC 005 Sports Parenting Survival Guides; youth football and softball – Janis and Ted Meredith

JBMThinks-Sports-Parenting-Youth-SportsWhat does it take to be a winning youth coach? Listen in as Janis and Ted share coaching and parenting stories and discuss the journey to becoming a successful youth coach and sports parent.

Janis and Ted Meredith have 3 children: a 26 year-old daughter, a 23 year-old son and a 21 year old daughter. They live in the Fort Meyers area of Florida and Janis has a blog and many great books about being the mom of athletes and a wife of a youth coach, which you can find at jbmthinks.com.

Listen Now:

Listen in ITunes: Itunes link

Listen in Stitcher: Stitcher link

 

Coaching/Leadership Quote

▪   ‘As a coach my goal is that each player ends the season as a better person and player’ – Coach Ted Meredith

click to tweet!

Coaching your own Kid

▪   You have to keep a balance between coach and Dad, and you have to be very honest with your son/daughter.

My ‘Cringe’ Moment

▪   Coach Ted talks about sometimes being too tough on the kids in his early days of coaching, but learned how to strike a balance between being tough and being a friend via learning from his head coaching mentor

Being a coach’s wife

▪   Janis quickly discovered – being a youth coach is not a glamor job! Parents are often tough on the coach and dealing with the many issues ‘was tougher than I anticipated.’

▪   As a coach’s wife – she realized it worked better to disconnect from some of the more verbal parents if they are being negative and let the coach deal with any issues

Coaching AH-HA Moment

▪   Explaining the ‘Why’ to the children on what you are doing in practice and games

▪   Teaching the kids that practices/life are not all fun – sometimes you have to grind through things and it is work – but the payoff is worth it!

Teaching Children

  • USA football has great form-tackling drills
  • HUGE IDEA: EDD’s – EveryDay Drills – ABC’s – Agilities, Brief Contact, Contact
  • Be organized and make the practice pace quick

Keeping it Fun

▪   Piano drill in football – always teaching form tackling

▪   Cut-throat in softball – 3 teams of 5 so everyone stays involved

What does a Mom want from a Coach?

▪   For her child to be challenged to get better – AND be in a supportive environment that celebrates as they meet those challenges

Coaching Resources

▪   USA Football

▪   Youtube – Always can find great ideas and videos here

▪   HUDL – great way to watch video of friends/relatives in other parts of the country

Discipline

▪   You have to decide whether you’re there to be a teacher/mentor vs. being a friend to the kids

Rewards/Recognition

▪   Quick ‘Put-ups’ after the game are a great way to point out extra hustle and effort

Dealing with parents and Teambuilding

▪   24 hour rule – parents need to wait 24 hours after a game until they discuss any issues with the coach

▪   Find a couple of parent advocates that will support you!

Inspiring Story

▪   It’s very telling of what kind of coach you are – if the kids connect with you on Facebook after the season is over

▪   Janis shares the story of a coach who believed in her son even when he was having a tough time – the coach gave him 3 reasons he wanted him to succeed and it was a huge influence to him. ‘When we believe in kids – it matters and makes a difference to them and they feel that.’

Coaching girls

▪   Watch your eye-contact – If you stare at one of them – they might think you’re singling them out

▪   Your volume (yelling) might be more needed for boys vs. girls who often will respond quickly and do not respond well to yelling

Be Part of the Positive Parents Tribe

▪   Jbmthinks.com – Janis has created this site to help parents teach positive life lessons through sports

▪   Check out ‘The Sports Parenting Survival Guide Series’ – 7 e-books that provide insight into how to thrive while being a sports parent

Parting Advice

▪   Talk less!! Be to the point.

▪   Seek to understand then be understood

▪   Communicate clearly and consistently

Interview Links

▪   HUDL

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June 9, 2014

WYC 004 Youth Hockey – Todd Grosse – Iron Sharpens Iron as One Man Sharpens Another

Todd Grosse pic

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

Todd Grosse is married and has 2 children: a 16 year-old son and a 13 year old daughter. Todd grew up in Michigan and played youth hockey at the highest levels, and still plays today. They now live in Franklin, Tennessee.

Listen Now:

Listen in ITunes: Itunes link

Listen in Stitcher: Stitcher link

 

Coaching/Leadership Quote

▪   ‘Iron sharpens iron as one man sharpens another’ – Proverbs 27:17

click to tweet!

Coaching your own Kid

▪   You have to keep a balance between coach and Dad, and you have to be very honest with your son/daughter.

My ‘Cringe’ Moment

▪   Not being prepared for practice and being extremely organized

Coaching AH-HA Moment

▪   Using terminology that the kids understand and making everything simple

Teaching Children

1 – Have a plan

2 – Instill discipline, kids are starved for discipline

3 – Communicate the plan clearly and simply

Keeping it Fun

▪   HUGE IDEA #1: Small area games instead of full-scale scrimmages so you can teach while having fun

Best Stolen Idea

▪   To bring the kids in – create a game that if you are the last player to the huddle you have to take a lap – and the players self-enforce it

Coaching Resources

▪   USA Hockey – great coaching materials, classes

▪   Coach Nielsen’s hockey drills

Discipline

▪   Putting kids in the penalty box for not listening is very effective

Reward, Recognition, and Teambuilding

▪   Team recognition instead of individual recognition; and recognizing assists more than goals

▪   HUGE IDEA #2: ‘The Bucket Hat’ – The kids nominate after each game who deserves to wear the hat during warm-ups for the next game

▪   Offseason gatherings and teambuilding activities – whitewater rafting, dinners

▪   For parents – have a great team mom/team manager

▪   If you have a difficult parent – give them a job!

Inspiring Story

▪   Teaching a child by showing him grace – Young man was supposed to sit out the next game for violating rule – but Todd only had him sit our first shift and the young man was so excited and appreciative that he turned around his behavior and attitude

Winning

▪   Winning should be one of the goals – but it’s a team goal and learning fundamentals will lead to improvement which often shows up in more wins

▪   Playing time can be determined by a player’s willingness to practice as hard as possible

 The One that Got Away

▪   They played a team that was above their level – and Todd regrets he told his team about how good the other team was, his team played intimated – he wishes he had just let them play

Coaching/Leadership Motivation

▪   Quote: ‘Iron sharpens iron as one man sharpens another’ – Proverbs 27:17

▪   Book: ‘The Gold Standard’ by Coach K. – story of bringing together the Dream Team

Parting Advice

▪   Have a detailed practice plan!

▪   Keep a binder of great drills

Interview Links

▪   HUDL

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June 2, 2014

WYC 003 Youth Football – Luke Dunnuck – Hinge Moments

pic Luke DunnuckSparta-web-logo-final

 

 

 

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

Luke Dunnuck is married and is father of 6 boys and 1 daughter. He owns a sports facility in Indianapolis called Sparta. He also represents products for Advocare health and wellness.

SpartaIndy

Sports Nutrition

Twitter: @SPARTAindy

Listen Now:

Listen in ITunes: Itunes link

Listen in Stitcher: Stitcher link

.

Coaching/Leadership Quote

  • ‘Focus on the process not the outcome’ – Butler coach Brad Stevens

click to tweet!

Coaching your own Kid

  • The more I pressured him, the more rebellious he got. Have an assistant help coach your kid.

My ‘Cringe’ Moment

  • The fear of failure can make it a ‘me vs. the other coach’ scenario. When you are playing chess and you are using kids as the pawns – the lack of priorities quickly reveals itself. Luke revealed a story of over-reacting and having to apologize to the child and parents.
  • Don’t go overboard trying to instill toughness

Coaching AH-HA Moment

  • Focus on the process not the outcome – a lesson learned from Coach Brad Stevens from Butler

Teaching Children & Keeping it Fun

  • Be at the kid’s level physically – take a knee so you’re not talking down to them. Stand at their side so you’re standing with them instead of in front of them.
  • Tell the kid you believe in him.
  • Have to rep the fundamentals and have a structured, organized practice. Work from the feet to the head and pick one thing to improve and perfect. Then celebrate every little step accomplished!

Coaching Resources

  • Google!
  • Talk to successful coaches in your league – coaches love to share

Discipline

  • If I tell you once – then it’s my fault as the coach. If I tell you twice, it’s still my fault in communication. But if I have to tell you 3 times – whose fault is that?
  • Ask questions before making judgments

Reward, Recognition, and Teambuilding

  • His biggest motivator has been Helmet Stickers. Tough play – can get a ‘red-eye’ skull and cross-bones sticker.
  • Leadership award each week – ‘Who is serving the team?’ The trophy pays around each week.
  • Pitbull award – Physical play
  • HUGE IDEA – In parent team meeting – Have parents visualize them breaking a team rule – by you treating them like they just violated that rule.
  • This team is not just about the kids – it’s about the kids, the coaches, the parents – we are all in this together to have a great experience and show character.

Inspiring Story

  • ‘Kids are candles to be lit not vessels to be filled’
  • Christopher – was afraid of contact – then in one practice made a great hit and earned a red-eye sticker- he cried from joy on the spot and after that he had a new swagger and confidence
  • Hinge Moments – ‘The Hinge of Mental Toughness’ – Moments that turn your life around

Winning

  • Winning should be a goal – but it is not the scoreboard – winning is executing every play
  • If it is a competitive travel team – the key is setting the expectation of what is going to determine playing time

 The One that Got Away

  • 4th grade Raiders vs the Colts – Running the ball at will, up 2 TD’s, about to score 3rd – throws the ball and returned for a pick six. Things fell apart from there.
  • The immortal words of Dr. Phil: ‘It ain’t about you’

 Coaching/Leadership Motivation

Parting Advice

  • Look at coaching as an opportunity to be significant in the lives of the kids and the parents that are part of that team
  • Don’t be that kid’s last football coach

Interview Links

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June 1, 2014

WYC 002 Gymnastics – Diane Renzi – Do what you can, with what you have, where you are

Pic - Diane Renzi

What does it take to be a winning youth coach? Listen in as Diane shares coaching stories and discusses her journey to becoming a successful youth coach.

Diane was an all Big-10 gymnast at The Ohio State University, and has coached 50+ level 10 gymnasts; in 2 years at Solon High School she took the team to state, where they have never been before or since. She is married to a fellow-Ohio State gymnast and has four children ages 17-22.

Twitter: CoachRenzi@kidpeach

Listen Now:

Listen in ITunes: Itunes link

Listen in Stitcher: Stitcher link

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Coaching/Leadership Quote

  • ‘Do what you can, with what you have, where you are’ – Theodore Roosevelt

click to tweet!

Coaching your own Kid

  • 2 keys: Separate your home time from your gym time; Wait for your child to ask for advice vs. forcing your advice on them

My ‘Cringe’ Moment

  • As an ex-athlete Diane expected all the kids to be wired like she was – she had to learn each person is motivated differently

Coaching AH-HA Moment

  • No matter what effort the child brings to the gym – I, as the coach, will always bring 100% to each practice. I am here to support you.

Teaching Children & Keeping it Fun

  • Understand the age of who you are coaching. Don’t hold kids to standards that are too high for their maturity.
  • Educate your athletes – teach the standard, then have a fun competition to challenge them to perfect that skill.

Coaching Resources

  • Diane’s best coach always made each kid feel like they were the favorite.
  • Youtube videos:

o  ‘The Gymnastics Minute’ by USAGymnastics

o  Tammy Biggs

o  Mary Lee Tracy

Discipline

  • Breaking a known team rule – Have a predefined consequence where the punishment fits the crime.
  • Kids not listening to the coach – You have to first find out the reason why – ‘Anyone can coach the kids who wants it – The coaching takes place when they don’t want it – how do we motivate them?’

Reward, Recognition, and Teambuilding

  • Teach the kids and parents: To enjoy the successes of others doesn’t take away from my own joy
  • Diane creates team competitive contests where she intentionally pairs athletes with different strengths
  • With parents: ‘The best jury is an educated jury’ – Be open and honest with the parents

Inspiring Story

  • Diane coached one girl who had a particularly bad temper – Diane pumped positivity into this girl and went on to see her turn around and succeed
  • ‘I have my Rosella back’ – A dad thanked Diane for turning around his daughter’s attitude and bringing back her joy.

Winning

  • Winning is the desire to do your best
  • Michelle Kwan: ‘I didn’t lose the gold, I won the silver’
  • As a parent – you should be the one congratulating the kid for winning the silver
  • Diane encourages her athletes that win multiple medals to share some of the extra medals with their teammates that worked equally as hard

 The One that Got Away

  • Diane thought her daughter had given up on one of her routines – but she misunderstood the situation and didn’t ask questions first.

 Coaching/Leadership Motivation

Parting Advice

  • The most important thing you can do is build the confidence in your athlete

Interview Links

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May 27, 2014

WYC 001 Youth Football – Paul Syrvalin – Play Hard, Play Smart, Play Together, Play True

Paul Syrvalin pic

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

Paul is in technical sales, father of 3 boys, and has coached youth football, baseball, and lacrosse. His youth football team last season went undefeated in a 20 team league and won the league championship.

Listen Now:

Listen in ITunes: Itunes link

Listen in Stitcher: Stitcher link

.

Coaching/Leadership Quote

  • ‘Play Hard, Play Smart, Play Together, Play True’

Click to Tweet

Coaching your own kids

  • Best thing you can do is have an assistant take the lead with your son or daughter

My ‘Cringe’ Moment

  • Not speaking up when seeing an unsafe drill being run

Coaching AH-HA Moment

  • The importance of being organized and having detailed practice plans

Teaching a Skill to Children and Keeping it Fun while they Learn

  • Keep it simple and stay positive – instead of yelling at a kid when they make a mistake – show them exactly how you want them to do it next time
  • Fun games: Ultimate football; Dodgeball with footballs

Best Stolen Idea

  • Mantra: ‘Play Hard, Play Smart, Play Together, Play True’

Coaching Resource

Discipline

  • Sometimes a glare is enough
  • Don’t use running laps as a punishment – Kid is ostracized, it wastes time where they are not learning
  • When disciplining – the whole team does the punishment – something quick like 10 push-ups

Reward/Recognition

  • They pick out a different star-performer each practice and game- and have them in the middle of the circle leading the team chant. Make sure you pick different kids that aren’t just the star athlete.

Teambuilding

  • Paul emphasizes that ‘You are a teammate on and off the field’ to build a special bond amongst players
  • Amongst parents – parental rules laid out up front – they must ‘act their age’. Any conversations about playing time must be away from the practice or game field. Over-communicate – Send quick emails about what is going on.

Changing the Future of a Kid you Coached

  • Paul had a player with some learning disabilities on one of his teams –he practiced a play to set up that player to score a touchdown in a game – it fired up the team to get a lead and then execute that play so that he could score.

Managing Playing Time

  • You never know who the studs are going to be in high school – so your goal is to teach the kids to love the game as much as we do as coaches.

The One that Got Away

  • They lost a playoff game where one of his players got hurt – Paul put in a player that didn’t end up adjusting to the new position – his biggest regret was not making an adjustment and moving a few players around to stop the other team.

Coaching/Leadership Book

  • London Fletcher’s story – Always told he was too small, too slow to play – and he went on to be All-Pro in NFL and played 15 straight years without missing a game.

Interview Links

Ready to be an Awesome Youth Coach? Sign up for our free weekly newsletter @ WinningYouthCoaching Newsletter

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March 3, 2014

Nice guys don’t finish last, lazy coaches do

Why do most parents end up coaching one of their kid’s teams?  Is it to fulfill their lifelong dreams that they are the next John Wooden?  Is it so they can make their kid the starting quarterback or shortstop? (There will be parents on 99.9% of teams that accuse you of this.)

The reason most parents start coaching is to prevent their child from playing for a bad coach.  A yeller.  A win-at-all-costs coach.  An unorganized time-waster.  Someone who takes the fun out of learning and playing a sport.  That’s why I started coaching.

So since I have the right motives everything will just go great, right?  The parents and kids will see that I am a ‘fun’ coach and love being on this team, right?  No one will care if we get pummeled in most games because we are playing for the right reasons, right?

Don’t make the mistake that I did my first few years of coaching – indirectly teaching your kids that nice guys finish last.  That was a lazy coaching philosophy.  I didn’t do my homework and prepare our team.  I didn’t realize it, but I was teaching the kids that being average was OK.

What I eventually did was research the most effective ways to teach the kids to be excellent.  To be great.  To be awesome.  Preparing a team to win and being a win-at-all-costs coach are two very different things.   A wise coach taught me: “Learn to compete ‘as if to win’, not ‘for the win.’  You can’t control the way the ball bounces or referees’ calls, so winning is not the only objective.  But you can control whether or not you have done everything possible to prepare your team for greatness.

I Corinthians 9:24

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize?  So run that you may obtain it.

 

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February 3, 2014

Tough loss and a hug

After a really tough loss ended a deep playoff run, our team had our post-game chat. And then something really memorable happened.

Sure, we encouraged the kids in the post-game wrap up. We celebrated all the things we did well.  We broke out one last time in our team chant.

And then something unexpected happened.

One of our players, who was young, small, and not a star on the team- came up and hugged me and started crying a little (I’m sure he would never admit it.)  Then he took a few steps, and came back and hugged me again.

Wow was that powerful. Instantaneously that small gesture had make me forget about the toughest loss of my coaching career.

When the whistle blew to end the game, I had countless doubts running through my head.  Did we prepare the team the proper way?  Should I have called a different play?  What went wrong?

But that hug erased all the doubts and questions.  As a team and as coaches – we had stuck to our mission, worked endlessly to be great, and done it the right way.  Were we perfect?  No.  But that young man told me, without using any words, that the road to greatness is awesome and this was truly a season and experience he loved.

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January 3, 2014

Emotional Playing-Time Decisions – Be Wise in How you Communicate

One mistake I made on a team I coached was how I handled a highly emotional situation.  One of our players made it very obvious he really wanted to play a certain position.  After evaluating the players, our coaching staff determined the line-up that made the most sense for the team.  This player was not initially going to start at the position he wanted.  Not getting to play the position you want or think you deserve is something that happens all of the time in sports, but the wise coaches deal with it in a way that can help diffuse the situation.  I was not wise with this young man.

I showed up for practice, called our team together, and announced all the positions in front of the whole team.  This boy was very upset and it was very visible.

I could have saved that player a lot of embarrassment, and the team a very awkward situation, if I had handled it differently.

What I should have done was pull this player aside before practice and  had a one-on-one discussion.  There is no point in embarrassing him in front of the whole team with a surprise.  This would also allow me to explain to him that he was going to get a chance to play that position, he just wasn’t going to start the first game there.  It would also have allowed for him to express any disagreement or concerns with the decision in a much more comfortable setting.  Communicating with more sensitivity would have greatly diffused what turned into a pretty ugly situation.

Building up the self-esteem of these young boys and girls is the most important aspect of youth coaching, and this requires wisdom.  Having wisdom in the area of communication with players means taking into consideration the right way of presenting disappointing news, and utilizing this as a teaching moment.

James 3: 17-18 – But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. 18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

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