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Over the years, one of the most trying situations I encounter as a youth coach is dealing with the “Know it All Player.” More often than not this player tends to be a young teenager who [...]
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It is very common for kids to dislike their coach for what ever reasons. Sometimes kids have a legitimate gripe but parents should not allow kids to trash talk their coach. Kids should be brought up to respect other adults as long as those coaches are not abusive in any [...]
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Previously, I had written about my favorite word when talking to athletes was “we.” It gives off the feeling to youth that all (parents, athletes and players) are in it together and that the athlete does not have to figure it out or go it alone on their
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I work with baseball and softball palyers all the time because that is what I do for a living. Inevitably, when I begin talking to a group of players, many of them will immediately look elsewhere than at me. Is that a little annoying? Yes, but the
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If you are a coach or parent and are not reading blogs and articles at sites like this one http://baseballparentguide.blogspot.com/2009/12/too-much-emphasis-on-winning-not.html then you are not maximizing your potential as a sports parent and/or youth coach. I
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Parents often become concerned because their kids come home from practice and don’t appear very enthusiastic. “It was so boring,” is a common response. What to do? Good coaches know what to do – everything in sports require players learning how to do things quicker and faster. With this in mind, good coaches [...]
Following are parenting tips to help bring out the best in athletes and to guarantee athletic success.
1. Begin working on skills at least 6 weeks before the start of practice and gradually increase the work load each week leading up to the season.
2. Begin teaching basic fundamentals at a young age without being overbearing with [...]
Sports Coaching Philosophy
Coaching Philosophy
It is important for coaches at all levels to have a philosophy of coaching. Of course, this philosophy should be arrived at based on the age of athletes and the competitive level of the league the athletes are playing in. For example, travel leagues tend to be more competitive so this [...]
There are a number of considerations adults should take into account before volunteering to coach youth sports. Youth sports coaching is not as easy as it may appear because there is the responsibility of helping youth and at the same time keeping parents happy at the same time. With this in mind, adults should keep [...]
ZEAL – Finally made it to the end of the alphabet. A synonym for zeal is enthusiasm and we all agree that enthuiasm form parents and coaches is necessary if they want their kids to enjoy sports. It is one of the key ingredients in developing love of the game in kids and a key [...]
From Jack’s blog at the Press Enterprise – Southern California Newspapers
http://blogs.pe.com/moms/2009/09/keeping-sports-in-perspective.html
Youth – Things are getting tough down here at the end of the alphabet. Not a lot of inspiring words or words pertaining to sports beginning with X,Y or Z so I am improvising a little. Y is for “Youth” sports and that is the point – it should be all about our youth. Parents and [...]
Xample – OK, I know I am cheating a little on this one but I want to keep the streak going. Everyone knows how important it is for coaches and parents to lead by example. Just as important, especially as players reach the high school level, is that players learn to also lead by example. [...]
Winning – The first word that comes to mind when thinking of words that begin with W and sports is winning. It is often debated whether coaches of youth should play to win. I believe it is OK to play to win, even at ages as young as 8 years old. Does that mean allot of emphasis should be [...]
Parenting Advice
Variety,Victory,Voice,View -
There is no one word that sticks out when thinking of the letter V so I will mention some thoughts that apply to some V words that apply to sports.
Variety – It is important that coaches and parents provide a variety of options to their kids at younger ages so that one
Understanding - ”I understand that just because a skill is easy for me or appears easy from the sidelines, does not mean it is easy for everyone.” ” I play to win, with the understanding that player development and fun are of equal importance.” “I do my best to understand each player’s personality so I can determine [...]
Trust -
The obvious word that comes to the sports mind with the letter T is Talent. Talent is a combination of God-given athleticism and some develped skills and generally manifests itself at a young age in kids. The word that I want to talk about is trust because this is an extrememly important concept when parents and coaches work [...]
Quit – An obvious word when it comes to the letter Q is the word quit. One of the great things about youth sports coaching and life lessons that parents and coaches can teach youth is the idea that one should never give up in competition and in their pursuit of their goals. This obviously [...]
Patience & Perspective
Now we are talking – there are numerous great concepts when it comes to the letter P pertaining to sports – perspective, pressure, parenting, practice, patience, poisitive, just to name a few. Over the weeks I will speak of these. The two most important ones, patience and perspective go hand in hand. Every [...]
Justify – Not a lot of words beginning with this letter. Of course, coaches and parents should always be judicious with their teams and kids when making decisions about athletics. But one of my favorite words is justify. Most kids stop playing sports not because they get burnt out but because they cannot justify working [...]
Inspiration
- This is an obvious word that initially comes to mind when I think of words beginning with this letter. Many parents get frustrated with their kids because they do not show much motivation to play to practice their skills. Often, motivation comes from within a players innate personality so that is hard to change with many kids. However, [...]
Hope – This is one of my favorite concepts that is so important in youth sports. It is so important because it is something concrete that parents and coaches can give kids that can make all the difference. You see, another person cannot give a player confidence for that is something they must attain on their own. But, [...]
Fundamentals
If you have been following my writings over the last few years you know that this is the concept(s) I discuss the most frequently. To me, this word contains the two most important ideas pertaining to youth sports. Youth sports is albout developing fundamentals and having fun. The two go hand and hand. It [...]
Effort & Expectations – The first two words that come to mind when I think of the letter E when it comes to sports are effort and expectations. They actually go hand and hand. The thing that parents can “expect” from
From Raising an Athlete – Jack Perconte’s second book due out September 1 -
How to Instill Confidence, Build Skills and Inspire a Love of Sport -
