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 -
Development
When you think of the letter D when it comes to sports, desire and determination come to mind. However, the concept that should not be left out of the “D” conversation and the one I most associate with athletics is development. Obviously, every player brings different genes and athleticism to the game. But no matter how [...]
Confidence – Nowhere is confidence more important than on the playing fields of sport. Without confidence, players often lose their desire to keep playing, and at the very least they tend to play scared. Some players are naturally more
Attention – Getting the attention of players can be difiicult. Their attention span is often short and when they are around teammates and friends it tends to be even shorter. A couple of techniques I use to help this situation was
How to Instill Confidence, Build Skills and Inspire a Love of Sport -
