Reimagining Youth Sports in a Post-COVID-19 World
Tuesday, 14 April 2020
“When do you think we will play again, coach?” “Will we finish our season, coach?” “I sure miss practice, even the fitness!” “What about tryouts?” If you are part of a school or youth sports club, these are the questions you have been fielding on a daily basis. Since the state of Oregon closed down
- Published in club sports, COVID-19, Youth Sports
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When You Attend a Youth Sports Event, Know Your Role!
Wednesday, 10 July 2019
Imagine the perfect summer day. The sun is out, The birds are chirping. And a bunch of 7 year old boys scurry about a baseball diamond, trying to hit, run, throw and catch, all the while smiling and giggling and doing what 7-year-old boys do. But then the game gets tense. Parents and coaches started
- Published in Sports Parenting, Youth Sports
Can Youth Sports be Both Fun and Competitive?
Tuesday, 03 April 2018
I got an email from a distraught parent the other day. She described a scene where the coach was screaming at the girls after a loss. She was beside herself at how the coach treated the girls. He was demeaning, he was loud and scary, and he had lost perspective on the age he was
- Published in Motivation, Youth Sports
WOC #30 What Makes Sports Fun for Athletes of All Ages with Amanda Visek, PhD.
Sunday, 08 October 2017
Fun. It is the biggest reason kids play sports and it is also the biggest reason they quit. That is widely known. What is not widely known is the fact kids define fun differently than us adults. In fact, they define fun 81 different ways. You’d be surprised at what they consider fun… Subscribe
- Published in Podcast, Youth Sports
Google it! What Youth Sports Can Learn from the Tech Giant About Building Great Teams
Wednesday, 26 July 2017
110-2. 24-0. Headed into the 2004 Olympic Games, the Men’s USA Basketball team was 110-2 all-time. They were 24-0 since the introduction of the 1992 “Dream Team”(NBA-era). The team consisted of current and future NBA stars. The best of the best. The greatest players from the greatest league in the world. LeBron James, Dwayne Wade,
- Published in Team Culture, Youth Sports
It’s Time for the NCAA to Stop the Early Recruiting Insanity
Thursday, 19 May 2016
I recently received a phone call from a friend who is one of the national directors of coaching for a major US sport governing body. He told me the story of a recent phone call his office received from a distraught parent: “We just had tryout for our local club and my son was placed
- Published in College Recruiting, High School Sports, Youth Sports
The Accountability Problem in Youth Sports
Wednesday, 04 May 2016
“Thanks so much for your talk the other day,” wrote a coach from Calgary, Alberta to us recently. “It was so refreshing to hear that message, especially in light of the news I returned home to.” “My friend spent the weekend coaching his son at a spring hockey tournament for 9 and 10 year olds,”
- Published in Coaching, High School Sports, Problems in Youth Sports, Youth Sports
How Adults Take the Joy Out of Sports (And How We Can Fix It)
Monday, 18 April 2016
We have all seen it. I was recently watching a 12-year-old boys soccer game, and I saw it again. Like a deer in the headlights, the left defender on the blue team was seemingly stranded on the field and unsure where to go or what to do. He turned to one sideline, where his coach
- Published in Coaching, High School Sports, Parenting, Youth Sports