Great Coaches are Both Firm AND Flexible
Monday, 27 July 2020
I was reading through some of the comments on some old blog posts recently, as they are often enlightening. I came across a few comments, such as: “Are we supposed to be a competitive club, or have fun?” one coach asked. “Are we teaching these kids and demanding excellence, or giving everyone a trophy?” another
- Published in Coaching
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How to be a Great Sports Parent During and After COVID-19
Monday, 29 June 2020
Many years ago, when I first started Changing the Game Project, I travelled to Los Angeles to speak at a parent education day for The Brentwood School. The keynote speaker that day was psychologist and author Madeline Levine. She has written two NY Times bestsellers on parenting (The Price of Privilege and Teach Your Children
Why Volunteer Coaches Need to be More Like Volunteer Firefighters
Tuesday, 09 June 2020
If you are a longtime reader of this blog, you may know that my father was a firefighter on the New York Fire Department many years ago. His father was a firefighter. My brother was a firefighter. But what you may not know is that after seven years on the job, my father was badly
- Published in Coaching
What Will You Be Proud of When We Return to Sports?
Sunday, 03 May 2020
Tony Robichaux was a legendary collegiate baseball coach upon his passing in 2019. His teams at McNeese St and Louisiana won numerous conference titles, well over 1000 games, and made over a dozen trips to the NCAA Championships, including a College World Series in 2000. The other day I came across a quote from Robichaux
- Published in COVID-19
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
I Already Miss Watching My Kids Play
Tuesday, 17 March 2020
It’s Tuesday, March 17, at 3pm. It has been a week since I got to watch my kids play soccer, at their final practice before the state of Oregon cancelled all group gatherings and sporting events. It has been 10 days since I watched their last games. And like all of you reading, I have
- Published in Parenting
Another Great Coach Bites the Dust. How Sad!
Wednesday, 05 February 2020
Yesterday was a tough day. It was a tough day because I had a conversation with another coaching friend who had lost his job. He was not fired for doing anything illegal. He was not fired for anything inappropriate. He was not fired for bullying or demeaning behavior. He was complimented for his integrity and
- Published in Coaching, High School Sports, Problems in Youth Sports
Are Sports Fundamentally Good?
Thursday, 26 December 2019
I recently came across a great quote from the poet TS Elliot, who says “Nothing pleases people more than to go on thinking what they have always thought, and at the same time imagine that they are thinking something new and daring: it combines the advantage of security with the delight of adventure.” The quote
- Published in Coaching, Parenting, Problems in Youth Sports
Why Do I Coach? An Excerpt from EVERY MOMENT MATTERS
Tuesday, 10 December 2019
People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it. And what you do simply proves what you believe. —Simon Sinek We spend the vast majority of our time in traditional coaching education learning the tools to run a great practice and coach in the competition. Intuitively, this seems to make sense. Yet
- Published in Coaching
Our 2019 Books of the Year
Wednesday, 04 December 2019
“The only thing that will prevent you from getting better is thinking that you know it all.” That was the advice Fergus Connelly gave us on our podcast this year, and it is a great concept to think about as 2019 draws to a close. So how do you get better? Well, reading books and
- Published in Book reviews
Designing Culture Through the Legacy Notebook
Thursday, 14 November 2019
Article by James Leath (jamesleath.com) and reposted with permission. “Because your experience is valuable, and tradition shouldn’t graduate.” – James Leath A few years ago, as the Head of Leadership at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, I held an end of season meeting with the seniors of that team. I was introducing the concept of
- Published in Article
Do Sports Actually Teach Character?
Tuesday, 01 October 2019
Head to any sports field this afternoon, and you will hear whistles blaring and coaches urging on their players to work harder and compete more. You will see exhausted athletes with their hands on their knees being implored to do one more set, or a coach shout “do it again” when a rep is not
- Published in Article
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
Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World, our Favorite book so far in 2019
Friday, 14 June 2019
Yes, it is summer, which means it’s time to sit back, relax and catch up on some reading. Well, you are in luck, because this has been a banner year for some new releases, plus some 2018 books I am just getting to. Let’s go! Best Book (so far) of 2019 Range: Why Generalists Triumph
- Published in Book reviews
A Coach’s Words Can Change a Life
Tuesday, 28 May 2019
(This article was submitted by Pete Jacobson, a varsity HS coach in New York for almost 20 years. He also works with coaches of all levels through WinSmarter to help them get better at what they do, have a greater impact and go home happy.) “When you hit your leg attacks well, you can take
- Published in Coaching, Uncategorized
Don’t Steal the Reps from Your Athletes
Wednesday, 01 May 2019
Imagine you went to your child’s algebra class and got to be a fly on the wall. Imagine the teacher was being assessed on your child’s test results in two days. Now imagine that instead of teaching your child how to problem solve, and the concepts behind doing algebra problems, she just took out the
Why Do We Think Physical Punishment is a Good Teaching Tool in Sports?
Thursday, 11 April 2019
The other day I got an interesting question via email from a mom of a young travel volleyball player. Her daughter and her team had missed quite a few serves their previous tournament. There were serves into the net. There were serves wide of the court. There were serves over the endline. They were told
- Published in Article
An Open Letter to the Out of Control Sports Parent Sitting Next to Me in the Stands
Wednesday, 20 March 2019
Dear Out of Control Sports Parent, You. Yeah, you. The one shouting “Get the rebound!!!” to your kid. The one with the heart palpitating so loudly that you cannot contain yourself. The one yelling and complaining about the coach. The one hollering at the 13-year-old referee. The one angry at my kid for making a
- Published in Article
The Professionalization of Youth Sports
Friday, 18 January 2019
“The Fulham coaches distilled the threat, defined the tactics and dictated the tempo at which they expected their team to play. It was a tough European tournament, featuring Paris Saint-Germain, Monaco, Inter Milan, Bayern Munich, Anderlecht and Feyenoord, but it was deemed to be winnable.” So begins Chapter 2 of the great book No Hunger
- Published in Article
The Best Sports Books of 2018
Monday, 26 November 2018
Yes, it is that time of year again, time for our favorite books of 2018, and time to get the coaches, parents and athletes in our lives some good holiday reading material. The Changing the Game Project team is always reading, always listening, and always learning, in order to help you take your coaching, parenting,
- Published in Book reviews
“When I’m Running, it Feels like I am not Disabled:” Lessons on Being a Great Teammate from the Best Team You’ve Never Heard Of
Tuesday, 18 September 2018
Dick Hoyt was not a runner in any sense of the word. By his own accounts, he could not remember the last time he had run more than a mile. So when his son Rick told him in the spring of 1977 that he wanted to participate in a 5-mile run to benefit a classmate
- Published in Article
Are you a Blockbuster Coach, or are you a Netflix Coach?
Wednesday, 05 September 2018
Have you ever heard of Blockbuster Video? Have you seen one lately? There is a reason only one Blockbuster store remains today. Let me explain. In 1992 I was a senior in High School playing for one of the top high school soccer teams in the state. We were successful because our coach was one
- Published in Article
Why is Abusive Coaching Tolerated in Sports?
Wednesday, 15 August 2018
On May 29, 2018, University of Maryland lineman Jordan McNair ran the last sprint of his life. After a series of 110 yd runs, during which he became disoriented and had trouble standing, McNair collapsed and died of heat stroke. He had a body temperature of 106 degrees in the hospital. He was only 19.
- Published in Coaching
How Do I Balance My WHY with the Demands of the Youth Sports Culture?
Tuesday, 31 July 2018
“This season was a disaster.” A former colleague of mine said to me recently. “We had a ton of fun, the kids learned a lot of new skills and gelled as a team, but we didn’t win as many games as last season.” “Fun and learning are the two primary things we always wanted out
- Published in Article
Our Favorite Books for Summer 2018
Tuesday, 22 May 2018
Every year, as summer rolls around, we give you the list of our favorite reads of the year so far. Between Memorial Day, Fathers Day, and that upcoming vacation I hope you are taking, it’s a great time to catch up on some reading. There have been some great new books that have come out
- Published in Book reviews
Parenting and Coaching The Perfectionist Athlete
Tuesday, 08 May 2018
Last week, we received a question that we get often, so we thought it would make a great blog: “I was wondering if you could provide some advice. My son is 8 years old and plays on a travel baseball team. [He is ] blessed with athleticism. He’s fast and has great hand-eye coordination. The
In Youth Sports, there is no LTAD without STAE
Tuesday, 24 April 2018
“Imagine youth sports was a room. On one end of the room, there is a door where everyone enters. At the other end, there is another door where everyone leaves.” So began a long conversation I had with Peter Hugg, the Head of Football (soccer) for Football New South Wales in Australia, on my recent
- Published in Long Term Athlete Development, Motivation