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In Youth Sports, there is no LTAD without STAE

Tuesday, 24 April 2018 by John O'Sullivan
“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
Dr Jean Cotepracticeyouth sports
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  • Published in Long Term Athlete Development, Motivation
1 Comment

Can Youth Sports be Both Fun and Competitive?

Tuesday, 03 April 2018 by Reed Maltbie
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
competitionfunyouth sports
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  • Published in Motivation, Youth Sports
3 Comments

The Way of the Champion

Tuesday, 14 February 2017 by John O'Sullivan
All-American. World-champion. Greatest shooter on the planet. Most Valuable Player…twice. Yes, I am talking about Steph Curry, the all-world guard for the Golden State Warriors. These are the things we all say about him – we all know about him – when the lights are shining brightly. What about the when no one is watching?
Steph Curryteamworkyouth sports
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  • Published in Messages for Kids, Motivation
9 Comments

The Rule of One: How One Person, One Comment, One Time Can Change a Life Forever

Monday, 21 November 2016 by John O'Sullivan
I remember it like it was yesterday. I was a junior in high school, and sat three rows back, middle row of my English literature class at St Anthony’s High School in New York. Brother Jeff, a Franciscan brother who was a pleasant combination strict and jovial, was my teacher. He was handing back some
leadershippositive sports experiencesyouth sports
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  • Published in Coaching, Motivation
3 Comments

The Extra Mile

Tuesday, 16 August 2016 by John O'Sullivan
The extra mile is a lonely place, but it is the only path to greatness. There are no fans lining that mile. No cameras. No bright lights. Most of your teammates won’t join you there, because your dreams belong to you, not them. Many of your “friends” will tell you that you are wasting your
mental toughnessperformanceyouth sports
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  • Published in Goal Setting, Mental Toughness, Motivation
2 Comments

The One Quality Great Teammates Have in Common

Tuesday, 13 October 2015 by John O'Sullivan
By John O’Sullivan “Coach, can I talk to you?” “Sure,” I said. “What’s on your mind today Michael?” “Well, I just want to know what I can do so I get to start more games and get more playing time as a center midfielder. I don’t think I am showing my best as a winger,
leadershipNew Zealand All Blacksservice to othersteam cultureyouth sports
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  • Published in Leadership, Messages for Kids, Motivation, Team Culture
33 Comments

What Youth Sports can Learn from Video Games

Wednesday, 18 February 2015 by John O'Sullivan
On a recent sunny Saturday, I took my kids out to the local park to play soccer with some friends. They ran, they jumped, and they competed hard. They laughed, they schemed, and they made the rules. Everyone played, no one was excluded from the game, and all the kids tried and failed over and
Aspen Institute Project Playdeliberate practicepositive sports experiencesspecializationyouth sports
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  • Published in Motivation, Sports Parenting, Uncategorized
10 Comments

A Higher Purpose Than Winning

Wednesday, 23 July 2014 by John O'Sullivan
If you put a bunch of top coaches, sport scientists and psychologists in a room together, they may not agree on much. They would agree on one thing though: an overemphasis on winning and competition, instead of practice and development, is detrimental to the long term performance of young athletes. Unfortunately, today in youth sports
coachingcore valuesfamily valuesmindset for athletesplaying to winsports parentingyouth sports
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  • Published in Coaching, Motivation, Sport for Social Impact
4 Comments

Starting Your Athletes the Right Way

Thursday, 29 May 2014 by John O'Sullivan
(A child’s first contact and first impression of a sport goes a long way to determining whether or not he will fall in love with the game. As basketball great Steve Nash says, upon receiving his first ball and playing in his first organized league at age 13, “I felt like I had a new
coachingconfidencefamily valuesmindset for athletesparentingpositive sports experiencesyouth sports
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  • Published in Coaching, Motivation, Sports Parenting
3 Comments

The Incredibly Massive Importance of Play

Tuesday, 04 March 2014 by John O'Sullivan
Let me be blunt and scream this from the rooftop: the best athletes PLAY sports. They don’t work them, they play them. When sport becomes more work than play, athletes struggle, they grind, and if they cannot get back to playing instead of working, they eventually drop out. From youth to pros, when the fun
10000 hoursdeliberate practicemindset for athletesproblems in youth sportsyouth sports
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  • Published in Coaching, Deliberate Practice, Motivation, Sports Parenting
19 Comments

The Bare Essentials: Three Things Every Athlete Needs to Succeed

Thursday, 06 February 2014 by John O'Sullivan
Elite performance is determined by a number of factors, amongst them innate talent and genetics, hours of deliberate training, coaching, and luck. But performance is also great affected by what is between an athlete’s ears: mindset. An athlete’s state of mind is perhaps the single greatest factor that affects performance. In his great book The
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  • Published in Coaching, Motivation, Sports Parenting
24 Comments

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