By James Leath “When did parenting get to be so stressful?” began a recent post on the Changing the Game Project Facebook page. “I worry that if I don’t provide them with the best equipment, or get them on the best team, or take them to every camp or tournament, then I am letting my…
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By Karrick Dyer (this originally appeared on www.KarrickDyer.com and is reprinted with permission of @KarrickD) For anyone who has ever coached youth sports of any kind, from pee-wee to middle school, and even high school sports in some cases………I have a deep question that has been floating in my mind in recent days. Just give…
DetailsBy 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,…
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By James Leath (this first appeared on his blog at www.JamesLeath.com) A former student athlete of mine was awarded a full ride to play NCAA D1 football and he called me recently, just to talk. Calls from former athletes are a huge highlight in any coach’s day. “Coach, what is the difference between winning and…
Details“I don’t know where to turn,” an exasperated dad recently told me after a speaking event. “My son is fast, and he is skilled. We do lots of extra practice, we go to a private skills coach, we are doing everything it takes to get to the next level, but something is not right. He…
Details“Daddy, do we get trophies for playing lacrosse this spring?” my son asked me a few months back. “No, you get to go out and run around and have lots of fun while learning lacrosse,” I said. “OK!” Then he turned and ran out on the field for the start of his first practice. According…
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ONCE AGAIN, recent news brought us a sad story from the world of youth sports. In the Little League World Series for softball, a team from South Snohomish, WA was found to have purposely given less than their best effort in a game, in order to eliminate a potential competitor from the semifinals. The South…
DetailsEvery year, I travel throughout the US, Canada, Asia and Europe, and give well over 100 presentations to parents and coaches. I speak to tens of thousands of people about youth sports, coaching, and athlete development. Every time I do a live event, I get asked the following question: “If you are presenting all this…
DetailsBack in the summer of 2000, I was just completing my first year as an assistant men’s soccer coach at the University of Vermont. Between sessions of summer camp, I often ducked out of the heat by having lunch in the cool confines of UVM’s famed Gutterson Field House, watching some of the planet’s best…
DetailsOn June 21, at the ripe old age of 21, Jordan Spieth become just the sixth golfer in history to win both The Masters and The US Open in the same year, joining some pretty illustrious company such as Woods, Nicklaus, Palmer and Hogan. He must have played only golf growing up to become this…
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