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Choosing the Hard Right in Youth Sports

Wednesday, 20 January 2021 by John O'Sullivan
As many long time listeners and readers know, I am a graduate of Fordham University in New York City. This past Monday, on the occasion of Martin Luther King, Jr., Day, one of my former teachers and current university president Father Joseph McShane sent a letter to alumni about courage. I thought it was worth
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  • Published in Coaching, Parenting
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#89 A Commitment to Changing the Culture of Coaching with Lynn Berling-Manuel, CEO of United Soccer Coaches

Sunday, 25 November 2018 by John O'Sullivan
To make real change we need those in a position of influence to support and advance the cause. United Soccer Coaches is the largest coaching membership organization in the world and they have recently committed to changing the coaching culture. Listen to this conversation with Lynn Berling-Manuel. Enjoy the Show! Show Notes 5:15 The single
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#87 Becoming a Coaching Wizard with Russel Earnshaw and John Fletcher of The Magic Academy

Sunday, 11 November 2018 by John O'Sullivan
Instead of coaching athletes for today’s outcomes, why not coach them in a way that prepares them to succeed in future seasons too? Teach them what they need to evolve as the game does too.  Join Russel Earnshaw and John Fletcher of the Magic Academy to hear more. Enjoy the Show Show Notes 4:15 When
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#85 How to Transform the Culture of Your Youth Sports Program with Nate Baldwin, Appleton Parks and Recreation Sports Coordinator

Sunday, 28 October 2018 by John O'Sullivan
Across the board, youth sports participation rates are dropping and coach retention is extremely low, yet Appleton recreation is seeing an average of 60% increase in participation across its four biggest sports and coach retention is 90%. What are they doing differently? Enjoy the Show! Show Notes 1:00 Nate’s backstory 12:30 If we are in
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#84 How to Build Great Habits and Break Bad Ones with Internationally Known Author and Blogger James Clear

Sunday, 21 October 2018 by John O'Sullivan
Have you ever tried to break a bad habit or create a good one and struggled to get the results to stick? James Clear has solved the problem and shares some of the science behind habits in this podcast and his new book. Listen in now.   Enjoy the Show Show Notes 8:40 How James
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#82 The Barcelona Way: Unlocking the DNA of a Winning Culture with author Damian Hughes

Sunday, 07 October 2018 by John O'Sullivan
Great cultures abound as examples of sporting success. The key is to build your own, using the success clues left by others as your guide. In this episode, Damien Hughes outlines the clues left by Barcelona and other great sports cultures so we can begin to develop a culture of success with our teams. Enjoy
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#78 Pause before you post – why athletes must be intentional on social media, with 2x All-American and USA Basketball Assistant Coach Scott Fitch

Sunday, 09 September 2018 by John O'Sullivan
One post. One moment of poor judgment frozen in time on social media. That is all it takes to alter your future trajectory as a youth athlete. In this episode Scott Fitch shares stories of athletes who should have “paused before they posted” and much more. Enjoy the Show!  Show Notes 1:15 Scott’s development journey
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How Do I Balance My WHY with the Demands of the Youth Sports Culture?

Tuesday, 31 July 2018 by John O'Sullivan
“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
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WOC #61 Dan Coyle, NYT Bestselling Author of The Talent Code and The Culture Code, on The Four Most Powerful Words a Leader Can Say, and Other Secrets of Highly Successful Teams

Sunday, 13 May 2018 by John O'Sullivan
“I screwed that up.” Imagine asking a member of the Navy Seals what makes a great leader, and that it is the answer you receive. One of the toughest people on the planet showing vulnerability, failure, and weakness. According to Daniel Coyle, this ability to find weakness is what makes great teams strong. This is
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WOC #33 Best Selling Authors Wade Gilbert and Jerry Lynch Discuss What Quality Coaching Really Looks Like

Sunday, 29 October 2017 by John O'Sullivan
How do you define a quality coach? Is it number of wins? Are we expert coaches because of the amount of time we have coached the game? Wade Gilbert and Jerry Lynch have a candid conversation with John about what it really means to be a quality coach and the definition is not what we
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  • Published in Coaching, Podcast
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WOC #24 Tom Bates, Head of Performance Psychology and Culture for Aston Villa FC , It’s often not what we say in coaching, but what we do that teaches them the most

Sunday, 27 August 2017 by John O'Sullivan
What would your team look like if you let them shape and drive the culture, and if you loved them first as people before you ever tried to be coach? Would they be more like the bad news bears instead of Barcelona? If you said the bad news bears, you are dead wrong. In this
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Google it! What Youth Sports Can Learn from the Tech Giant About Building Great Teams

Wednesday, 26 July 2017 by John O'Sullivan
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,
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  • Published in Team Culture, Youth Sports
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A Case for Nurture Over Nature

Tuesday, 23 May 2017 by John O'Sullivan
“Your daughter is so beautiful.” The kind woman said, smiling at my 18-year-old daughter. “Thanks, she got her mother’s looks.” I said reflexively. Then I cringed. That’s my “go to response”. Anytime I receive a compliment on my daughter’s looks, I immediately reply about her genetic connection to her mother. She did get her mom’s
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  • Published in Coaching, Messages for Kids, Sports Parenting
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Is Your Child’s Youth Sports Experience Transactional or Transformational?

Monday, 03 April 2017 by John O'Sullivan
Back in January 2017 I moderated a panel at the National Soccer Coaches Association of America convention on “Reimagining Youth Development in the United States.” An audience member asked us very interesting question. He spoke about how families were always jumping ship to the neighboring club that focused on winning and not development. The neighboring
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  • Published in club sports, Family Values
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Coaches, Stop ‘Dealing with Parents’ and Start Engaging Them!

Monday, 12 December 2016 by John O'Sullivan
(This article was written by Nate Sanderson and originally appeared on Breakthrough Basketball. Nate is a great friend of Changing The Game Project and coach of the Iowa State Champion Springville Girls Basketball Team.  We highly encourage every coach and parent to read this and institute this in your team). For the past 14 years
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  • Published in Coaching, High School Sports
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Yes, I Do Play My Favorites

Monday, 12 September 2016 by James Leath
(Article written by James Leath (@jamesleath)) “I am sick and tired of coaches playing favorites” a parent once told me at a speaking event. “A coach should be completely impartial. It teaches the wrong message when he or she only plays favorites. Am I right?” I smiled, took a breath and responded, “I actually think
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What is Your Club’s D.N.A.?

Sunday, 24 January 2016 by John O'Sullivan
(This weeks blog is written by Todd Beane, Founder of TOVO International. Todd is the co-founder of Cruyff Football and Senior Advisor to the Cruyff Institute, and has consulted for FC Barcelona, Ajax Amsterdam, Chivas Guadalajara, Melbourne City FC, Mamelodi Sundowns, Austrian Football Federation) “We pretty much let the coaches decide what to do with
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  • Published in Leadership, Team Culture
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Redefining Success: 8 Tips for Being a Great Sports Parent

Wednesday, 28 October 2015 by John O'Sullivan
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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I Never Thought it Would End THIS Way

Friday, 23 October 2015 by John O'Sullivan
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
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  • Published in Family Values, Sports Parenting
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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
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  • Published in Coaching, Motivation, Sport for Social Impact
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The Race to Nowhere in Youth Sports

Monday, 24 March 2014 by John O'Sullivan
“My 4th grader tried to play basketball and soccer last year,” a mom recently told me as we sat around the dinner table after one of my speaking engagements. “It was a nightmare. My son kept getting yelled at by both coaches as we left one game early to race to a game in the
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  • Published in Coaching, Problems in Youth Sports, Sports Parenting
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To Cheat or Not to Cheat…Is that Even a Question?

Tuesday, 07 January 2014 by John O'Sullivan
“Young players play with a great deal of fairness and sportsmanship. Once they learn how important the game is to adults, they will learn how to cheat.” – Dr. Ron Quinn, Professor of Sports Ethics at Xavier University. My friend Ann Dewitt is a family therapist and parenting expert, as well as the host of
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  • Published in Coaching, Leadership, Problems in Youth Sports, Sports Parenting
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5 Thoughts That Will Change Your Youth Sports Experience for the Better

Wednesday, 01 January 2014 by John O'Sullivan
“Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the air. You name them – work, family, health, friends and spirit – and you’re keeping all of these in the air. You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But
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  • Published in Coaching, Family Values, Sports Parenting
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Our Unhealthy Obsession with Childhood Athletic Achievement

Monday, 18 November 2013 by John O'Sullivan
From the Little League World Series to American Idol, we have an unhealthy obsession with “discovering” the next generation of great youth talent in this country. This is especially true when it comes to sports. I am not saying it is bad to identify talent. Our problem lies in how we define talent at the
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  • Published in Coaching, Problems in Youth Sports, Sports Parenting
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Trust Your Gut When It Comes To Youth Sports

Sunday, 25 August 2013 by John O'Sullivan
Every time I speak, I am always approached by parents who tell me that all the pressure and emphasis on winning for their young athlete, all the pressure to commit year round to a sport prior to puberty, just feels wrong. In their heart, they know that their children want to play multiple sports, and
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  • Published in Family Values, Problems in Youth Sports, Sports Parenting
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Empowering and Educating Parents Will Fix the Youth Sports Mess

Sunday, 18 August 2013 by John O'Sullivan
When I was a child, my father used to jokingly tell my siblings and I that he was convinced we had another brother whom he had never seen, but was quite the trouble maker. This brother, named “Not Me,” seemed to be responsible for every broken, dirty, and disheveled thing around the house. Who broke
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  • Published in Coaching, Family Values, Problems in Youth Sports, Sports Parenting
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“Never Stop Learning!” Part III of Three Things Great Coaches and Leaders Do

Monday, 12 August 2013 by John O'Sullivan
In part III, I share perhaps the biggest realization I ever had as a coach; the best coaches do not know it all! In fact, they are the first to admit it, and they never stop learning, never stop asking questions, and always are looking for ways to improve. If you want to be a
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  • Published in Coaching, Leadership, Sports Parenting
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