(This article by Mary Ann Ware first appeared here on her amazing blog and is reprinted with permission) To My Son’s Soccer Coach: Last weekend, after the final game of the season, you posed with my son and his seven teammates in front of the goal for some team pictures. There you were, one man…
“I just can’t figure it out,” an exasperated coach said to me recently. “One day we are flying around the field, and the next it looks like we’ve never played together before. Why does this happen?” “Do you think your players lost all their skill?” I asked? “Do you think they forgot how to play?”…
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,…
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…
When you run an organization such as the Changing the Game Project, you hear many youth sports stories from parents, coaches, and players. Some stories are absolutely heartbreaking, others inspiring. Recently I encountered the absurd. Many of us have seen the news about a volleyball player from Washington DC who was taking her playing time…
The other day I had a conversation with a coaching colleague about the state of youth sports. I stated that the emphasis on travel sports and playing multiple games per day for young children was hurting kids and damaging sports. “I agree with what you are saying,” he said, “but you are forgetting that youth…
As you may know, I am an avid reader, especially when it comes to youth sports, psychology, coaching, leadership and sport science. I buy a lot of books, and I drive my wife crazy because our bookshelves are overflowing, yet still I purchase more. And every year, I like to compile a list of the…
So they call you Coach, huh? Have you ever stopped to consider what that means? You have taken on one of the most beautiful, powerful, and influential positions a person can ever have. Some people may call it a job, and others a profession, but in reality, being a great coach is not that at…
When you are in the coaching profession, one of the things you learn early on is not to take things too personally. Your biggest fans when you win may become your biggest critics when you lose. Your players may love you one moment, and grumble the next, and it is important to maintain perspective and…
Spring and early summer usually bring about an annual rite of passage in youth sports: TRYOUTS! They can be a time of great joy, or tremendous disappointment. Tryouts can be a time filled with pressure, stress, politics and many of the other unsavory aspects of youth sports. They can also be a time where a…