“But dad, we have so much going on!” “Do we have to go mom? I want to play in another tournament?” “Will we miss out if we don’t do the extra private training?” Have you heard these types of sentiments before from your spouse or your children? I know I have. The past few weeks…
We have all seen the interview many times. The star athlete comes off the field or court, and the first question the interviewer asks is “You were looking really confident out there today, what was your secret?” We might even say the same thing to our own young athletes that we coach and mentor: “Wow,…
“My kid is so stressed, she is so worried she won’t be able to play with her friends anymore,” a mom recently wrote us. “We have friends who tell us their daughter is physically ill with worry. She is 10!” Sound familiar anyone? It is the annual rite of passage we call tryouts in youth…
Every month we get interesting emails and messages from our Changing the Game family, and once in a while we get one that is worth throwing to the community. We got an email from a set of parents, both former NCAA Division I athletes, with three young children highly involved in sports. As avid readers…
Teenage girls. If you have ever coached a group of teenage girls, you know how incredibly wonderful they can be. Happy, fun, so much love and bonding, matching headbands, energy and passion. You also know that they are coming into their own as young women. They start to form cliques. Jealousy may arise if one…
COVID. Demonstrations and riots. Divisive politics. Home schooling. Wildfires. Smoke. As a coach for 30 years, and a parent for nearly 15 of those years, I am probably like most of you in that I cannot remember a crazier, more stressful, anxiety inducing year than 2020. It seems every time we take one step forward, we…
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…
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…
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…
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…