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…
Well, as 2021 rolls into December it is that time of year again, time to highlight our favorite new books of 2021. This has certainly been a year for reading and reflection, and our sports world continues to be turned upside down by the ongoing pandemic. Many coaches, parents, and youth sports advocates have invested…
As coaches, sometimes we wish we had a magic power, a word or phrase that could get an athlete to focus, commit, and excel. Yes, we must invest and connect with them. Yes, it takes time to build trust and to build a relationship that can bear the burden of truth. As author Dan Coyle…
“Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement. They are the foundation of mastery.” – James Clear “I wish my kid would practice more on his own,” said one mom to me at a recent talk. “He could be so much better if he applied himself.” “I hear you,” said her friend. “If he spent as…
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…
As we wind down the year 2020, a year in which Dictionary.com named the word “unprecedented” as its word of the year, I have been using some holiday downtime to think about 2021, and how to improve upon the challenges of the past 9 months. And the word I keep coming upon is “grace.” I…
“What were you doing out there?” screamed an angry dad. “I told you to shoot!” yelled the coach to the shell shocked young boy who just passed to his teammate instead of fulfilling the coaches wishes. “He doesn’t know what he is doing” says a third parent, shaking his head as the attack falters and…
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…