...Because One Coach Can Change the World

Memories

Last week our middle school football season came to an end.  Working with 7th grade students and knowing that I would be coaching the same group next year as 8th graders,  I set as my primary goal for the season that each player would want to come back and play again...

“Locker Room Banter”

Unless you've been under a rock for the past 72 hours, you've heard the phrase "locker room banter" about 1000 times.  The phrase is part of a statement that ends with the words, "I apologize if anyone was offended".  At the risk of getting political, or kicking a man...

Patience and Understanding

I coach to help young people develop a love for sports and for others.  There's a little bit more to my personal Coaching Purpose Statement, but that's the most relevant part to this post.  Teaching a love for sports and love for others is my goal.  There's nothing in...

Reflection

I'm coaching middle school football again this year, and we've added a new component to the weekly schedule.  Nothing hugely time consuming, but an exercise designed to get the boys to do some thinking and reflecting. One of our themes for the year is effort.  Our...

Sorrow, Joy and Sports

I had a topic all ready to go for today but there's been a change of plans. Something has happened that hit me hard and there's no way I can write about anything else. Late last week I attended the funeral for the ten year old son of a friend of mine.  It was a...

“Contact, Communicate, Connect”

In chapter 8 of his book InSideOut Coaching, Joe Ehrmann tells the story of Coach Tom Pecore, an Oklahoma high school soccer coach.  Frustrated by a challenging day on the job, Coach Pecore has a snippy encounter with an injured player prior to practice: He never made...

Joy – Part 2

A little over a month ago, I wrote a post entitled Joy (linked here).  The basic premise was that it's too bad that so many adults have hijacked the sports experience of our children, to the point that so many kids don't really want to play anymore.  I stand by that...

Summer Reading

Our friend John O'Sullivan of Changing the Game Project has written a post with some outstanding suggestions for summer reading.  Coaches are continually striving to get the most out of themselves and their athletes, and the books highlighted in John's post can make a...

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