Better Together
by Ryan Krzykowski
I’ve spent hours this summer enjoying the hummingbirds that have discovered the feeders in our back yard. Especially on the days when life feels like a lot, sitting outside and just watching the birds provides some needed stress relief. I’ve also spent the summer planning and praying for the upcoming school year, looking forward to the launch of another season of Coaching Life Groups.
These groups, made up of 3-12, typically will meet weekly for 8 weeks in the fall and another 8 weeks in the spring. For the past couple years, CFC has provided groups with a workbook called “Coaching With Purpose” at no cost. That offer is on the table again for this year, and if you are interested in joining or starting a group we would love to have that conversation. Give me a shout at ryan@communityforcoaches.org.
If you’re wondering what happens in a Coaching Life Group, we work together over a period of weeks to reflect on our individual stories, identify our core values, and weave those together into a coherent Coaching Purpose Statement. A couple examples from a group that launched a year ago:
I coach to help young men prepare to compete with toughness, working with others toward a common goal.
I coach to guide young men and women in a positive, fun manner down a path that leads to becoming responsible, resilient, healthy adults.
Certainly someone could go through these steps on their own, but working through the process as part of a supportive group brings a higher level of impact. We really are better together, and refining our personal practices while growing closer to friends and colleagues is a win all the way around. I can’t wait to get these groups started this year.
Let’s Coach With Purpose…
I coach to help athletes find their own passion and love of sport that lasts a lifetime, and to help them develop a sense of self worth and confidence no matter their skill level. I coach baseball to help build back community baseball, to restore the idea that baseball can be fun and meaningful for youth even if they are not considered “elite” at 12. OK, That last part is a bit sarcastic, but I feel there is a sense of reality in that my opinion is that many young baseball players leave the sport at younger ages because they believe they are not good enough, don’t play for the right team, or no longer get to play with their friends (because teams split unnecessarily into more competitive groupings as early 8-9 years old). It’s been my experience that at increasingly younger ages, many kids are feeling less valued as part of the game. I coach to keep the you baseball game growing in our communities through development, not selection.