Introduction to Module 2

Required texts – InSideOut Coaching by Joe Ehrmann
This book will be referenced often in Modules 2 and
3 of the Coaching With Purpose developmental
program. InSideOut Coaching is available at
Coachforamerica.org and Amazon.com.

As you prepare to begin your journey through Module
2 of Coaching With Purpose, please be aware that
there are two versions of these lessons. There is a
general form of this module, which you are now
reading, and there is another that we call Coaching
With Purpose Plus. The Plus version of CWP covers the
same topics as the general version, and includes faith-based elements.

Anyone interested in accessing the Plus version of Module 2 can request
the file by sending an email to ryan@communityforcoaches.org.
With that said, let’s begin…

The Purpose of Sports and the Nature of Competition

CWP Module 2, Lesson 1

Listen to the podcast for this lesson

In Module One of Coaching With Purpose, you developed your Coaching Purpose
Statement, a guide that answers the question, “Why do I coach?” While that’s certainly an
important question to be able to answer, have you ever stepped back and asked yourself
the greater question, why do we have sports? What is it all about? Why do we provide
young people with such an abundance of opportunities to compete athletically?
Why does the league you coach in exist? Why does the school at which you serve
offer athletic programs? These are major questions that we must not be afraid to ask. If
something exists, presumably to achieve some purpose, then it’s fair to work to determine
that purpose and evaluate how well it’s being met.

To begin developing answers to these questions, we will take a look at two passages from
InSideOut Coaching. (Before you read the assigned selections from InSideOut, I would
encourage you to at least flip through the introduction and first chapter of the book. These
will give you a good feel for who Joe Ehrmann is and why he writes.)

Read p. 89-94 in chapter 4 and p. 210-217 in chapter 9 of InSideOut Coaching

Each lesson in Coaching With Purpose concludes with a set of questions. These questions
serve as a guide to be used in group discussion or for personal reflection. In a group setting,
it is likely that the discussion will lead to additional questions. That’s not a problem at all. Use
these questions as a framework for conversation. Thought, conversation and meaningful
connection are the goal.

For discussion/reflection:
1. On page 90, Joe poses the questions, How often today do young people get to play
creatively, freely and joyously? and How often do they feel that great sensation of play
during organized sports? His premise is that it’s rare. Do you agree? Why or why not?

2. How have you seen “young people get caught in the riptide of sports that adults create
for them”? What was the result?

3. On page 213, we read about the Latin root for the word “competition”. What would it
look like for our common notions of competing against an adversary or an enemy to be
replaced by a conscious “mutual quest or striving for excellence”?