From the Evansville Courier Press, October 23, 2011When adults look back on those who were most influential on their lives growing up, it is not uncommon to hear a reference about a significant little league or high school sports memory.
Saying that, there is a strong sentiment that youth coaches of this era don't always offer the same level of support. Winning at all costs seems to be a stronger emphasis than learning core values.
Speaking to a group of youth soccer parents and coaches recently, I referenced that I was the only coach in the room who was in "the results business"' — that I needed to win games in my job. But we as coaches still should never compromise the key core components that will stay with our athletes long after their playing days. Coaches need to be educators first, and what I've found is that the very best coaches focus on teaching their players about sport and life, and everything else falls into place.
After discussing one day what has to happen to change the culture of a team, club or organization to focus on the process of getting better as opposed to the outcome of games, I received an article the following day that was written by David Bornstein in the New York Times about the Positive Coaching Alliance. The P.C.A. has trained more than 450,000 adult coaches, who in turn reach about 4 milliion youth athletes. The organization's mission statement is to spread the message that youth sports is about giving young athletes a positive, character-building experience — not to become major league athletes, but to become "major league people."
We always talk with our players at the University of Evansville that being professional is not about how much money you earn, but how you behave. I've been around a number of athletes who earned a living playing but were very unprofessional, and I've been around amateurs who were as professional an athlete as I've ever seen.
Bornstein's article referenced that the Dallas Independent School District, which oversees 800 youth sports coaches, has enlisted P.C.A. for trainings. "There's been such a push from parents about winning at all costs," explained Jeff Johnson, the district's athletic director. "Sportsmanship sometimes goes out the window. The positive coaching has helped my coaches think about more than just winning."
The P.C.A. doesn't discourage coaches from wanting to win — actually, it says, a "relentlessly positive" coach will usually be more successful on the scoreboard. As such, P.C.A. has been able to penetrate the hard-nosed culture of competitive sports. Their research has found that youth attrition rates are 80 percent lower for children whose coaches practice positive coaching — meaning kids actually continue their interest level in playing when they have coaches who practice positive coaching.
The primary focus of P.C.A.'s approach is to train "double goal" coaches —those who balance the goal of winning,with the second, and more important, goal of teaching life lessons. Coaches are taught to help children focus on improving their own game, helping their teammates improve, and improving the game as a whole. This translates into an athlete improving themself, being a leader who helps others flourish, and working to make society better
P.C.A. encourages parents to let go of winning and concentrate on life lessons. "There are only two groups of people whose job is to win games," says P.C.A. founder Jim Thompson. "Coaches and players. Parents have a much more important job: to guide their child's character development."
I can tell you that I'm as competitive a coach as you'll be around, and want to compete and win any game I play — be it an important soccer match or a board game with my young children. But I've also learned that the most successful coaches are the most successful teachers whose lessons last long past a youth's playing days.
I would like to challenge the coaches of our youth sports community to take more pride in making their players better young men and women, and to teach them lessons that transcend sport.
My guess is that they will also win more often than they lose.
Saying that, there is a strong sentiment that youth coaches of this era don't always offer the same level of support. Winning at all costs seems to be a stronger emphasis than learning core values.
Speaking to a group of youth soccer parents and coaches recently, I referenced that I was the only coach in the room who was in "the results business"' — that I needed to win games in my job. But we as coaches still should never compromise the key core components that will stay with our athletes long after their playing days. Coaches need to be educators first, and what I've found is that the very best coaches focus on teaching their players about sport and life, and everything else falls into place.
After discussing one day what has to happen to change the culture of a team, club or organization to focus on the process of getting better as opposed to the outcome of games, I received an article the following day that was written by David Bornstein in the New York Times about the Positive Coaching Alliance. The P.C.A. has trained more than 450,000 adult coaches, who in turn reach about 4 milliion youth athletes. The organization's mission statement is to spread the message that youth sports is about giving young athletes a positive, character-building experience — not to become major league athletes, but to become "major league people."
We always talk with our players at the University of Evansville that being professional is not about how much money you earn, but how you behave. I've been around a number of athletes who earned a living playing but were very unprofessional, and I've been around amateurs who were as professional an athlete as I've ever seen.
Bornstein's article referenced that the Dallas Independent School District, which oversees 800 youth sports coaches, has enlisted P.C.A. for trainings. "There's been such a push from parents about winning at all costs," explained Jeff Johnson, the district's athletic director. "Sportsmanship sometimes goes out the window. The positive coaching has helped my coaches think about more than just winning."
The P.C.A. doesn't discourage coaches from wanting to win — actually, it says, a "relentlessly positive" coach will usually be more successful on the scoreboard. As such, P.C.A. has been able to penetrate the hard-nosed culture of competitive sports. Their research has found that youth attrition rates are 80 percent lower for children whose coaches practice positive coaching — meaning kids actually continue their interest level in playing when they have coaches who practice positive coaching.
The primary focus of P.C.A.'s approach is to train "double goal" coaches —those who balance the goal of winning,with the second, and more important, goal of teaching life lessons. Coaches are taught to help children focus on improving their own game, helping their teammates improve, and improving the game as a whole. This translates into an athlete improving themself, being a leader who helps others flourish, and working to make society better
P.C.A. encourages parents to let go of winning and concentrate on life lessons. "There are only two groups of people whose job is to win games," says P.C.A. founder Jim Thompson. "Coaches and players. Parents have a much more important job: to guide their child's character development."
I can tell you that I'm as competitive a coach as you'll be around, and want to compete and win any game I play — be it an important soccer match or a board game with my young children. But I've also learned that the most successful coaches are the most successful teachers whose lessons last long past a youth's playing days.
I would like to challenge the coaches of our youth sports community to take more pride in making their players better young men and women, and to teach them lessons that transcend sport.
My guess is that they will also win more often than they lose.
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