General

A Great Year to Study Leadership

We must present examples of positive leaders with integrity and the values we want to instill in our children, says a longtime baseball coach, and the athletic field provides players with the opportunity to learn and test those values.

A Youth Coach's Secret Weapon: Video

Teaching technique, engaging parents, celebrating achievement, and fundraising; a youth coach's to-do list never ends. Luckily, there's a secret weapon. Capturing video of games and practices can actually help you with all of these things. Here's how:

SmartTeams™ Talk: Joe Ehrman Urge Coaches To Reclaim Sport's Educational, Social, and Ethical Role In Society

In an inspiring and thought-provoking SmartTeams Talk, Coach for America founder and former NFL player, Joe Ehrmann, offers four specific ways coaches can use their unique position in a society in which sports is our "secular religion" to transform the lives of their players and reclaim sports' educational, social and ethical role.

Your Child's Coach: Transactional or Transformational?

There are 53.8 million kids playing sports in the United States and, most of the time, when they talk about sports with their teammates and their parents, they begin with these two words: "Coach said... ."

It's not at all surprising, as research shows that, in the hierarchy of adults, coaches occupy the top spot in the minds and hearts of their players. Understanding this stature places quite a responsibility on youth and high school coaches. What they say, and do, really does matter.

Coaches occupy the top spot in the minds and hearts of their players. Understanding this stature places quite a responsibility on youth and high school coaches, who have a choice, says a longtime hockey coach, between being a transactional coach or a transformational coach.

Coaching Kids - Dos and Don'ts

While there a wide variety of coaching styles, techniques and philosophies in youth sports, there are a few qualities that separate good coaches from great ones. A nationally-recognized performance coach explains that there are a few rules of thumb all coaches should follow.

Minnesota Wild - Chicago Blackhawks Stanley Cup Series: Valuable Lessons For Youth Coaches

 

The six-game Stanley Cup conference semi-final series between the Minnesota Wild and the defending champion Chicago Blackhawks was really exciting, no matter how disappointed fans in Minnesota were at the outcome (the Blackhawks won the series, 4 games to 2).

As a longtime student and teacher of the game, I had to admire the level of play and skills on display night after night. It was high speed chess, as the home team coaches tried to match lines and get an edge over the other team.

A longtime student and teacher of the game of hockey says the Stanley Cup playoff series between the Minnesota Wild and Chicago Blackhawks taught some valuable lessons for youth coaches in terms of the system discipline and hard work the players showed at both ends of the ice.

Youth Sports Coaches: Building Character, Winners, Or Ego?

Most youth sports coaches are honorable and we can trust that their overall intentions are positive. But parents need to be aware of three possibilities when it comes to the true motives and goals of any coach.

David Benzel (Effective Coaching Advocate): Dedicated To Improving Youth Sports Experience

Being the father of an athlete is a challenging yet rewarding role. At MomsTEAM we think sports dads deserve to be honored, not just on the third Sunday in June, but for an entire month. So we have designated June as National Sports Dads Month and invited some veteran sports dads to share their wisdom by responding to a series of questions (the same ones we asked sports moms in May).

So far this month we have heard from a wide array of sports dads, from a former Major League Baseball general manager, from a Minnesota hockey coach and safety advocate to a sociologist with an expertise in gender and sports.

A former water skiing champion and author teaches a new way of thinking about how adults can best influence children through the sports experience.

Private and Public School Sports: Same Problems With Coaches, But Handled Differently

The subject of which has better coaches: private or public school always seems to spark some petty good debate but my experience and insight into the differences between private and public school sports is a subject that I have spent some time studying for the last year, and I have made some really profound discoveries.

The most revealing discovery was the dynamics of the high school teams that I researched from both private and public schools all had one very common thread. They all have the same coaching issues, the same drama, the same politics, the same favoritism, the same  nepotism, and most critically, the same breakdown in coach/player relationships and lack of understanding. But they are all  dealt with in a very different way.

Public and private schools have the same coaching issues, the same drama, the same politics, the same
favoritism, the same  nepotism, and most critically, and the same breakdown
in coach/player relationships and lack of understanding, but tend to deal with these issues in a very different way.

Youth Sports Coaches Need To Lead, Not Just Manage

A good youth sports coach needs to be both a leader and a manager in order to be successful. The difference between the two is a subtle but important one says a longtime youth baseball coach.
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