Today's blog is all about showing passion when playing your sport!!!
I hate the fact that most children and adults don't really show any emotion when they are playing a sport. I watched both of my son's baseball tournaments this past weekend and there was only one team over the whole weekend that showed any passion when they were playing. The result from the sidelines was that it was fun to watch because the team showed that they were having fun playing the game and the coaches were allowing them to have fun while playing. The rest of the teams out there were like robots, they never smiled or got excited when a nice play was made or an error was made. They were afraid to show any kind of emotion because the coach or coaches didn't allow that type of behaviour from them which quite frankly is sad. We (as coaches) quite often forget to let kids fall on their faces and be allowed to make mistakes to see what type of player he/she actually is that indeed we develop robots that do not learn to think the game and learn what can make the game exciting or frustrating. Look at Tiger Woods, he does the fist pump after a great putt or chip shot, which at first was thought of as showing off and not very professional in regards to the game of golf but now people are starting to learn that absolutely you should show passion when you have done something that you and everyone watching know was great. Kobe or Lebron James in basketball, Sidney Crosby or Alexander Ovechkin scoring a fantastic goal in hockey, a baseball player hitting a walk-off home run or going up and over the fence to take away a home run. I could go on and on but you get the idea. Make no mistake about it, I am not talking about showing up your opponent, I am only saying that coaches please encourage your players to have passion when playing and players don't play the game if you don't have any passion to play in the first place. I would love to hear your comments and please pass this blog onto friends, family and coaches to see what they think and feel.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Monday, May 5, 2008
Letting Youth Athletes Learn to Love Sports
Hi everyone,
Today's post is about letting youth athletes learn how to love sports! I see coaches and parents all the time, as most of us do, take the fun and love of sports out of the equation for their young athlete(s). It happens all the time and most times they don't even realize they are ruining the experience for their child and the players on their team. As a person who runs a business on developing GAME PLANS for parents, coaches and sports organizations that can help take them to the next level both physically and mentally while learning to love the game this just continues to amaze as well as saden me everytime. These parents and coaches get so consumed by the need to have their child or team play at the ultimate level right from day 1 that all sense of meaning fly right out the window. I'll stand back and watch whether it is at my own two son's games or practices or if I happen to be attending another sporting event and just be left dumbfounded by their actions and words that I see and hear. What it usually comes down to is the fact they are living through their child and this is just so unacceptable that most times these same parents and coaches never ask their child why they play the sport in the first place and this is where it should all start. I asked players on my one son's baseball team recently why they played and most of them were not sure how to answer because they did not know what my response would be. These are all 11 or 12 year old kids who are very nice as are the coaches on the team but not one of them told me it was because they love it. I'm pretty sure they answered with things like "I like it", "I want to win" or "I'm not sure" because they have never been asked or at least not in a long time. I responded to them that I still coach because "I love everything about sports and I want to pass this onto them and every other athlete I can." Now after practice I ask them as they walk by and they all say because "I love it!" with a smile. It has too start with them loving it and you being happy at whatever level they play at as long as they love playing first and foremost. I would love to hear from everyone to see what your feelings and thoughts are on this subject. My next blog is going to be about "Letting Athletes Learn through Making Mistakes". That's How I See It "From the Sidelines."
Today's post is about letting youth athletes learn how to love sports! I see coaches and parents all the time, as most of us do, take the fun and love of sports out of the equation for their young athlete(s). It happens all the time and most times they don't even realize they are ruining the experience for their child and the players on their team. As a person who runs a business on developing GAME PLANS for parents, coaches and sports organizations that can help take them to the next level both physically and mentally while learning to love the game this just continues to amaze as well as saden me everytime. These parents and coaches get so consumed by the need to have their child or team play at the ultimate level right from day 1 that all sense of meaning fly right out the window. I'll stand back and watch whether it is at my own two son's games or practices or if I happen to be attending another sporting event and just be left dumbfounded by their actions and words that I see and hear. What it usually comes down to is the fact they are living through their child and this is just so unacceptable that most times these same parents and coaches never ask their child why they play the sport in the first place and this is where it should all start. I asked players on my one son's baseball team recently why they played and most of them were not sure how to answer because they did not know what my response would be. These are all 11 or 12 year old kids who are very nice as are the coaches on the team but not one of them told me it was because they love it. I'm pretty sure they answered with things like "I like it", "I want to win" or "I'm not sure" because they have never been asked or at least not in a long time. I responded to them that I still coach because "I love everything about sports and I want to pass this onto them and every other athlete I can." Now after practice I ask them as they walk by and they all say because "I love it!" with a smile. It has too start with them loving it and you being happy at whatever level they play at as long as they love playing first and foremost. I would love to hear from everyone to see what your feelings and thoughts are on this subject. My next blog is going to be about "Letting Athletes Learn through Making Mistakes". That's How I See It "From the Sidelines."
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