Five Ways to Help a Student-Athlete Develop Self-Efficacy
As a student-athlete, learning self-efficacy and making decisions independently is essential. Here are five things I teach throughout the season to help my student-athletes to practice becoming autonomous people.
Winning and Losing, According to John Wooden
John Wooden, legendary former UCLA basketball coach, did a TED Talk before he passed away about how to find success. I have watched it many times, and even shown it to a few teams I have worked with.
Most Parents are wrong about Sport Specialization.
The research doesn't support the idea that kids need to specialize to be great, scientifically or antidotally. Plus, if most kids are specializing in a sport at an early age, and most kids don't get scholarships or get to play at the professional level, then maybe don't do what most kids do.
I Just Want to Be Seen
When I messed up, and my pity party was over, I would look up in the stands and make eye contact with my dad. He would smile, give me a thumbs up, and that is all I needed from him.
That is all the kids need--your presence. The rest is just noise.
Abusive Coaching
Our voice as “Coach” stays with our athletes long after they hand in their jersey for the last time. Our words echo inside their brains, the good and the bad. For example, I remember when my high school volleyball coach spent over an hour with me after practice preparing me for a job interview and sharing tips on how to dress and what to say. I also remember when my eighth-grade baseball coach yelled at me from the dugout to “just throw fu$&%ing strikes” when I struggled to get the ball over the plate.
Family, First
As adults, we have a responsibility to allow our children to be children. Why do so many parents feel the need to fill every weekend with tournaments and training at the cost of letting a child be a child? What about family time? What about letting kids hang out with their friends? These are a problem that is only being exacerbated by many people in youth sports, specifically the club coaches who promise that taking a weekend off, much less a few weeks, would be severely detrimental to the development of that player. That is just wrong thinking.
A Father's Love
My dad passed away on Monday. He was a good man. He was a father to more than his sons and a friend to more than a few. This is one of my favorite moments as his oldest son.
Cheering for the Other Team
The whistle around your neck is not just to get the attention of the team; it is permission to be one of the most critical parts of a child's emotional, social, and physical development. Take pride in your position, and give your athletes more than just a playbook, give them an experience.
What to say on the first day of practice
You know first impressions matter. You want them to respect you. You want them to trust you. You want them to want to come to practice and give everything they have.
Doubt creeps in, bringing along questions you know are ridiculous, but you entertain them anyway.
To Scold or to Mold…
Former South African Rugby National Coach Peter DeVilliers leans in, piercing me with his eyes while the echo of his words bounces around in my head.
A coach is merely the extension of a child’s dream.
The Whisper of Inspiration
“LEATH! LEATH!” I hear my replacement yelling my name. I jog to the sidelines and report to my position coach. He is furious. At 5’9, my defensive back coach played college football at the same position I was just relieved of. I prepare myself for a wicked tongue lashing, but I get nothing.
Kids are not mini-adults
Every season, no matter the level of the sport, a different team shows up. Though the athlete could be coming from the same school as the year before, every season has its own culture and feeling. 6th graders are now 7th graders, juniors are now seniors, so on and so forth. A lot changes in a young athlete’s life between seasons, and as coaches we should not assume fundamentals are as sharp as they were the year before, or that the athletes are coming with prior knowledge.
A Coach's Voice
As parents and coaches, we are in the business of creating adults, so the more we can work together, the better off our future adults will be.
Yelling vs Coaching
Teach your young athletes to know the difference between yelling to hurt and yelling to help and keep your own emotions in check. Use yelling as a tool and use it sparingly so when you need to get their attention on something important, it doesn’t sound like everything else you yelled to them.
The Zipper Phenomena: Building Character in 30 Seconds.
There are not many things more satisfying to me than a smiling baby, an excited child, or a youth victory dance. This whole situation took place in a matter of thirty seconds. It could have been easily prevented by mom reaching down and zipping up his jacket for him, but she paused and let him do it. Had she intervened, the little boy would not have had the joy of triumph after the struggle. But mom, in her great wisdom, allowed her son to do it on his own. Though I am sure it was difficult to see her son struggle, the payoff of victory outweighed the difficulty of failure.
How catching a Pokemon can help you win more games.
Today, I caught a Pokémon. On a walk with one of my summer staff, I pulled out my phone and fired up the PokemonGo app. "What are you doing?" asked Will. "Connecting to my students," I answered." An hour later, after I had a 10-year-old explain to me what I just did, I used it as an example of Followership. I now had 15 uninterested 11-year-olds on the edge of their seats because their teacher understood a little about their world.
The Difference Between Price and Cost
Working at a school with students from over 80 different countries brings forth interesting questions about language that often have nothing to do with leadership, the subject they are in my class to learn. A tennis player from Belgium was confused on the difference between the words price and cost. I pulled out a calculator.
Getting the Parents Involved in Practice
Toward the end of every season, I schedule a "kids vs parents" game. A great time to do this is when the team is not doing so well and needs to have some fun, or at the end of the year party. There are many different ways to do this. Here are some tips to make it go smoothly:
Dear Coach, I want to quit.
Hello Coach Leath, My dad says I can't quit my team, but I don't want to play football anymore. All I do is sit on the bench during the games. What should I do?
Question for you...
What is wrong with youth sports? Don't hold back. Be honest, I won't hold it against you. If you don't have any connections to youth sports now, what was wrong with them back when you participated as an athlete? Ready? VENT!