A Coach's Diary

"My dad taught me that you have to work hard for anything you want in life, and I wanted to be good at playing basketball.” - Seimone Augustus Who do you want to be at the end of the chase? What is the chase? It is the journey we are all on, chasing our hopes, dreams, and goals. The choices and decisions we make along the way determine who we are and who we become? Who do you want to be? Another question to ask yourself is: What are you willing to work hard for? If you want anything worthwhile, it will be hard and will require hard work, so decide what you are willing to work hard for. Seimone Augustus is one of the best basketball players of all time. She was the two-time national player of the year at LSU, and she won 4 WNBA championships and 3 gold medals. She said, “My dad taught me that you have to work hard for anything you want in life, and I wanted to be good at basketball.” So, she put in the work and became one of the best. What do you want to be great at, and what are y...

As a coach, you’re not just developing basketball players—you’re shaping young women for life. Teaching your athletes how to set meaningful goals is one of the most valuable tools you can give them. Goals drive focus, build work ethic, and keep motivation strong—even when the lights aren’t bright and the gym is quiet. Introduce your team to SMART goals: Specific: Clear and detailed (e.g., “improve left-hand layups”). Measurable: They should track their progress (e.g., “make 50 left-hand layups daily”). Achievable: Challenging but within reach. Relevant: Aligned with their personal growth and team role. Time-bound: Tied to a deadline for urgency. Create time in your season for players to write down goals and reflect on them. Ask them to set process goals (what they’ll do daily) and performance goals (what they’re working toward). Then, check in with them regularly. Goal setting isn’t a one-time activity—it’s a habit. As their coach, your belief and guidance will fuel their follow-t...

Your daughter has big dreams on the court—and off of it. One of the best ways you can support her journey is by helping her understand the power of goal setting. Goals give athletes direction, motivation, and purpose. They help young players stay focused in a world full of distractions. As a parent, your role isn’t to set the goals for her, but to create the space for her to dream big, plan thoughtfully, and follow through. Encourage her to create SMART goals: Specific: “Improve shooting percentage” becomes “Make 200 shots daily from five spots.” Measurable: Progress she can track helps build confidence. Achievable: Push her without overwhelming her. Relevant: Goals should be tied to her passions and aspirations—not someone else’s. Time-bound: A deadline builds urgency and discipline. You can support her by asking thoughtful questions: “What’s one skill you want to grow this month?” “What’s your plan to reach it?” “How can I help hold you accountable?” Celebrate effort and consist...

In basketball and in life, if you don’t know where you’re going, it’s easy to get lost. That’s why goals matter. Goals are targets you set for yourself—something to work toward. They give you direction, focus, and motivation. A goal can be as big as earning a D1 scholarship or as simple as improving your left hand. The key is to know why it matters to you and how you’re going to get there. When setting goals, start with something called a SMART goal. That means your goal should be: Specific: Be clear. Don’t just say “get better.” Say “make 100 free throws every day.” Measurable: Make sure you can track your progress. “I will make 100/125 free throws (80%) Achievable: Challenge yourself, but be realistic. (What is a challenging percentage that you can reach; 100% out of 100 free throws isn’t realistic.) Relevant: Pick goals that matter to you and your journey. (Making free throws matters because it will help you score more and help us win more.) Time-bound: Set a deadline. It c...

"I never looked at myself as the most talented guy, but I worked the hardest. The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will.” - Mark Messier Do you rely on your talent or effort? I often tell my kids and other athletes, “Be someone coaches want to coach and teammates want to play with.” My favorite athletes to coach are the ones who are talented but don’t rely on their talent; they rely on their effort and work ethic, and they are competitive. They want to win and they hate to lose, but they aren’t afraid to lose. They just want to compete. Mark Messier is one of the greatest hockey players of all time. He once said, “I never looked at myself as the most talented guy, but I worked the hardest.” He also said, “The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will.” Talent is your natural ability or capacity to do somethi...

“Stay ready. Learn from every moment, good or bad. Growing up, my coaches always focused on being able to use both feet well, and attacking the mental side of the game from a young age to be able to move on past mistakes and setbacks more quickly.”  - Sam Staab How do you stay ready by moving on past mistakes and setbacks? Sam Staab, a standout professional soccer defender, is known for her consistency, mental toughness, and skill with both feet—qualities shaped by early coaching that emphasized learning from every moment. She once said, “Stay ready. Learn from every moment, good or bad. Growing up, my coaches always focused on being able to use both feet well, and attacking the mental side of the game from a young age to be able to move on past mistakes and setbacks more quickly.” When I was growing up, our coaches used to say, “Stay ready so you don’t have to get ready.” Always be prepared—even when you’re not in the spotlight or the play isn’t coming to you. Success isn’t j...

“The only thing that matters is the ball and the next game.” - Zinedine Zidane When you make a bad play or have a bad game, do you stay stuck there, or are you able to quickly move on to the next play or next game? Zinedine Zidane, a legendary French soccer player and World Cup winner, was known for his calm focus and ability to move forward. He once said, “The only thing that matters is the ball and the next game.” You have to be able to move on to the next game or next play as quickly as possible. When my kids play soccer, one of the things my wife yells more than anything is, “Get your ball back!” If you are playing confidently and aggressive enough, you will lose your ball, and that is okay, as long as you work twice as hard to get it back. You will have bad days and bad games, and that is okay if you work twice as hard to make up for it next time. When I have a bad day as a dad or husband, I motivate myself by working twice as hard to have a better day the next day. Don’t s...

“Sometimes people get scared of the word of excellence, meaning that they believe they can't have any faults, no mistakes, no bogeys. I think, everybody, we learn from our mistakes. And I think that's part of what the word excellence is about.” - Annika Sörenstam Are you scared of excellence or thinking you have to be perfect? Annika Sörenstam is a Swedish professional golfer regarded as one of the best female golfers in history. She once said, “Sometimes people get scared of the word of excellence, meaning that they believe they can't have any faults, no mistakes, no bogeys. I think, everybody, we learn from our mistakes. And I think that's part of what the word excellence is about.” When I was a 7th-grade math teacher, one of the things I tried to teach and train my students was the value of messing up in the learning process. They would rather sit at their desk, unwilling to try out of fear of messing up, than try, fail, and learn when trying, failing, and learning w...

“You can overcome anything if and only if you love something enough.” - Lionel Messi Do they like it or love it? I was talking to a young coach, and he asked me, “How do you make kids more committed?” He wanted to know how he could get a group of young athletes to show up to practice more consistently and train harder. In my experience, the key to getting kids more committed is getting them to fall in love with the game, with you as their coach, and with the process of practicing and getting better.  Kids don’t sign themselves up to play, so most are still trying to figure out if they even like it or not. If you can teach them to like it, then love it, they are more likely to make sure their parents get them to practice more consistently, and they are more likely to work harder when they get there. Soccer great Lionel Messi once said, “You can overcome anything if and only if you love something enough.” This applies to more than youth sports. When you truly love something, you’ll f...

"I believe a teacher must understand the learning style of the student and relate instruction about the swing to their unique capabilities.” - Mary Mills Do you think everyone learns the same? If not, and you think one of the characteristics of a great coach is to find a way to win by maximizing the potential of the team by maximizing the potential of the individuals, then would you coach everyone the same? As coaches, we want to and try to be consistent, but if we want to get the most out of athletes, we have to be able to meet them where they are and give them what they need. This is and looks different for everyone. In the classroom, we call this differentiation. It’s not about favoritism, but getting the most out of each individual so they can collectively better help the team. Mary Mills is a former female pro golf champion. She once said, “I believe a teacher must understand the learning style of the student and relate instruction about the swing to their unique capabilities...

How do you get people to want to be a part of the team and stay on the team? A former HR person once told me, "People leave people [coaches, principals, and leaders] before they leave teams and jobs." He was writing his dissertation on retention, and he was studying why people stay at certain jobs and how to get them to stay. His favorite thing to talk about was Job Embeddedness Theory. The theory states there are three powerful forces that keep team members attached to their jobs and less likely to leave: Links, Fit, and Sacrifices. Links are the relationships and connections you build. One of my goals is to have the most connected team because it's harder to break away from and leave strong connections and relationships. Fit is how well someone fits in with the group, and how aligned their are to the values and goals of the team. It’s harder to leave something when you feel like you fit in well. Sacrifices are what they would be leaving if they left the team. It’s the v...

"I love coaches who resist the responsibility of coaching because they are easy to beat.”  - Mike Tomlin What do you do when the people you are coaching and leading don’t listen, don’t respond, or don’t do what you are coaching them to do? You just keep coaching. Mike Tomlin, the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, is one of the most respected coaches in all of sports. His interview with The Pivot Podcast is one of the few interviews I recommend to all coaches because of how clearly he is able to communicate his philosophy of coaching and how important relationships are to creating a championship culture that leads to success. One of my key takeaways comes at the 33:33 mark where he talks about how he manages, leads, and most importantly, just keeps coaching. He says when trying to compete at the highest level, you have to know how to bring out the best in the group, and in order to that, you have to be able to manage the group and the individuals in the group. He t...

“Talent may get you on the field, but it's effort and attitude that will keep you there.” - Ken Griffey Jr. Does your attitude and effort match your talent? When you step on any court or field, something bad will happen. It’s not a question of if, but when. If you play for a good coach, they will give you feedback and hold you accountable, and you might not want to hear it. But if you want to stay on the court or field, decide now how you will respond when something bad happens, and when your coach coaches you tough. Your response, your attitude, and your effort can be the things that either keep you out there or push you to the bench. Ken Griffey Jr. is one of my favorite athletes of all time. His smooth baseball swing is one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen, and when he would hit balls out of the park with his hat on backwards, he looked like a superhero on the baseball field. But don’t let the swag fool you; Griffey was a hardworking killer. He once said, “Talent may get you...