A Coach's Diary

It’s hard trying to find the balance between pushing your kids and keeping sports fun. When you take the joy out of youth sports, it becomes a job and you run the risk of your kids not wanting to do it anymore. Jon Gordon and David Pollack had a great discussion about how to maintain that balance on Gordon’s Positive U podcast. Here are my notes: Don’t Make It Too Serious Too Early Don’t professionalize sports for kids, and don’t over-prioritize sports too early. There is plenty of time to get serious.  Don’t make it too serious too early or you run the risk of burning them out. Keep it fun and keep it healthy because the journey is a marathon and not a sprint. Character >>> Results Don’t worry too much about outcomes; worry more about who they are becoming as a result of the chase. The purpose of sports is to make you a better human being. Focus on that. At some point, we will all be retired athletes; who will you be when you are finished playing? Keep it Fun and Healthy ...

Doc Rivers talks about when one of his sons complained about playing time: No coach wants to lose.  If you do the right thing, minutes go up. Kids need to learn how to fight for it and need to hear the truth father than hearing you bash the coach.   "I support you and I know you can play.  But, you have to keep working and earning your spot [while respecting the coach and your teammates and while being a great friend and teammate].

When teaching, coaching and developing a youth athlete, it's important to build both skill-set and mindset.  You can't have a complete athlete without intentionally developing both.  You also need to focus on building a complete athlete who's athleticism can cross all sports and will lead to an active and healthy lifestyle for later in life. Athleticism They have to have the strength and coordination to be able to perform all the movements that it takes to have success in their sport. Skill-set They have to have skills needed to have success in their sport. Mindset They have to have the mindset needed to commit and have the grit to work to build up their athleticism and skill-set, and the grit to overcome the many setbacks that they will encounter. It is a Marathon - Not A Sprint It takes years - really a lifetime - to fully grow and develop our skill-set and mindset completely, so be patient, consistent and diligent. Use others as a healthy gauge on progres...