A Coach's Diary

Run your own race, and run it the best you can. Everybody is running their own race, and comparison is the thief of all joy. I once heard a low-major, D1 basketball coach tell the story of a kid on his team who was one of the top ranked 8 th graders in the country when he was 14 years old. This was the kids 3 rd or 4 th college team, and according to the coach, the kid had so much success so early that he never really learned how to manage adversity. On the other hand, there are 100s of college athletes who were late bloomers and were never close to being ranked in middle school who find a lot of success at the college level. Everybody is running their own race. Athletes start their sports journeys at different times, for different reasons, and with different abilities. Some athletes hit the ground running and find success early, and some don’t find success until they have put years of work in. Some athletes are stars when they are younger and fizzle out when puberty hits, and some ...

It's very easy to get caught up with trying to 'keep up with the Joneses' in youth sports.  At ridiculously earlier ages, we are pushing our kids to specialize in one sport in a rat race to nowhere , even to the detriment of what's best from and physical and mental standpoint for our young athletes.   The world of youth sports can be confusing, complicated and an emotional roller coaster for athletes and parents if you let it.  My recommendation for any parent getting lost in the struggle of what to do with their young athlete is to be lead by 3 questions: 1 - Is your athlete having fun? 2 - Is your athlete getting better? 3 - Is your athlete doing the best that they can? Is Your Athlete Having Fun We overthink and over-analyze this sports thing.  We play sports to stay in shape, have fun, and compete.  Fun and enjoyment and joy should drive their attendance at an early age while building up a healthy level of competition.  ...