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Connector -- October 29, 2008
In This Issue:
 
National Conversation on Good Coaching Case Study #7: "The Ringers"
 
Interview with Dan Hawkins, University of Colorado Football Coach

PCA Partners with SportsRox on Video Initiative
 
Coaching Tip: Cultivate Communication
 
Good Coaching Case Study #7: "The Ringers"

Thanks to all of you who responded to our October "Good Coaching Case Study" titled Collision Course. Your comments contained great wisdom, and it is encouraging that so many youth athletes have parents and coaches concerned with their well-being. To read all the comments, click here.

 

 

Now, consider our next Case Study:

 
The Ringers
 
Before your child's game starts, you notice the opposing team looks much different than it did earlier in the season. You are certain the opponent has recruited "ringers" against league rules.
  • How do you react?
  • How, if at all, should your child's coach address the situation?

  • How do you help your child understand the other team's behavior?

You can "converse" about your answers at the Case Studies blog and by printing out this Case Study for discussion at youth sports events and organizational meetings.

As always, thanks to our co-conveners who distribute Case Studies through their websites, e-mail newsletters and publications, making this a true National Conversation on Coaching:
 
American Medical Society for Sports Medicine
American Youth Soccer Organization
Institute for International Sport
Little League International
Michigan State University's Institute for the Study of Youth Sports
National Association for Sport and Physical Education
National Federation of State High School Associations
Pop Warner Little Scholars, Inc.
USA Volleyball
USA Water Polo
US Lacrosse
Interview with Dan Hawkins, University of Colorado Football Coach
Dan Hawkins exemplifies Positive Coaching and Sports Parenting at one of the highest levels of sport, Division I football. He is known for "Hawk Love" -- injecting character development, life lessons and fun into his University of Colorado football program, just as he did when he first gained national attention at Boise State. He meets the additional challenge of coaching his son, Cody, Colorado's quarterback.
 
In an exclusive interview with PCA, Hawkins discusses:
 
  • the importance of life lessons
  • how fun during practice brings balance to his players' pressure-packed lives
  • raising and coaching Cody.
Hawkins' approach stems from starting his career at UC Davis -- under Jim Sochor, winner of PCA's 2008 Ronald L. Jensen Award for Lifetime Achievement -- where "It was a real eye-opener...Here you have an NCAA-record 20 (conference) championships in a row... and they had such a great perspective on life. There was this balanced approach, very serious about football, but at the same time understanding there's life out there, there's school out there, and I think the thing that most people miss is the more you put that in perspective, the better you play."
 
To hear the entire interview, click here
PCA Partners with SportsRox on Video Initiative
Positive Coaching Alliance and SportsRox are partnering to increase the wealth of PCA video content available online. First up is a series of snippets from a keynote address by PCA Founder and Executive Director Jim Thompson.
 
SportsRox is launching a series of sport-specific websites built around instructional videos, such as those at www.BaseballRox.com. PCA will provide a variety of coaching tips both in video and in printable PDFs for the "Coaches Corner" section of each SportsRox website.
 
BaseballRox and each new SportsRox website also features educational and interactive quizzes, polls, and games. The amount of skill instruction, educational content and FUN make SportsRox sites an ideal destination for youth athletes and their families.
 
SportsRox and PCA will frequently add content to the PCA landing page on BaseballRox, so visit often and watch for coming announcements of each new sport-specific website in the SportsRox family.
Coaching Tip: Cultivate Communication
A daunting challenge for any youth coach is getting players to communicate with each other during game action. Whether you want outfielders to call for flyballs or basketball players to alert each other to picks and switches, players often resist taking charge vocally. The solution is to drill communication just as you drill anything else, mindful that, in youth sports as in later life, "what gets rewarded gets done."
 
To drill communication in basketball, for example, have a blindfolded defender guard a player dribbling slowly upcourt through a gauntlet of picks while the defender's teammate calls out "Pick right!" or "Pick left!" Award points to each pair of teammates based on the number of picks the blindfolded player avoids.
 
Soon, you'll have your whole team striving to communicate better. You also may identify a few players to rely upon for vocal leadership, and you may find hidden talent in some of your lesser-skilled players that you can use to build their confidence and sense of importance to teammates.
 
Perhaps most importantly, learning to communicate effectively as part of a team is a life lesson that will serve your players well in whatever they do after their athletic careers end.

Positive Coaching Alliance
www.PositiveCoach.org
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