Connector -- August 6, 2009 |
| In This Issue:
Ask PCA: Self-Image in Young Girls
Coaching Tip: Debriefing Your Last Game
New Video: What Youth Can Learn From Sports
My Youth Sports Story: The Most Important Lesson |
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Ask PCA: Self-Image in Young Girls |
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"Ask PCA" welcomes all sorts of questions about youth sports. Many ask how to remedy certain ills, such as foul-mouthed coaches or lack of playing time.
But lately, we have received a number of proactive questions, where the parent or coach is considering in advance how to help youth athletes get the most out of sports. That latter category includes this week's question:
"At a recent PCA workshop, I learned that the most important component of development for young girls is self-image. As a father of a 10-year-old girl, and second-year coach of a girls team (ages 10-12), can you provide additional tips on improving self-image?"
-- Michael DiMaggio, Mustang Soccer, Danville, CA
To read all responses to the previous "Ask PCA" question -- "Adjusting to a New Coach" -- including PCA's response, click here. |
| Coaching Tip: Debriefing Your Last Game |
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As coach, it is tempting to share your bountiful knowledge as often as possible. After all, your job is to teach, guide and help improve your players. But there are certain times when listening is more important than talking.
In the first practice following your most recent game, ask your players to comment on what they did well as a team and where they need improvement. To prevent this from devolving into a finger-pointing session, you can ask players to talk about what they saw their teammates doing well in the game and what they themselves can do better. That way they are filling teammates' Emotional Tanks and taking responsibility for improving their own play.
Having the players lead the debrief can accomplish many things:
- Players learn how to express themselves, which is an important life skill.
- Players hear from peers, who may persuade them in ways that a coach, as an authority figure, cannot. (This is especially effective if you have team leaders who share and express your same views, generating "buy-in" to your ideas without your even voicing them.)
- Players reach their own conclusions about where the team needs work, so they are that much more convinced and committed to put in the effort necessary for improvement.
- You might even learn a thing or two yourself...about how players perceive themselves and their teammates, about who is (or can be) a team leader, and about strengths and weaknesses you had not recognized on your own.
To end the debrief on an up note, you can mention the positives you noticed during the game and mention players left unmentioned by their teammates.
If you appreciate these tips and want to support PCA's effort to transform youth sports so sports can transform youth, consider joining or renewing as a PCA Member. With your support we can do more!
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| New Video: What Youth Can Learn From Sports |
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| For the latest PCA video on the power of youth sports, visit our YouTube page.
PCA has added more video, drawing from the "National Conversation on Coaching," a communications campaign fueled by a grant from the Morgan Family Foundation. The latest video features:
- Daya Alexander, MS in Sport Psychology from Cal-State Fullerton, on "What I Would Change About Youth Sports."
- New Roads High School Cross Country Coach George Cohen on "The Best Coach I Ever Had."
- Loyola High School Basketball Coach and National Double-Goal Coach Award Winner Jamal Adams on "How Sports Contribute to the Overall Development of Youth."
All video was captured at PCA's recent Open Forum at Nike Western Region headquarters outside Los Angeles.
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| My Youth Sports Story: The Most Important Lesson |
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| The latest submission to "My Youth Sports Story" is The Most Important Lesson by John Reilly, a youth sports coach from Sharon, Mass. John's powerful, personal tale relates his own painful youth sports experience and explains how it shaped his approach to coaching.
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Positive Coaching Alliance
www.PositiveCoach.org
Toll Free: 866-725-0024
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