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Macho Approach to Concussions Gives Me a Headache by Jim Thompson
I have admired recently-fired Texas Tech football coach Mike Leach since reading Michael Lewis' cover story in The New York Times Magazine on Leach's remarkable offensive innovation.
And I laughed at Leach's clever suggestion that graduation rates serve as a tie-breaker among Texas, Oklahoma and Tech when the three took turns beating each other last year (Texas Tech having the best graduation rate of the three!).
But I shuddered when I saw video of him cursing player Adam James during a Red Raiders practice. And when Leach was fired for his treatment of James after the player suffered a concussion, it seemed unprofessional for the former coach to say in a televised interview that James was lazy and had a sense of entitlement.
Part of being a real team is that you don't throw your team members under the bus, no matter what. I'm not sure what Leach hoped his comments would accomplish, but in my mind it just made him look small.
A line in one of my favorite songs, Jackson Browne's "Take it Easy," comes to mind: "Looking for a lover who won't blow my cover, she's so hard to find."
As a lucky man with a wife of more than 36 years who has never once thrown me under the bus with comments to others on my shortcomings (of which there may be one or two), I admire coaches who don't blow the cover of their players.
It's so great when a coach has a player's back in the media after that player has made a costly mistake in a game: "That was a tough play for my guy. The opponents played that perfectly. I should have prepared him for that situation."
Imagine if Leach, in the wake of the controversy, had said about James, "I'm not going to comment on a player of mine." That would have exhibited the character -- the true toughness -- that Leach presumably was trying to cultivate in James after the player's concussion.
Football is a great sport for teaching life lessons and building positive character traits partly because fear is so much more up close and personal than in less contact-filled sports. But there is a macho blind spot among many football coaches that puts players at risk.
Critics of Adam James and his father -- ESPN commentator and former NFL player Craig James -- often dismiss them in emasculating terms. The macho position that football is about building toughness, and players, who are too often coddled by wimpy parents, need to play through pain, fails to distinguish between playing hurt and gambling with a player's brain.
There is a difference between taping up and playing through the pain of a sore ankle and playing with a concussion. A lifetime of difference.
I have heard all I want of incoherent former NFL players who played tough in the face of concussions. And that is where I fault Mike Leach and come down on the side of concerned parent Craig James. While sports parents can be meddlers, they have every right to ensure their children's health and safety are not jeopardized by win-at-all-cost coaches.
And in football, the macho call for toughness is especially pernicious. Because football is a collision sport, the chance of injury is high and physical pain is pretty much guaranteed on almost every play. So it may be natural to adopt a warrior mentality in which pain is laughed at...but never to the extent that a player's future is put at risk.
Double-Goal Coaches want to win but never at the expense of the second goal of using sports to prepare players for success in life. Putting your players at risk of brain damage from concussions pretty much revokes your membership in the club of Double-Goal Coaches.
-- Jim Thompson, Founder and Executive Director
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Life Lessons and Sports Parenting Insights from NFL Hall of Famer Tony Dorsett
 As the Dallas Cowboys prepare for this weekend's game, listen to insights from one of their all-time greats -- NFL Hall of Famer and PCA National Advisory Board Member Tony Dorsett.
In this Liberty Mutual Responsible Sports podcast interview by PCA Founder and Executive Director Jim Thompson, you will hear Dorsett relate how legendary coach Tom Landry taught a life lesson on responsibility and respecting teammates that left the star running back using "all the strength in my body not to start crying like a little baby."
Dorsett's take on sports parenting: "I always try to be encouraging to them on the field. Even if they make a mistake, I'm not going to be screaming. I don't want to break my child's spirit. A child's spirit can be broken by coaches or by parents being aggressive, abrasive or pushy. Kids will learn. You don't have to put so much pressure on them to be successful."
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Ask PCA: Should Coaches Try to "Demoralize" Opponents?
Wow, what a down-the-middle split on last week's question about awarding stickers! And what a great bunch of thoughtful comments and ideas on using stickers to sing the unsung and reward youth athletes for learning life lessons.
This week's question stems from an interesting reader response to last week's article by Jim Thompson. Beneath Jim's explanation is a link that lets you comment on the "Ask PCA" blog, and beneath that, PCA's answer to last week's question.
Reader Pushback Leads to a Learning Moment
I love careful readers, especially ones who push back at something I've said, because it often leads to a learning moment. Last week, writing about Smith Center (KS) football coach Roger Barta in my "New Year's Resolutions for Double-Goal Coaches," I approved of demoralizing opponents to try to get them to quit early.
David Donnellan, Director of the Mt. Lebanon Recreation Department in Pittsburgh, PA, challenged me on this: "Is this really what PCA wants Double-Goal Coaches to emulate? I am all for 'relentless toughness,' but are we respecting our opponents if our goal is to demoralize them?"
I called David and we had a great conversation. He said he is trying to promote PCA ideas in his program and he often circulates PCA Connector to his coaches. He chose not to share my article about Barta because coaches reading my remarks might have felt validated in sticking to some tendencies that David would rather curb.
Talking with David, I realized that I do not even agree with what I wrote.
Running a baseball program years ago, I had a manager who coached third base while yelling out things like, "Have a good eye, this guy hasn't thrown a strike yet."
When I confronted him his defense was that he was "only encouraging" his players. But he really was waging psychological warfare with the opposing team's pitcher. He was trying to demoralize a 10-year-old. I didn't like it then, so why did I approve of it last week?
I think part of it is the delicate balance between the two goals of Double-Goal Coaching. Learning to compete well is an important life lesson. Developing "relentless toughness" is a good thing. And perhaps I am too sensitive to charges that Positive Coaching is soft, when there is nothing tougher than sticking to your principles under pressure.
Double-Goal Coaches shouldn't be in the business of breaking the spirit of opposing players. As I told that Little League manager years ago, these kids are only temporarily opponents. They are permanently part of our community, and we should want them to become successful adults as much as members of our own team.
So, yes, try to disrupt the game plans of opponents. Play fierce and friendly and try to win. But don't do it by trying to demoralize young people or break their spirits. Double-Goal Coaches keep the bigger picture in mind, that all the kids playing sports are "our" kids and we want every one of them to succeed in life if not on the scoreboard of this particular competition.
-- Jim Thompson, Founder and Executive Director
Now, here is last week's Ask PCA question and PCA's response by Eric Eisendrath, Lead Trainer-New York
Awarding Stickers to Players
A fellow parent in our youth hockey league recently e-mailed the board asking that coaches cease awarding stickers to selected players after each game. What does PCA and your audience think of the following excerpt from that parent's e-mail?
--Thomas Rauker, Nashoba (MA) Youth Hockey League
Prior to the implementation of the sticker program by my son's coach, my son would very rarely mention anything about the game of hockey while we would be driving to the rink. I always found it comforting knowing that he was not dwelling in any way about playing in the game.
With the sticker program in place now my son continually asks me how he might be able to get a sticker for the day. When driving home he now wants to discuss what he "did wrong" in the game that caused him not to get a sticker.
I have seen this sticker program used in the past and was very discouraged to watch kids proudly show their stickers to their parents as they entered the locker room while those that the coach deemed unworthy held their heads low. I don't think kids should be proud that the efforts were validated by the coach and I don't think the other children should be ashamed of their performance either. I am aware that this is not the intention of the sticker program but is the unfortunate result of it.
I strongly believe that a volunteer town league, youth hockey coach should not put him or herself in a position to publicly judge or validate the athletic performance of a seven year old by evaluating their worthiness of a sticker for the day. I implore you to please end this practice.
Thank you for your prompt consideration of this matter,
Parent Name deleted
PCA response by Eric Eisendrath, Lead Trainer-New York
I am surprised by the e-mail's disdain for the awarding of stickers. Such phrases as "coach deemed unworthy ....children should be ashamed of their performance" lead me to believe there is a disconnect between the coach's purpose and the conclusion reached by the parent who wrote the e-mail.
In PCA workshops, stickers fall under the concept called "Targeted Symbolic Rewards," in which positive reinforcement supports a culture that celebrates effort and other intangibles that often go unnoticed and underappreciated. It is important that the coach convey the philosophy behind this practice, either during the parent meeting or in a parent/guardian letter. It is equally important that parents convey to their children the intended purpose of awarding stickers and work with the organization and coach to remind players that the absence of a sticker is not a sign of failure.
There seems to be a bit of "throwing out the baby with the bath water" reaction by the parent whose e-mail you forwarded to PCA. Hopefully, a clearer explanation and understanding of the practice will enable your organization to continue using stickers to recognize and support qualities accessible to athletes of all skill levels.
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Thank You for Helping Us Meet Our Annual Fund Match
Positive Coaching Alliance thanks all of you who contributed to our 2009 Annual Fund. Because of your support, we more than fully matched the $100,000 challenge match presented to us by two anonymous family foundations. Your commitment to our mission also enabled us to have our most successful Annual Fund campaign in PCA history.
All of us here at PCA thank everyone who contributed to our Annual Fund as well as the two anonymous family foundations who have enabled so many of your contributions to go twice as far toward transforming youth sports so sports can transform youth.
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