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The Second All-PCA NBA Finals: Phil Jackson and Doc Rivers Speak Out
For the second time in three years, the NBA finals, which begin tonight, will be an All-PCA event. Lakers Coach Phil Jackson and Celtics Coach Doc Rivers are both long-time PCA National Advisory Board members and practitioners of Positive Coaching. Two years ago they co-authored an op-ed essay on the occasion of the first All-PCA NBA Finals. Here is that essay, from the San Jose Mercury News on June 12, 2008.
Go, Celtics! Go, Lakers! Go, PCA!
Winning Should Not be Coaches' Only Goal By Phil Jackson and Doc Rivers Nothing could please us more than competing against each other in the NBA finals. It is especially meaningful to restore the Lakers' and Celtics' historic rivalry as the two NBA teams with the most championships.
However, there is another level of meaning to these finals. We both serve as members of the National Advisory Board for Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA), a Stanford University-based non-profit dedicated to transforming youth sports.
We both support this cause because we recognize the invaluable life lessons that sports can teach youth and high school athletes, such as resilience, empathy, teamwork, determination, confidence and the ability to
overcome adversity.
We believe in PCA's model of youth sports coaching, the Double-Goal Coach, whose first goal is winning and whose second, more important goal is teaching life lessons through sports. Although the Lakers and Celtics are in the business of winning games and entertaining fans, basketball and all youth sports should emphasize life lessons.
That does not preclude an effort to win at the youth level. Perhaps the most valuable life lesson to come from youth sports is an understanding of competition, which children can apply throughout their lives as they strive to
achieve in school and in their future careers.
However, a win-at-all-costs mentality among youth sports coaches and parents can damage the bodies and minds of even the best athletes, pressing them into physical service they cannot endure and mental duress that detracts from their childhoods. A win-at-all-costs approach also abandons lesser athletes, who are not ready to star on a winning team, and therefore fester on the sidelines and prematurely quit sports before learning their life lessons.
As much as we believe in this antidote to win-at-all-costs at the youth level, we agree that neither of us would support this cause unless we knew that Positive Coaching techniques worked even at the highest levels.
Throughout our finals matchup you will see and hear examples of both of us using these techniques. We will compete fiercely against each other. But in the end, no matter which team wins, both of us will be proud of our work as Positive Coaches on behalf of our teams, the cities we represent and the important cause we support.
Click Phil Jackson's photo to see video of him providing coaching tips, and click Doc Rivers' photo to listen to his podcast as part of the Liberty Mutual Responsible Sports program. |
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Honoring the Game Award Winner: Menlo-Atherton Little League
As part of the National Youth Sports Awards Program sponsored by Deloitte, PCA Connector periodically profiles winners of the Honoring the Game Award for excellence as an educational athletic organization. This week, we feature the San Francisco Bay Area's Menlo-Atherton Little League.
In Menlo-Atherton Little League, the players and coaches have fun, but when it comes to Honoring the Game, the organization is strictly business.
The league reached a tipping point of positivity when it formalized a "sportsmanship business plan, and set metrics and standards," said Scott Barnum, a member of the league's board of directors and chair of its sportsmanship committee. "PCA really helped by customizing its presentations and workshops. In partnership, we developed 30 different plausible scenarios involving players, parents, coaches and umpires, and then we role-played the scenarios."
Menlo-Atherton Little League serves roughly 500 baseball and softball players and has more people volunteering to coach than the league can deploy, Barnum said. "From the kids' and parents' standpoint, people like playing in our league, because it's a positive environment."
Among Menlo-Atherton Little League's efforts to win the Honoring the Game Award:
- earning PCA's Seal of Commitment for pledging that all of its coaches are trained and certified as Double-Goal Coaches
- a 90-percent-plus satisfaction rating as measured by the league's annual online survey tool, which solicits objective, confidential feedback from parents and coaches
- implementing a league-wide player sportsmanship award program.
Our series profiling Honoring the Game Award winners will continue in future issues of PCA Connector.
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A Perfect Ending to an Almost-Perfect Game
Despite last night's obvious and admitted blown umpire's call that cost Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galaragga the last out of what would have been a perfect game, the aftermath exemplified PCA's principle of Honoring the Game.
Instead of losing his cool and flipping out on the umpire, Galaragga smiled and went about his business. Instead of focusing on what he could no longer control, Galaragga, like all Triple-Impact Competitors, prepared for the next play. He executed it flawlessly, retiring the next batter and recording the complete game, one-hitter (his first complete game and shutout of his career).
If, in a moment like this, Galaragga can keep his cool and show class, then youth sports parents, coaches and athletes can do the same during their own games.
In true Triple-Impact Competitor style, Galaragga improved himself (by rising above the umpire's call), his teammates (by calmly finishing the game even as some of them continued howling over the call), and the game (by providing youth players, parents and coaches a great example that we expect to see emulated throughout youth sports).
Post-game, umpire Jim Joyce also Honored the Game by personally apologizing to Galaragga and owning up to the blown call, without excuses, in media interviews. In Galaragga's post-game interviews, he continued to shine, saying he knows "nobody's perfect."
The more youth sports participants remember this about each other, the better off we'll be.
--Jason Sacks, PCA Director of Partner Development
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Ask PCA: My Son Wants to Compete at a Higher Level
Thanks for your answers to last week's "Ask PCA" question from a parent questioning whether coaches were right to rest her son in games after those in which he pitched. Most of your answers praised the coach for erring on the side of caution to preserve the young player's health rather than milking him for every possible win at the youth level.
You can scroll down to read PCA's response, but, for now, consider this week's question:
My Son Wants to Compete at a Higher Level
"My son has played on the same 12u club baseball team for the past 18 months. Six months ago more than half the team left to start a new team, but we decided to stay with the coach while he rebuilt the team. Our team has been getting worse, and has trouble attracting talent. My son wants to compete at a higher level and has been invited to play on a promising new team forming in our area. We believe in commitment and respect for coaches and teammates, but we also want our son to have the best opportunity to excel. I don't believe in "greener" grass and I don't want to teach my son to run when times are tough, but on the other hand, we did not push this move. He asked for it and I don't want to disrespect his decisions and force him to stay. Is it time to change teams?"
-- Please Keep Me Anonymous
Following is the previous "Ask PCA" question and PCA's response:
"My son is 13 years old and a left-handed pitcher. His coaches, one of whom is a former MLB player, treat him differently, stating that he has a significant amount of talent. He is the only player on whom the coaches impose a "rest rule." Should he be allowed to play alternate positions the day after pitching or should he rest entirely for a day or two before he plays the next game as the coaches say?"
PCA Response by Eric Eisendrath, Lead Trainer-New York
It seems that the coach's decision is coming from a good place, concern for your son's well-being. Too often, I hear this question from another point of view, where not enough rest time is being afforded. Overuse injuries have dramatically increased (upwards of 75%) in the last 10 years. Jeopardizing your son's pitching career over a throw to home plate from centerfield or first base a day or two after pitching may not be a worthwhile risk. At 13 years of age, his body is still continuing to grow. It seems the point the coach is making is that the risk in this case outweighs the reward.
Has your son spoken directly to the coach? Perhaps hearing the reasons behind the coach's decision would go a long way in gaining understanding and perspective. Based on the fact that the coach is trying to protect your son, I would be very inclined to follow his advice.
In any event, having your son speak directly to the coach will help your son find his own voice, take ownership of the situation, and learn to become an advocate for himself.
Read all the Ask PCA blog comments on this question.
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Support PCA
PCA is a non-profit committed to transforming youth sports so that all athletes through high school age can benefit from the life lessons that are uniquely available through sports.
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