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PCA Triple-Impact Competitor Online Course
What would our world look like if youth and high school athletes were dedicated to improving themselves, their teammates and their sport as a whole? We'll soon find out as PCA launches its Triple-Impact CompetitorTM Online Course.
The course is best suited for teens and teaches them how to have a positive impact on three levels:
- Personal Mastery: Making oneself better
- Leadership: Making one's teammates better
- Honoring the Game: Making the game better
The course features video of such PCA National Advisory Board Members as:
- NBA Champion Boston Celtics Coach Doc Rivers
- Former U.S. National Women's Soccer Team star Julie Foudy
- NBA star Shane Battier
For a video explaining more of the course's benefits, click the image below. 
In addition to learning PCA principles from some of the world's top coaches and players, you and your youth athletes will benefit from the same research-based, ready-to-use tips and tools you have come to expect from PCA.
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National Youth Sports Awards Dinner Sponsored by Deloitte
A record crowd for PCA's biggest annual event packed the floor of Stanford University's Maples Pavilion. The ceremony featured a first-ever sports-themed auction with such unique items as a fishing trip for four with PCA National Advisory Board Member and Cincinnati Reds Manager Dusty Baker. As always, the evening also offered signature moments from guest speakers and award winners.
Northern California-based winners of PCA's Double-Goal Coach Award Presented by Liberty Mutual Insurance join event dignitaries. From left: award winners Curtis Haggins and Patrick McCrystle; Guest Speaker and San Francisco 49ers Quarterback Alex Smith; award winner Mark Newton; Deloitte's Mark Edmunds; and award winners Kim Everist, Debby Colberg and Scott Kennedy.  |
This year, all award-winning coaches were introduced by athletes they had coached, heightening the emotion of the presentations and reinforcing the impact these coaches have in preparing youth for success on and off the field.
Others who wowed the crowd:
- San Francisco 49ers Quarterback Alex Smith, whose presentation stressed the importance of youth sports coaches in his development as a player and person
- Jim Wooden, son of legendary UCLA Basketball Coach John Wooden, who accepted the Ronald L. Jensen Award for Lifetime Achievement on his father's behalf in a speech with decades' worth of memories
- Keynote speaker Jim Collins, author of such best-selling business books as Good to Great and How the Mighty Fall, who used examples of business transformation to empower attendees to transform youth sports.
Three Jims: PCA Founder and Executive Director Jim Thompson; Keynote Speaker Jim Collins; and Jim Wooden, who accepted PCA's Ronald L. Jensen Award for Lifetime Achievement on behalf of his father, John Wooden  |
PCA thanks event sponsors Deloitte, Liberty
Mutual Insurance and Visa as well as the hundreds in attendance who helped
celebrate the honorees as well as support PCA's mission to transform youth
sports.
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PCA Stars in Sportskool Video Series
 As coaches and parents, you can learn from "Coaches and Parents" -- a fantastic new series from Sportskool available free on-demand to 37 million digital cable homes throughout the U.S. The first six videos in the series feature PCA Associate Director Tina Syer, among such other sports notables as: - Future NFL Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez
- Super Bowl Champion Willie McGinest
- NBA Champion Dave Cowens
- Northwestern University Football Coach Pat Fitzgerald.
Sean Astin, whose sports fame ties to his role as "Rudy" in the film of the same name, hosts the series. The videos, each 10 to 12 minutes in length, cover: - Parent-Coach Relationship
- Respect the Ref
- Game Day Strategies
- Winning vs. Losing
- Developing Your Child's Potential
- Practice Strategies
In the videos, Tina presents the sound advice and ready-to-use tips and tools you've come to expect from PCA. Real-world youth sports coaches, parents and players also offer insights. And the many celebrated athletes, coaches and youth sports experts surround their reinforcing messages with star power and fun for the whole family.
To find out if Sportskool On Demand is available through your television provider, visit Sportskool and type your zipcode into the "Find us on TV" tab near the upper right of the homepage.
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Ask PCA: Coach Plays My Daughter Out of Position
Thanks for your responses to last week's "Ask PCA" question about encouraging "selfishness." You can scroll down to read PCA's response, but for now, consider this week's question:
Coach Plays My Daughter Out of Position
"My daughter is 5'11" and very strong. She has played guard in basketball since kindergarten and never played post. After her freshman year, she is going to play this summer in various leagues with our varsity high school coach, who wants my daughter to play post. My daughter has guard skills, wants to play guard, and is playing guard on her AAU team. First my daughter, and then I met with the varsity coach, who said he will not be playing my daughter as a guard, and nothing my daughter does will change this. Any ideas how to change the coach's mind? I'm considering asking my daughter's AAU coach to invite the varsity coach to the AAU games."
-- Anonymous
Click here to comment on this topic on the "Ask PCA" blog.
Following is the previous "Ask PCA" question and PCA's response:
"On my high school soccer team, my best midfielder routinely passes up shot opportunities. She is extremely talented, and from conversations with her, I know she is concerned that if she shoots too much, teammates will consider her 'selfish.' How can I persuade her to shoot more, which would be to our team's benefit, without creating a divide between her and her teammates?"
PCA Response by Eric Eisendrath, Lead Trainer-New York
This
is a refreshing problem as we more often hear of players shooting too
much. When dealing with this issue with the player, make it clear that
this is not an issue of selfishness. It really boils down to
effective decision-making. The same can be said for not shooting enough.
In
any team sport, as a coach, we seek to work the ball into a position
that facilitates the highest quality shot. Using that premise, I would
explain to your midfielder: "Great players are strong
decision-makers. The player with the best opportunity to score is the one who
should shoot. If that player is you, then take the shot!"
You also need to make sure the rest of the team understands that the issue is
decision-making rather than selfishness. If this player continues to
believe her teammates will see her as selfish, she may resist your
coaching. Explain to your entire team that you want all of them to
develop the ability to make good decisions about who has the best chance to
score. Then reinforce this in your team conversations throughout the
season.
I applaud your midfielder's team-first
concerns. As a coach, your making it clear to her that good
decision-making and high-quality shots are best for the team will help her see that
shooting the proper amount will fulfill her role as a team-oriented
player.
Read all the Ask PCA blog comments on this question.
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Coaching Tip: NHL Coach Tony Granato on Honoring Opponents
As the NHL playoffs heat up and first-round series wind down, Liberty Mutual Responsible Sports Powered by Positive Coaching Alliance turns its attention to hockey. This video from PCA National Advisory Board Member Tony Granato will help parents and coaches reinforce with their youth athletes the importance of Honoring the Game. 
If some of the world's top athletes -- with professional pride and potentially millions of dollars in future contracts on the line -- can find a way to shake hands after a hard-fought series, so can your youth athletes.
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MMA Star Urijah Faber Supports PCA In and Out of the Cage
As much as we appreciate Urijah's contribution, his words and actions before, during and after his loss to Jose Aldo mean even more to the PCA movement.
"I played youth sports throughout my childhood," Faber said before the fight. "And the lessons I learned on the playing field helped shape me into who I am today. I would not be near the top of the MMA rankings if it weren't for the coaches I had growing up in the Sacramento area, so I want to do all I can to help make sports a positive experience for Sacramento-area youth."
Faber suffered some
injuries during the bout against Aldo that hindered his performance, but he
still gave a valiant effort against a very difficult opponent. Afterward Faber proved himself a Triple-Impact Competitor, intent on improving himself (continuing to train as soon as injuries heal), the other athletes he trains at his Ultimate Fitness gym, and MMA as a whole by honoring last Saturday's opponent in this video interview.
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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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