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Leadership Tip: Bring Business Processes to Your Youth Sports Organization
Leading a youth sports organization is no small task. But implementing business processes in your organization is a great way to manage the many challenges you face.
Click the video screen above for a tip on bringing business processes to your organization -- including the use of technology solutions, such as those offered by Active Network Sports and eteamz -- from Scott Barnum, a PCA Champion, a 2008 Sports Ethics Fellow as selected by PCA and the Institute for International Sport, and leader of long-time PCA partner Menlo-Atherton Little League.
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Ask PCA: Punished for Poor Performance?
Thanks for your answers to our most recent "Ask PCA" question about helping opponents up after a play. You shared a wide range of views about if, how and when players should do so, demonstrating the diversity of thinking among the PCA community.
To review that question and PCA's answer, you can continue scrolling through this item, but for now, consider this week's question:
Punished for Poor Performance
"My daughter's high school coach punishes the team for poor performance by having them run laps and do push-ups. What do coaches and parents think about that technique?"
-- Name Withheld
Comment on this topic on the "Ask PCA" blog.
Following is the previous "Ask PCA" question and PCA's response:
"I see it less and less these days...a good, hard-hitting tackle followed by the defensive player assisting the ball carrier to his feet. The norm is more of aggression and celebration -- both have their place in football -- but what ever happened to helping an opponent to his feet as a show of respect? Is it just me, or are coaches no longer teaching this small gesture of sportsmanship to our young athletes?"
-- Steve Stanford, Tampa, FL
PCA Response by David Jacobson
Televised sports are ruled by financial concerns tied to winning, which means that players and teams strive for every competitive edge available. To many players, that means leaving their opponents sprawled on the floor or field, whether as a show of dominance or a conservation of physical energy that will be needed later in the game.
It can be argued that helping opponents up requires even greater strength than knocking them down. That show of strength also can contribute to a competitive edge. More importantly, helping opponents up shows strength of character. It demonstrates a player's commitment to Honoring the Game and often a set of impressive personal values that carries over beyond the field.
Perhaps helping opponents up happens less often than in decades past. However, there are still plenty of examples in televised sports.
Occasionally -- as when Mallory Holtman helped carry her fallen college softball opponent around the bases to complete a home run -- an example of Honoring the Game even elevates an obscure contest into the national consciousness. Holtman, now coaching the Central Washington University softball team, won an ESPY Award for Best Sports Moment in 2008, essentially for helping her opponent up.
However rarely those "Mallory Moments" appear on TV, consider that there are fields and courts all over the country where players help each other up. And that many of those display this banner.
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Ron Wilson Coaching Tip: Delivering Criticism
 In a podcast from the Liberty Mutual Responsible Sports Program Powered by Positive Coaching Alliance, Ron Wilson, head coach of the US Men's Olympic Hockey Team and the NHL's Toronto Maple Leafs, shares techniques for correcting players in his interview with PCA Founder and Executive Director Jim Thompson.
"I am at times brutally honest, but not in a demeaning way. If I see a mistake, and I think it's a correctable mistake, the player will get instant feedback. You're not trying to humiliate anybody, and the player has to see that. The lesser players on your team have to see you be even handed across the board with everybody in terms of how you address mistakes.
"You also have to get to know the personalities of each of your players. Some of it is how they're brought up at home, knowing how they're parented. It's really important for the coach to get to know the players and the buttons you push. Some kids, all they can take is pats on the back, and you have to back off on criticism."
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Nominate Coaches for PCA's Double-Goal Coach Award Presented by Liberty Mutual Insurance
 Do you know a Double-Goal Coach, whose first goal is winning, and whose second, more-important goal is teaching life lessons through sports? If so, nominate that coach for PCA's Double-Goal Coach Award Presented by Liberty Mutual Insurance. Winners of this prestigious national award receive a $250 cash award, a plaque, and recognition in PCA's publications, website and media campaigns as well as on ResponsibleSports.com.
The nomination deadline is December 31, 2010!
Criteria of a Double-Goal Coach
- Redefines "Winner" through a focus on mastery, rather than a scoreboard orientation, teaching players that a "winner" makes maximum effort, continues to learn and improve, and is not stopped by mistakes or fear of mistakes.
- Fills Players' Emotional Tanks, refusing to motivate through fear, intimidation, or shame. Recognizing that a player's "Emotional Tank," like the gas tank of a car, must be full in order to go anywhere, the Double-Goal Coach provides a fuel mixed of five specific, truthful praises for every specific, constructive correction.
- Honors the Game by respecting ROOTS (Rules, Opponents, Officials, Teammates, Self).
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Support PCA's Annual Fund Now and Have Twice the Impact
A group of PCA supporters including Lakers Head Coach Phil Jackson will match every dollar given to PCA's Annual Fund before Dec 31st up to a total of $100,000.
Support PCA and help us reach our goal of impacting 1.4 million youth in 2011 alone. Donate now and have twice the impact. Click here to support PCA's Annual Fund now. Your participation enables PCA to continue developing winners on and off the field, leading to major league people.
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