|
|
PCA Connector
June 22, 2011
David Jacobson, Editor |
|
|
|
|
Summer Reading Recommendation: Parents Behaving Badly
 If you read only one youth sports book this summer, I hope it is my latest book, Elevating Your Game. However, if you can expand your list to two youth sports books, I highly recommend Parents Behaving Badly by Scott Gummer.
I loved reading this book, which is accurately promoted as an "uproarious, surprising and poignant satire of American suburbia and youth sports gone wild." Best of all, Parents Behaving Badly has a positive coach as its hero!
And, thanks to the author's generosity and belief in PCA, you can click here to purchase an author-signed copy of the book at a 25-percent discount and trigger a $1 donation to PCA. Just use promo code PCA2011.
Between the sheer entertainment of Scott Gummer's writing, characters who are (both sadly and hilariously) recognizable and this unique offer of support for PCA, you can't go wrong!
-- Jim Thompson, PCA Founder
More About Parents Behaving Badly
"Scott Gummer does a great job of reminding us why kids play sports, why parents coach and, with tongue in cheek, what happens when parents forget that sports are supposed to be fun. With a great deal of humor, Gummer never loses sight of the life lessons baseball teaches kids and parents alike. Parents Behaving Badly is a thoroughly entertaining story of a youth baseball season that should be a must read."
-- Cal Ripken, Jr., Baseball Hall of Famer
Book site: www.parentsbehavingbadly.com
Author site: www.scottgummer.com
|
|
Responsible Coaching Tip: Magic Ratio
The PCA-prescribed "Magic Ratio" of five truthful, specific praises for each specific, constructive criticism is so named because it helps bring about magical results from players. Click the screen above for an explanation and demonstration of the Magic Ration from PCA Trainer Molly Hellerman as part of the Liberty Mutual Responsible Sports Program Powered by Positive Coaching Alliance.
|
|
Ask PCA: Struggling to Motivate Nine-and-10-Year-Olds
Thanks for your answers to last week's "Ask PCA" question about an opposing coach who does not Honor the Game. To review that question and PCA's answer, you can continue scrolling through this item, but for now, consider this week's question:
Struggling to Motivate Nine-and-10-Year-Olds
"On the 9-and-10-year-old baseball team I coach, two players seem like they don't even want to be there. I encourage them a lot, spend additional time with them, try to motivate them, and have talked with their parents about the issue, but nothing seems to work. I am tired of repeating myself and am tempted to just teach them how to draw a walk, crowd the plate and bunt. I'd rather teach them the full spectrum of the game, but I don't want the team to continue to suffer. How can I approach this problem and best finish out the season with these two players?"
-- Dez Loessberg, Rancho Cordova, CA Following is the previous "Ask PCA" question and PCA response:
Opposing Coach Abuses Officials and Players and Encourages Foul Play
"In my son's U-11 travel soccer league, one of the opposing coaches consistently abuses officials, her own players, and our players and coaches. Her team has developed a reputation for dirty play that she does not discourage; when an experienced official disallows it, the coach complains of bias. Some of her players and their parents also behave as she does. Despite our filing reports, the league refuses to penalize her. What is our next step?"
PCA Response by Mike Town, PCA Trainer, Hawaii
 This is an unfortunate scenario we hear about too often. Where winning at all costs is the only goal, anything goes, and sport culture degrades, be it professional, college, high school or U-11. That's part of the reason a coach can be the most important character educator in this society. Hopefully a parent or coach attempted to discuss this issue with the coach in question (and not right before or right after a game).
However, the real responsibility lies with the league's board of directors, which must address this issue constructively given its fiduciary duties. The board must take a firm stand -- rather than relying upon parents or opposing teams to take action -- to set the tone clearly and articulate a positive culture that engenders respect for officials, the opposing team and the sport itself. The board should step out boldly via training for all coaches, collegial discussion, informal intervention and ultimately enforcement.
By your description, if board members were attending games, they would see for themselves how this coach behaves. Whether your board is absent, unperceptive, simply clueless or unresponsive, any and all of those traits must change.
Among the actions to consider is raising the issue specifically and transparently at a board meeting with officials and coaches invited. It must be made clear that such behavior by the coach (or any similar coach) should change dramatically. If there is a dispute or differing perceptions, so-called dirty play and unsportsmanlike behavior can be chronicled via league observers, including video.
Also, consider mediation; there are volunteer neighborhood mediators who conduct facilitative mediations. In a civil, courteous and dignified setting, issues and interests are articulated and solutions offered. Finally, the board might have to consider probation or sanctions, such as suspending the coach.
If you do not get a satisfactory response from the board, another option is to refuse to schedule games with this team, especially if foul play jeopardizes players safety.
(PCA Trainer Mike Town is a retired family court judge, based in Hawaii, who has coached basketball collegiately in South America, as well as volleyball, swimming and outrigger canoe paddling.)
|
|
Support PCA and Have Your Donations Matched
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
