Category: Parents

The Old Guard Vs. The New Guard

Posted Glen MulcahyLeave a commentPosted in Athlete, Coach, Early Sport Specialization, Parents

The Old Guard Vs. The New Guard

I am writing this before the 53rd Superbowl game as I know all the hoopla come the day will be sharing out in our weekly newsletter will be about how the old guard (Bill Belichick and Tom Brady) matched up against the new guard (Sean McVay and Jared Goff).

It will make for another Superbowl gathering at my house with friends and family will be cursing every great play that Tom Brady et al. execute against yet another underdog with the vast majority of the bets on Patriots to win their 2nd Superbowl in three years and their 6th since their amazing legacy began in 2002 with the Brady/Belichick Tandem.

The above Tweet is one I came across when checking to see how Vegas et al. were hedging their bets, and having made many trips there over the years for trade shows, it was going as suspected, due to prior success and numerous AFC Championship games, The Patriots are the favorites yet once again.

One would think that father time (Tom Brady) would be showing signs of slowing down now in his 40’s, but as much as I am not a big fan of the Patriots for their run over the last two decades (am always a fan of the underdog), one thing that it does provide me is one of the best reasons why kids should NOT specialize early until their late teens.  As I wrote to coincide with last years Superbowl 52, Tom Brady Wins the World Series, he was a draft pick of the only MLB team I followed in my youth and still pissed off they left, the Montreal Expo’s.  He was picked in the 6th round by the Patriots as he was already a MLB Draft Pick.

Had he specialized in football like many kids are doing today as early as 8-9-10 years old, I can guarantee that his Hall Of Fame Career would have ended much sooner or potentially never happened to begin with.

Why ?

Because he would have suffered overuse injuries, potentially multiple serious concussions, ACL tears, perhaps even needing Tommy John Surgery for his throwing arm. He may have burned out as he did not have an OFF season to play other sports and would not have developed fundamental movement skills to transfer to football.

He may have been one of those 70% of kids that quit sports before 13 as a result.

The Patriots potentially would have continued to be in the cellar of the NFL as they had been literally since inception, Bill Belichick potentially would have been fired and hired to lead another team to multiple AFC championships, Superbowl titles and all the records that the Patriots have set under his leadership.

To this day I am still pissed that the Expos had their only potential World Series taken away from them when the strike ended the season in 1994, then a decade later were relocated to Washington (Nationals).

Fast forward to 2019, yet another multi-sport athlete in Baseball and Football has been shared out via Social Media,  Kyle Murray, Heisman Trophy winner and QB of the Oklahoma Sooners Final 4 BCS (Bowl Championship Series) #4 Ranked team (who lost to Alabama in the quarter final).

One of those SM posts were done by our good friends at 2 4 1 Sports, as Kyle was also drafted by the Oakland A’s Major League Baseball Team.

 

 

Kyle is yet another Multisport athlete to be drafted by the MLB and many are projecting if he enters the NFL draft he will be a 1st round NFL pick because he is such a great ATHLETE.

Others that you may be familiar with as they were or are “pretty good” include:

Dan Marino

Source: One of my favorite Sports Illustrated Pics, the old guard (Dan Marino) talking to the new guard (Peyton Manning) post Game

One of the best passers of all time, 2005 NFL HOF inductee played 17 years in the NFL but he was initially drafted as a pitcher by the Kansas City Royals.

Colin Kaepernick

 

In just his rookie season, Colin demonstrated his raw athleticism and lead the 49’ers to their first Superbowl since their glory days with Steve Young and Joe Montana.

He also was a great baseball pitcher, two time all state in high school, and was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 2009 MLB Draft and was drafted 2 years later in the 2011 NFL draft.

Last year he received the support of Nike to become the face of their 30th anniversary “Just Do It Campaign” with the commercial that lead their sales to surge 31% just after it aired.

 

 

“Don’t ask if your dreams are crazy, ask if they are crazy enough”

 

Brandon Weeden

Current Houston Texans Backup QB was drafted in the 1st round of the NFL 2006 by the Cleveland Browns draft four years after he had been selected as the second overall 2002 MLB pick by the New York Yankees

Troy Aikman

 

Hall of Famer NFL QB for the Dallas Cowboys, now Fox NFC Colour Commentator, was the NFL #1 overall pick in 1989 also was a baseball pitcher and shortstop and the NY Mets tried to sign him to a baseball contract but he declined as he opted to focus on football in university.

Patrick Mahomes

 

Like his father before him who was drafted by the MLB (and went on to play 11 seasons), Patrick was was selected by the Detroit Tigers in the 2014 MLB Draft but was also drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the first round of the 2017 NFL draft. Another member of the potential new guard may be Kyle Murray if opts to enter the NFL draft and play football in lieu of baseball.

Had it not been for a penalty in OT where the Patriots were able to continue a drive that lead to their game-winning touchdown, Patrick could very well have been the new guard playing another new guard counterpart in Jared Goff but Tom Brady et al. were able to weather the storm to score a TD to win the AFC Championship.

In my many years playing and watching both sports I have never seen such raw athleticism of so many ways to throw the football as Patrick demonstrated leading the Chiefs in only his second season in the NFL.  His sidearm and no-look passes remind me of another great athlete playing in the NBA, Steph Currey, another multi-sport athlete until he opted to focus on basketball in college.

Russell Wilson

Seattle Seahawks Superbowl winning QB Russell Wilson also played baseball, was drafted by the Colorado Rockies and played two seasons in their minor league affiliate, then traded to the Texas Rangers and then New York Yankees but opted to focus on his career in the NFL in lieu of baseball.

Then there were two that played BOTH sports Professionally

Deion Sanders (AKA Prime Time)

 

 

Deion was drafted in the first round of the NFL Draft and played for several teams including playing for the 49’ers and Cowboys Super Bowl Winning Teams and was inducted into the football hall of fame in 2011.  He also drafted in the 6th round of the 1988 MLB draft by the Kansas City Royals and played several years for them moreso on part time basis (NFL took precedence when the seasons overlapped).

Bo Jackson (Bo Knows)

 

Bo Jackson is the only professional athlete to be named an all-star in two different professional sports, Football and Baseball.  Like Kyle Murray, Bo won the Heisman trophy in 1985, he was originally drafted by the Tampa Bay Bucanneers First Overall in the 1986 NFL Draft.  He also was the drafted by the Kansas City Royals and played several seasons in both sports.

Not only was Bo a great football and baseball player, in high school AND college, he participated in numerous track and field events including sprinting, hurdling, jumping and throwing.

Just further proof in the pudding to support the benefits of participating in multiple sports growing up so you can become the best ATHLETE you can be.

By not focusing on one sport too early, one of the biggest benefits, is all those that played both sports of the old guard went on to have long careers in their respective sports, Dan Marino, Troy Aikman and now Tom Brady still being one that continues to set the bar playing at the highest level at 42 years of age. Same will hold true for Patrick Mahome, Kyle Murray may be as the new guard as they are great ATHLETES as a result of playing multiple sports.

Let’s all work together to bring the game back to the kids …. Where it belongs.

Don`t be a kids last coach

 

Why Officials Quit (2019)

Posted Glen MulcahyLeave a commentPosted in Athlete, Coach, Organization Executive, Parents

A couple of years back I posted Why Officials Quit and have continued to do a lot of research on the subject due to the fact that every sport organization that I work with is not only having challenges with player attrition, they also are losing officials to the point where many say they have to scale back on number of teams or games as a result, and in some states in the USA they have declared many of their sports programs are in jeopardy due to lack of officials.

This weekend I will be doing a talk on that very subject for Softball BC, titled “How to attract, retain and increase the number of officials in your organization”

It is based in part on the post I followed up with last year called “Why do Officials Officiate” but for purposes of this post wanted to share why we are losing so many officials year after year.

Top Reasons why officials are quitting are;

  1. It is not safe to fail:

Having talked to many officials and those responsible in various sports organizations, the trends are consistent, as I shared prior Hockey Canada loses 30% of their officials every year, as does every sport that I have talked to as we started to partner with various other sports organizations.

Why?  Because the officials who take a lot of pride in not make mistakes, are quitting because of the abuse that they are taking from adults (parents, coaches or fans) when they do make a mistake OR when they believe they made a mistake.

This is one of the videos I came across that shows very clearly that the umpire made the right call, but received 17 different abusive phrases from parents who were seated in the visitor section (along the 1st base line) who did not have the same perspective as the umpire.

He clearly made the right call as did have the right perspective, but all the parents on the visiting team thought nothing of screaming out their perspective which was wrong.

 

 

  1. Poor Sportsmanship: 

Above are the results for the largest study I have come across where over 17,000 officials replied to a survey from multiple sports done in 2017.  Almost 40% stated it was the parents that were causing the problems, followed by almost 30% of coaches, combining for approx. 70%.

Poor Sportsmanship was also one of the top 3 reasons that were the reasons why 11,000 players quit playing lacrosse in the retention report Alberta Lacrosse shared with me.

No matter what organization that I reach out to potentially partner with across Canada regardless of the hat I am wearing, even though 70% of the issues leading to officials quitting which goes hand in hand with the players is poor sportsmanship, when I ask what they are doing to curve the problem, they say they don’t have budgets for coach or parental education.

 

Translation: They keep doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results (Insanity), posting signs at rinks or fields like the ones above, making it mandatory for parents and coaches to take respect in sport online course for approximately 3 hours but don’t rigidly enforce policies for a zero tolerance for ANY forms of harassment.

 

When asked at what level is sportsmanship the worst, 36% of the officials stated it was the youth competitive level, followed by 21.3% adult recreational level.

These results did not surprise me at all.

Youth Competitive due to high expectations from parents due for a return on investment for the tens of thousands of dollars they invest in their child’s completive youth sports experience to get an NCAA scholarship or play professionally is what is translating to the vocal minority of parents screaming and umpires when they perceive they made a bad call.

Parents – the majority of these officials are just a level above your son or daughter, and many officials start at the age of 12 years old, and within 3 years associations are starting all over again to recruit officials as most have quit.

The second highest level, adult recreational, having played adult rec hockey, as well as slo-pitch for many years, I saw it firsthand how many who were playing adult rec thought they were living the dream playing professionally and took it a wee bit too far and would go at refs or umpires like they lost a Stanley Cup or World Series Game.

Every time I would approach them and say, relax, it’s just a game (yet another PSA campaign by Hockey Canada in 2004 when things really started to ramp up in terms of parental behavior in the stands).

When officials were then asked if Sportsmanship is getting _______, almost 57% said it was getting worse, 27% neither better or worse but thankfully the remainder, close to 16%, stated that sportsmanship was getting better.

This I believe is due to all the organizations and awareness campaigns that have come to fruition in the last decade (including our own) to combat the impact of poor sportsmanship that is impacting the quality of the youth sports experience for kids.

What I was truly surprised with, however, was the fact that some officials responded (11.69%) publicly criticized other officials and when a fan at games, just over 16% confess they heckle their own fraternity.  If truly are going to change the way officials are treated, they must adhere to the very same Respect rule I have for all my teams and NEVER criticize your teammates.

 

  1. Fear for their Safety

I shared this in the prior post that Almost 48% of the male respondents, and 45% of the female respondents shared they feared for their safety because of administrator, coach, player of spectator behavior?

What I did not highlight is just over 11% of male and 20% of female official felt uncomfortable or threatened by members of their very own officiating community.

Really?

What happened to all being it in together as a team?  Again, officials have to respect all others and avoid threats towards others in their community if we are going to reverse their fear for their own safety.

How then do organizations reverse these trends by ensuring that officials have a safe to fail environment, take pride in becoming the best they can be, are not in fear, that sportsmanship includes respecting ALL calls made by officials?

Organizations have to stop putting up signs, sending out public service announcements and as a means “to deal with parents”.  Most people don’t read signs anyway (thanks to my past experience working in the hospitality industry) and the time for PSA’s/Whitepapers is OVER.  It has come time to activate strategies so that sports organizations are accountable for everyone’s safety and creating a quality sporting experience.

In lieu, invest in parent education and teaching their coaches how to engage parents in lieu.

The vast majority of parents are AMAZING people who are doing everything they can to support their kids navigate what has become professional youth sports in lieu of kids playing kids like it was when I grew up.

They also have to recognize that officials are key stakeholders to ensure that today’s youth have a positive sporting experience, without them, kids will merely be having practices.

I worked at BC Place Stadium in security for many years and worked many BC Lions games as well as concerts and if fans became unruly (more often than not due to drinking too much) it was really simple, they were removed from the facility.

If they got into a fist of cuffs with fellow fans, we escorted them to the Police Wagon where they were brought to the station and potentially charged.

If we did so at professional sports events, why then do we not do it at youth sports events?

In lieu of having security surveying the stands, coaches and parents should be doing the same just as they did a generation removed.  If someone was acting up, a coach, parent or board member would approach them and eject them from the facility.

If a parent, coach or fan becomes unruly, too emotional, abusive, they should be removed so they can calm down and not permitted to return no differently when coaches are ejected.  The vocal minority of parents that do so be held accountable to the point where future incidents are treated with longer suspensions and using the same 3 strike rule, if a repeat offender;

Sorry we will miss you.

Meaning, we will not permit you to be a member of our organization.  Just like playing youth sports is a privilege (now more than ever due to pay to play model), so is that of being a member of the organization as parent, official, board member.

As far as I am concerned, no one, whether it be player, coach, official or board member should be in fear or a victim of verbal, worse yet potentially physical abusive threats and we need to bring the game back to the kids.

It’s time to stop doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results (Insanity)

Just like we should see the smiles on players when they are at games, the same should hold true for officials of any sport, they too should have a quality sport experience, otherwise the trends where 30% quit every year will just get worse.

 

Let’s all work together to bring the game back to the kids … where it belongs.

 

Don`t be a kids last coach

David Vs. Goliath – Super Bowl 53

Posted Glen MulcahyLeave a commentPosted in Athlete, Coach, Organization Executive, Parents

David Vs. Goliath – Superbowl 53

This past weekend I had the privilege for speaking at the 5th annual BC Sport Leadership Conference at one of my former Alma Mater, Douglas College, New West Campus and had the opportunity to interact with many amazing coaches.

Although I would like to say it went off with any glitches, I would be remiss in sharing that we had our challenges getting my laptop to play the video portion of my PowerPoint so borrowed one from the campus and moved my presentation over to a USB.

As I was doing the last keynote of the day, I planned to have all the coaches do the Iceland Viking Clap as an energizer but also ran into challenges with the playback via USB so like I have in many other events adapted by becoming the drummer only to see the borrowed laptop fly off the podium and hit the ground while I walked across the stage saying to myself “Really”?

Fortunately, the laptop was ok and I was able to dive into our core talk, “Don’t be a Kid’s Last Coach” but it was a painful lesson learned to ensure that I remembered the USB drive I saved the presentation on just in case ran into A/V glitches.

But I digress.

To get some downtime, Sunday I planned on watching the NFC and AFC championships with friends and must confess the games did not disappoint.

Both games went into overtime, both games the visiting team won against the top seed, and both games were a classic “David vs. Goliath” game that I had truly hoped would lead to Superbowl 53 is a change of the guard so to speak, where two of the up and coming teams, coaches, and quarterbacks would have an opportunity to play each other (the LA Rams and Kansas City Chiefs) vs. another repeat of what has become the norm for over a decade with the Patriots winning the AFC championship to go their umpteenth Superbowl.

Why was I pulling for the Chiefs and the LA Rams?

I have always been a fan of the Kansas City Chiefs organization, going back to the days when Joe Montana finished off his career as a Chief (as the 49ers moved on with Steve Young and George Siefert vs. Joe Montana and Bill Walsh).

The former owner, Lamar Hunt, is the very reason why the NFL IS the NFL, he was the brainchild of having the former AFC play the NFC (two separate leagues) play for ONE trophy, name the game The Super Bowl, the first couple were won by the team I have been the fan of the longest, the Green Bay Packers, who were lead to their first two Superbowl wins by the late great Vince Lombardi.

The AFC Championship this year was the FIRST EVER that was hosted on home soil where the Chiefs potentially could have been presented the trophy named after their late owner, the Lamar Hunt Trophy but sadly was not the case.

Although Patrick Mahomes made a phenomenal comeback from a 14-0 deficit in the first half (the first time the Chiefs were shut out this season), as has been the case many times in past, Tom Brady lead the Patriots to the game-winning touchdown in OT.

I, like I suspect many people including my son and all of his friends, did not want to see another Superbowl with the Patriots representing the AFC.

Why?

Because they have done so with a wee bit of dishonor, how many of you remember deflategate, where Tom Brady was accused of lying about the fact that he allegedly ordered deflating footballs during the 2015 AFC Championship game. The Patriots disputed the findings but were fined a $1M, lost draft picks, and Tom Brady was suspended for 4 games the following season.

This was 8 years after the first scandal that came to light of wrongdoings by the Patriots, infamous “Spygate”,  where allegations came forth how the Patriots filmed numerous other teams practices, built up a library and so they could plan their strategies vs. opponents including game adjustments. Belichick was fined $500,000, the Patriots $250,000 and they were docked a first round pick.

Sadly, the Patriots organization, Brian Belichick and Tom Brady will have these two scandals cloud what should be remembered as the top dynasty in sports probably ever, Tom Brady becoming the hall of famer after being a late round draft pick, and how Belichick is able to plan strategies against every opponent including this year Kansas City Chiefs leaving Andy Reid as the bridesmaid yet once again.

Then there was the similar David vs. Goliath contest in the NFC championship game played earlier in the day, also going into OT, but this time David (The LA RAMS) were successful in kicking the field goal after an interception to advance to the Superbowl, due largely to the transformation of their young coach Sean McVay, now just 33 years old and was NFL Coach of the year last year for taking the LA Rams back to the playoffs after many years of struggling.

Although I am also a fan of Drew Brees, one of the classiest men to play the game EVER, and for what he accomplished this season, is tainted in part as a result of the allegations their former assistant coach, Greg Williams, provided cash bounties to players over the course of 3 years as of the 2009 Superbowl year for the Saints for “causing intentional injuries” towards opposing players.

Penalties for Bountygate were the most severe in league history, the team was fined $500,000, the GM was suspended 8 games, Linebacker also suspended the entire season and Greg Williams was suspended indefinitely.

Sean Payton, who to this day, denied he knew that his former defensive coordinator was providing cash bounties to players for intentionally injuring opposing players (reminiscent of The Longest Yard where the inmates did so to the guards).

Really?

Similar to Joe Paterno, former longtime head coach of Penn State who did the same and was forced to retire due to allegations of sexual abuse by his former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky?

I’m sorry, but as head coach, you know EVERYTHING that is going on in your team, and using the excuse ignorance is bliss, just does not cut it for me.

Perhaps it was payback in a sense when the refs did not call the DPI (Defensive pass interference) penalty with less than 2 minutes remaining that Sean Payton went at literally every official on the sideline for missing that permitted the Rams to get the tying and winning field goal in OT?

Shortly after the game, Sean Payton shared that league officials fessed up that the refs blew the call that had they called it pass interference and/or head shot, the Saints would have potentially been moving on to the Superbowl in lieu.

In both the Patriots and the Saints scenarios when the scandals came to light, there were supporters for and against and even to this day many blame the NFL and their commission Richard Goddell how they handled it and fans of the Saints I suspect will be loathing for weeks due to the missed call in this NFC Championship game.

Fast forward to the upcoming Superbowl on Feb 3rd, 2019 regardless what side you are on, it truly will be David (LA Rams with young quarterback and head coach) going against Goliath (Patriots with 41 Yr old Tom Brady and Belichick as head coach)

Many of Belichick’s assistant coaches have gone on to become head coaches themselves, one who is on his coaching staff as offensive coordinator, Josh Daniels, was offered, he accepted, then declined the head coaching position of the Miami Dolphins a couple of years back.

Fast forward to this season, their long term defensive coordinator, Matt Patricia, became head coach of the Detroit Lions, his interim replacement that will be calling the defensive plays, Brian Flores, Linebackers coach name is being next Patriots coach to be offered the head coach position of the Miami Dolphins after the season finishes.

Many of Andy Reid’s assistant coaches are also starting to shine in the NFL, Doug Peterson, head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles who won the Superbowl last year, Matt Nagy who lead the Chicago Bears to the Playoffs this year after a long hiatus.

Ironically, Sean McVay, who will be leading the LA Rams against the Patriots, is a protégé of John Gruden (returned a head coach of the Oakland and soon to be become Las Vegas Raiders) as is Sean Payton.

Under Sean McVay, Jarred Goff, 1st overall pick by the Rams 3 years back has flourished, much like Tom Brady, former 6th round of the Patriots, and no matter how you feel about the Patriots (hate them or love them), has evolved to become one of the best quarterbacks EVER to the play the game.

The big question is whether young coach and QB can handle the pressure of the biggest game of the season as the Patriots have shown time and time again they perform when everything is on the line.

EXCEPT one Superbowl in 2008, when I think the biggest celebration ever had at our house for a Superbowl party was when Eli Manning, Tom Coughlin and Lawrence Taylor won against the Patriots to  break their undefeated record which to this day is still held by the 1972 Miami Dolphins, lead by one of the greatest coaches NFL of all time Don Shula.

Sadly, this won’t be the year for Andy Reid to prove all the naysayers wrong from his days coaching in Phillie he could not win THE game (although is protégé Doug Peterson did) and his team being presented the Lamar Hunt trophy on their home turf.  It also will not be a repeat of the Mircacle story last year when Doug lead the Eagles to win the Superbowl with his backup quarterback Nick Foles after taking over for Carson Wentz that suffered another injury in the season.

Although Tom Brady has proved to many that you can still perform at the highest level in your 40’s, the Patriots continue their dominance due to leadership of Bill Belichick with yet another cast of characters year over year (due to trades, retirement, free agency), I know that everyone that will be coming to my house for our annual Superbowl party will be crossing their fingers, putting on rally caps, wearing gold and yellow and Feb. 3rd aspiring for David (Sean McVay, Jared Goff, Aaron Donald, and other Ram’s team mates) to take down Goliath.

GO RAMS GO.

Don`t be a kids last coach

 

 

 

Make it fun.

Posted Glen MulcahyLeave a commentPosted in Athlete, Coach, Organization Executive, Parents

This Saturday I missed the Seahawks Wildcard Playoff Game vs. Dallas as was the lucky recipient of a couple of tickets to the World Junior Gold Game I wrote about last week.

For many years I used to go on road trips with a number of my former team mates and co-workers to Seattle to watch them play live pre Pete Caroll Era, but as we all got older, married, and parents the weekend road trips weaned to overnight to day of to not at all.

In lieu, have defaulted to watching either at home or Pubs and was disappointed that their season had come to an end due to the fact that Pete has done an amazing job getting Seattle back into the playoffs as they rebuild from former glory days with the Legion of Doom, The Beast (Marshawn Lynch) and evolution of Russell Wilson as rookie to tenured QB.

Pete recently had his contract extended and Russell Wilson shared he was excited because Pete “truly cared about his players”

This continues to be the top characteristic of great coaches whomever I talk to, whether it be grass roots coaches when I survey them or top experts in the field I have had the opportunity to talk to during our online events hosted thru our digital arm “For the Love of The Game”

Pete is currently the oldest head coach in the NFL, but probably one of the most joyful on the sidelines and lead Seattle to the Superbowl, winning in 2013, losing in the last play in 2014 (where many questioned THE CALL that lead to the interception at the 2 yard line that would have lead to back to back wins) and has continued as the Seahawks started to see many of those players retire or get traded.

So other than caring about his players, what makes Pete Carrol a GREAT COACH?

I. Going back to his early days as an assistant coach in the NFL, Pete immersed himself in sport psychology and became a huge fan of Dr. Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, a multi-layered approach for human motivation starting with basic human needs evolving achieving one’s true potential (self-actualization) at the top. The pyramid idea has evolved to many other theories like John Wooden’s pyramid of Success, Hockey Canada Skill’s Pyramid and so on where you can not reach the top unless you have strong foundation.  In Maslow’s theory, people were unable to become the best they could be unless their basic and psychological needs were met first.

Maslow introduced the theory in 1943 but was one of many that I also came across in my studies at UBC around the same time that Pete got hooked on.

II. His ongoing research in other areas of Sport Psychology, looking at coaching practices of great coaches including John Wooden, Pete developed his new coaching philosophy which rolled out when became the head coach of USC in 2000

 

The basis for the philosophy is to maximize not only team but individual performances.

In sum, by developing each individual player on your team, collectively as a team you will see the results as a byproduct.

Nothing frustrates me more than when coaches rely on their top players, run short benches (AKA play their favorites) game after game in lieu of focusing on every player and given them all opportunities to contribute to the outcome of games.

Any coach can coach great players and win games.

Great coaches, like Pete Carroll, make all players great and winning becomes a byproduct.

It amazes me in this era with the access we all have to information how many grass roots coaches don’t have coaching philosophies and if they do, they don’t have them in writing.

This is one of the top three things that parents want to know and as one of the other asks I get all the time is Coach How do I Deal with parents … come up with a philosophy and put it in writing and live it like Pete and other great coaches.

  1. Another thing that Pete is infamous for is his belief that coaches should “Make it Fun”

 

This is also one of our key takeaways on every presentation we make, kids play sports because they are fun, they quit when they are not. It’s not rocket science.

In my travels and thru our online events I have had an opportunity to interact with top experts in youth sports, coaches, technical directors and every single one of them have shared the importance that we must make youth sports fun again.

Until then, we are going to see more and more kids quit the game they once loved.

As a result of his research on John Wooden who had three rules, Pete came up with 3 of his own;

  1. Always protect the team
  2. No whining, No complaining, No excuses
  3. Be Early

John Wooden’s 3 simple rules

  1. No tardiness (don’t be late)
  2. No profanity
  3. No criticizing your teammates

Ironically my 3 rules are;

  1. If you’re not early you’re late
  2. No swearing
  3. Respect (the game and everyone including yourself)

When I came up with my 3 rules, I had NO Idea they were very similar to John’s, and Pete’s rules are variations of John’s when he did all his research prior to going to USC on what made John such a great coach.

I also would NEVER put myself in the same conversation as John or Pete for everything they have accomplished at the NCAA and Professional levels of sports having been in the grass roots level for decades and now doing what I can to mentor those very same coaches.

  1. Pete also has become a big fan of mindfulness, being in the present vs. focusing on the past or worrying about the future.

Same holds true when you or your team make a big play or interception, recovering a fumble that leads to points for your teams favour.

Coming back to the present, in that moment, not focused on the past or future.

Like Russell Wilson, I was really happy to see that the Seahawks extended his contract for another 3 seasons, I suspect Paul Allen (majority owner who recently passed away) would have been his biggest advocate for it to happen.

Coaches – regardless if you are fan of Pete, John or other great coaches, remember one thing, the greatest coaches of all time cared passionately, they make it fun, they make it safe (to fail and from all forms of harassment) and they teach skills (of the game and life)

Don’t be a Kid’s Last Coach

Ensure that your legacy is a positive one like John’s, Pete’s and all the other great coaches and remember that your purpose is not to make a living, but to make a difference by developing youth into adults.

Let’s all work together to bring the game back to the kids …. where it belongs.

 

What is Mindfulness ?

Posted Glen Mulcahy1 CommentPosted in Athlete, Coach, Organization Executive, Parents

We recently hosted our second digital summit thru our digital arm, For the Love of the Game, where I had the opportunity to talk with another amazing group of sports leaders who shared tips, tricks and nuggets to help coaches shave years off their learning curves.

Each guest speaker I talked to was absolutely amazing and if you did not have a chance to sign up for our summit you can sign up here for on-demand access to it (will be uploaded by the end of December 2018), our summer summit and all of our training modules for lump sum annual or monthly membership. We now have over 40 hours of digital content and will continue to build so you have access to insight from global leaders to help you become the best coach you can be.

The last speaker that reached out to us only a few days before the summit was going live was Dr. Amy Saltzman, Holistic Physician and Mindfulness coach for several decades based in Northern California.  Amy holds the record thus far of the fastest turnaround to doing the interview and the recording being edited and uploaded to our platform in less than 48 hours.

One thing that I found this winter summit that we will have to revisit for others going forward was the challenges to coordinate times, days with guest speakers as many have full plates in season, including yours truly and I was ecstatic was able to connect with Amy in time so she could share her amazing insight in our winter summit.

We talked about her most recent book I was able to read in that same 48 hour turn around time frame as she sent me the PDF version that I believe will be a go-to book for athletes and coaches, “ A still quiet place for athletes: Mindfulness skills for Achieving Peak Performance & Finding Flow in Sports and Life”.

 

 

One of the testimonials that Amy received was from one of her longtime mentors, Mindfulness coach George Mumford who was Phil Jacksons “secret weapon” when he coached the Bulls to 6 and Lakers to 5 NBA Championships.

Once I started to read the PDF version Amy sent me I could not stop turning the pages and I know it will be my go-to book going forward to help not only players but coaches and even parents understand the value of incorporating mindfulness so they can reach the highest level of performance possible.

For purposes of this post, I am going to share some of the great nuggets that Amy wrote in the last two chapters geared towards coaches and parents as many of the coaches that I interact with across the country wear both hats as parent volunteer coaches.

Amy shares in the video clip for this week’s newsletter her definition;

Mindfulness is paying attention here and now;

with kindness and curiosity,

so that we can choose our behavior

 Breaking it down;

  1. Paying attention here and now – not dwelling on the past or worrying about the future but what is happening in this

One of the examples she shares in the book is about Steph Currey, who is one of the top players in the NBA and coached by Steve Kerr whose core values for the Golden State Warriors is Mindfulness-Compassion-Competition and Joy.  Steve had the opportunity to play for Phil Jackson on those Championship Chicago Bulls Teams who received mindfulness training from George Mumford.

The Golden State Warriors version of George Mumford, is the great Dr. Jerry Lynch, long-term practitioner of mindfulness and one of the top sport psychologists in the USA who has also worked with over 30 National Championship NCAA teams.

 

Steph has bought in into mindfulness to the extent that he and his wife have tattoos on their arms of two arrows pointing to each other, the middle being THE MOMENT, not the past or the future. Before every game, he points to that tattoo and his wife does the same.

I don’t think anyone would argue with me when Steph is in the Zone (AKA flow state) and hitting all those 3 pointers from all over the court that he is “pretty good” staying in that moment vs. worrying about the past (missed a shot) or future (worrying about the score if team is down)

  1. “with kindness and curiosity” – in lieu of being hard on ourselves as we made a mistake or feel we screwed up or the vocal minority of coaches and parents screaming at us we did so, in order for teams to practice mindfulness they have to understand that mistakes are part of the process and if it happens continue to move forward.

 

The analogy that I shared with Amy was my daughter who I coached in softball for many years and was a pitcher.  Above is one of my favorite pictures of her from when she was in one of the several provincials we went to. She loved inside pitches so could jam up batters and there were a couple of regular umpires in our association that would not call them strikes but give her outside pitches all day long.  When she would get frustrated, in lieu adapting and staying in the flow state and throwing pitches that would be called strikes, her face would get red, could tell she was mumbling words and trying to vent so I would call blue to be able to go talk to her.

In lieu, “focus on being in the present”, “you got this” or other positive words of encouragement and VOILA … she would be back in the zone and tweak her pitch to get inside the umps strike zone.

The same held true with numerous other players I coached over the years, in particular goalies in hockey. I would work with all of them early in the season to come up with their own pre-game routines so they were in the present when the game started vs. some would still be goofing off or not focused and early in the game would let in a goal that 90% of the time would made the save when in the zone.

I would call a timeout and call them to the bench, not to pull them as I see too many coaches do and put their “favorite” in, to bring them back into the present, remind them that the goal was history and there was nothing they could do but focus and be ready for the next shot.

Then I would send them back to the net with positive phrases like you got this, we got your back, just go out there and have fun or something as simple as a thumbs up and their smile would come to their face and be in that flow state needed.

As the cliché goes, you have to be nuts to be a goalie in the NHL facing 100 MPH slap shots, so of all the positions in sports, I believe hockey goalies need to focus on mindfulness, breathing techniques so they are in the zone when they need to be.  Not before, not after, but in the that moment when they are facing the shooter to make that save.

Amy then shares a great exercise for coaches to start working on developing their coaching philosophy, probably one of the biggest shortfalls I run into every I talk.  It is amazing how many coaches DON’T have a philosophy, and even when they do, they don’t have it in writing.

There are three things that every parent wants to know about coaches;

  1. Who are they, what is their background (how many years coached, what certifications do they have etc.)
  2. Why do they coach
  3. What is their philosophy

It amazes me in this era with all the parental behavior we see almost on a daily basis and coaches come to me all the time asking “how to deal with parents” they don’t recognize if they have the answers to the above and is in writing so they can be held accountable.

In lieu, they talk the talk, but don’t necessarily walk the walk and wonder why they lose the players and parents trust and they act up in the stands or sidelines.

This exercise alone is worth adding the book to your library.

Amy then touches on the importance of developing culture, core values, filling their emotional tanks so when have to use tough love they will do what coaches ask them without question and understanding the importance that your players are individuals with several exercises so that you can connect with your players.  Connection is one of the tips that every speaker that I talked to both in the summer and winter summit stated is one of the characteristics of great coaches and Amy lays out the framework in a very practical way how you can do so.

The last chapter focuses on tips for parents to help their kids develop mindfulness practices which I will defer to another post in future but it includes summaries that you can share with your parents in terms of the reality how many high school athletes in the US go on to NCAA level as well as player and parent goal setting so in lieu of putting pressure on their kids, they truly are supporting their kids to achieve their own goals, not those of their parents.

The best part of the book is that it is supported by online audio resources and PDF’s of the various exercises for the athlete, coaches and parents.

According to Amy, you can start incorporating mindfulness with players as early as 8-9 years old with the first part of the book, then as they get older evolve to the second stages explained in the second phase much like you would do adding progressions to your drills and practices.

I highly recommend that you add it your tool basket, if you truly aspire to guide your teams to the highest level of performance possible, you must focus on developing their minds to be in the optimal flow state at the time needed, not before or after but the NOW.

Thought the best way to finish this post is the quote that Amy shares at the beginning of the coaches chapter;

A common mistake among those who work in sports is spending a disproportional amount of time on x’s and o’s as compared to time spent learning about people.

—- Mike Krzyzekski, Duke University Men’s Basketball coach (5 National NCAA champions) and Team USA Men’s Basketball Coach leading the team to Olympic gold in 2008 and 2012

There is so much to coaching that writing up the X’s and O’s on a whiteboard, mindfulness training being one of them, the sooner you add to your tool basket, the sooner you as a coach and your athletes will reach higher level of performance.

 

Don`t be a kids last coach