Tag: Athletes

Posted Glen MulcahyPosted in Athlete, Coach, Officials, Organization Executive, Parents

One of the 5 takeaways I share in every talk, workshop or clinic is the importance for coaches to make the environment for their players safe, as the hockey world has recently coming to terms with the Kyle Beech tragedy and the dominoes that are falling, it is just another painful and emotional reminder why we need to make it safe from all forms of harassment that I wrote on in 2017.

The other area that I have been advocating for years is the importance for coaches to make it safe to fail, unlike the coaches and parents that are highlighted time and time again in social media for their outbursts towards kids as players, officials, I have always been a believe thanks to the coaches that I had growing up to encourage to make mistakes in practices and even in games and have fun when they do so.

WHAT ?

Recommend they make mistakes, the uglier the better … what if they coughed up the puck that lead to a goal, fumbled the ball that lead to a touchdown by opposing teams, missed that free throw or field goal that could have won the game and son on.

Hmmm … there have been just a few players that were pretty good that made a ton of mistakes, but had they not done so, never would have achieved their milestones and become some of the best ever to play their respective sports.

 

Reggie Jackson/Babe Ruth

Reggie Jackson holds the record to this day of the most strikeouts of any player in MLB history (2597) but was touted year over year in his Hall of Fame Career as Mr. October where his bat would hit many out of the park, much like Babe Ruth who did the same decades back.

 

 

 

Another recent example is Mason Crosby missing 3 field goals in regulation but made the 4th to win the game in overtime for the Cheeseheads (Green Bay Packers) against the Cincinatti Bengals (whose kicker also missed 2 field goal attempts in the same game)

This was a complete surprise for all those that watched as Mason had only missed 2 field goals in the last 2 seasons combined !

Why was he to make the 4th field goal?  Because he had the support of their teammates, coaches, managers who recognized that mistakes would happen and once they did, were history, was time to move on to the next play.  This is in a league that is focused on winning, the top sport in the world in terms of revenue with millions of dollars in player salaries, billions of dollars in TV and merchandising revenue NOT community youth sports.

Sadly in today’s era of youth sports where it has become adultified, where adults are competing with other adults thru their kids, gone are the days where kids play without fear of failure which was prevalent in free play (i.e. pond hockey, pickup basketball, sandlot baseball) where there were no adults present (no coaches, parents or officials), it has lead to increasing attrition rates as a result.

In lieu of focusing on the results, wins/losses, goals/assists, focus on the process of development, ensure that kids are having fun and winning will be the byproduct vs. the focus.

Growth Mindset

One of my top recommendations for books for coaches, parents and youth sports leaders I the book Mindset by Carol Dweck who shares the differences between the fixed and growth mindset.

Those with a fixed mindset believe that their skills are fixed due to DNA, they don’t believe in working to improve, and fear failure so would focus on simpler tasks.  Those with the growth mindset however, believe they are not that good YET, and will put in the effort to improve and recognize making mistakes is part of the process.

A perfect example of a coach that has incorporated the growth mindset with their team is Karch Karaly, voted best men’s volleyball player in sand and courts of all time, in 2012 he became the head coach of the US Women’s Volleyball team soon after he read Carol’s book and as I have shared in past their team white board encourages the players to make UGLY mistakes so they develop.

He has lead the team to their first gold medal at an international event in 2013, and medaled at the three Olympic games under his watch, including Gold at this years summer games in Korea.

In order for us to reverse the negative trends we have seen in youth sports for over a decade, we need to create an environment for not only for our players where it is safe for them to fail, but also for the young officials.

Sadly, we lose 50% of young officials in many sports (especially what I refer to as the money sports, Hockey, Baseball, Football, Basketball and Soccer) in their FIRST YEAR.

Why?

The #1 reason is due to the abuse they are taking from the adults in the stands or along the sidelines.

We subsequently lose 30% on average every year so we are literally are constantly recruiting and not allowing time to mentor and train these young officials so they can hone their craft which just creates this vicious circle.

To give you some numbers, in Canada, we have approximately 30,000 officials registered across Canada to ref minor hockey games, and every year we lose over 10,000!!!

This is not a recent trend, this has been the case since I started running Hockey Clinics over a decade ago.

It is the reason why Hockey Canada and USA Hockey came up with the campaign “Relax it’s just a game” in 2007 … 14 years ago

 

The focus was more on parents who are coaching or critiquing their kids, but I have also seen my share of coaches do the same towards players and officials.

Ironically, during a recent clinic that I was running, at the lunch break just before we all shut down out audio/video a coach shared with me and those that were still in the room (we have shifted to online virtual clinics in part due to COVID, in part due to efficiencies) and he shared that two parents were fighting in the stands at a U11 minor hockey game and the Police had been called in.

This was not a the zone or academy level where parental expectations are even higher (due largely due to the costs financially and time).

Time after time each time I run a clinic coaches share similar analogies how other coaches are running short benches to win games, parents are screaming from the stands or in parking lots,  the ride home (or to) games/practices.

The saddest analogy and driving reason for me to continue running clinics to shift the needle is when a coach stood up to introduce himself in a in person clinic and said the reason he started to coach is his 8 year old daughter shared with him why she wanted to quit Hockey at the end of the season.

He said, with emotion in voice and tears in his eyes which made the rest of us in the room do the same (including yours truly)….

“My daughter told me that she was going to quit because she was scared of making mistakes.”

Until we make youth sports safe to fail again like it was in prior generations, we will continue to experience high rates of attrition, so if you are an adult involved in youth sports (parent, coach, administrator) please provide the players under your watch that opportunity to do so.

PS Tagline - Dont be a kids last coach

The importance of staying connected

Posted Glen MulcahyPosted in Athlete, Coach, Organization Executive, Parents

 

 

 

For years we have been advocating the importance for coaches to connect with their players (AKA – Athlete Centred or Transformational Coaching) and I can’t emphasize the importance now for coaches to do so.

Although all sports continue to practice “wait and see” approach across the globe in adherence of physical distancing mandates by health and government authorities, those at all levels of youth sports should take this time to ensure they stay connected with their players, and their players stay connected with their teammates.

As I referenced in prior posts, I have been against the term social distancing from the get go, although we can not play games, go to practices or other team activities, we can and must stay socially connected.

I have talked to several coaches the last couple of weeks who were anxious to start up their spring seasons in baseball, softball, lacrosse and when I asked them if they were still having team meetings or providing their players things they could do at home I was stunned when all said no … we are crossing our fingers we will be able to play in May, June etc.

To which I said …

What are you waiting for?

Your players need you more than ever now, as do your players need to stay connected with their teammates.

Yes, this is an unprecedented time in the history of the globe where no sports are being played I can’t emphasize enough how important it is for you to be that transformational coach your players are looking for.

Some tips to do so:

 

 

# 1 – Set up regular Team Meetings via Zoom via free account – you can do so for free for 40 minutes at a time to stay in touch with your players.  Ask open-ended questions like “how are you all feeling, how are you doing” to permit them to share vs. yes, no answers

Some of the more introverted players on your team will probably be the last to contribute but the more they know you and their teammates have their back, the more they will open up.

#2 – Setup one on one’s video chats via other platforms like Skype (remember the good old days), WhatsApp to ask them to share with you directly and so you, in turn, can remind them the importance of regular routine, focusing on school and other activities like art, band

#3 – Ask them the following so can create player profiles to have a deeper connection with your athletes when you are able to return back to play

  1. What do you miss the most?
  2. Why do you play?
  3. What don’t you like?
  4. What are the characteristics you want from your teammates?
  5. What are your personal goals?
  6. What do we want to accomplish as a team?

This is an exercise I have done with all of my teams over the years so that we could create our core team values as headed into the season and it also helped us get thru the storming period much faster

#4 – In addition to checking in on your players, I encourage you in your weekly virtual meetings to discuss the core values identified and focus on one per week

The first ones I would recommend that you touch on are;

Respect – What is it and who should they respect?

Sportsmanship – What are examples of good and poor sportsmanship?

What does winning with humility and losing with dignity mean?

Selflessness – Gratitude – Leadership – Communication – Work Ethic – Honesty – Integrity

Mindfulness – Praise – Thoughtfulness – Fearlessness – Awareness – Sacrifice – Trust

And numerous others that you wish to instill as part of your core values as a team, but also teach valuable life lessons and character of your players to develop them into adults

# 5 – Talk about nutrition – why it is important for them to eat healthy not just when they are in season, but year-round and especially now.  Reinforce the importance for them to come to have their own full water bottle for all team activities when they do return

#6 – Reinforce the importance  regular schedule, doing their virtual school work, homework, reading and getting 60 minutes of activity a day, going to sleep and waking up at regular times (vs. binge-watching Netflix, playing until all hours and sleeping until noon)

#7 – Share examples of drills they can do on their own at home via youtube or other platforms to continue working on their skills

#8 – Reinforce the importance of staying connected with their teammates to continue to develop team chemistry … they can do so by face time, WhatsApp, Skype, or other video platforms as texting, messenger, or better yet … a phone call (what’s that you say?)

#9 – I also encourage you to take this opportunity to have regular check-ins with your player’s parents to share any updates from your leagues when and how they foresee will return to play as well as sharing your insight so they are engaged

#10 –  Ensure that you include all of your coaches in meetings as well and connect with them on a regular basis separately as we are all in this together, they may have things going on they don’t want to share with players or even fellow coaches

Most importantly, as many of us are struggling potentially with finances when you, your partners have been laid off, seen significant reductions in revenues for small businesses, ensure that you try to stay as positive as possible for all of your kids (if you are parent coach, you now have a very large family)

Be that positive role model that your players need more than ever and when you are able to return back to play by doing so you will have done what the greatest coaches of all time have done … they cared about their players.

 

PS Tagline - Dont be a kids last coach

The Silver Lining For Youth Sports

Posted Glen MulcahyPosted in Athlete, Coach, Early Sport Specialization, Organization Executive, Parents

As we have now had over a month’s break from all sports, the sector that we work with directly is one that I hope is taking the much-needed breather to reflect and regroup for what youth sports can be again vs. what it had become.

For years we have been advocating to bring the game back to the kids against early sport specialization, adultification, professionalization, pay to play, travel ball, empowering the silent majority and other hot topics in youth sports that lead it to a $9 Billion industry in Canada, the highest cost per capita in the globe.

Much of which we had planned to share insight on during workshops, conferences as we headed into the Spring sports seasons with various sports organizations we had partnered with so they could provide resources to all their stakeholders but are in limbo.

Ironically it seems like this hiatus, or what I am referring to as the Global Sports Timeout, will have the desired effect all of us in the space that are advocating to bring the game back to the kids will do just that.

For years I have been sharing why kids play sports in our core talk for coaches “Don’t be a Kid’s Last Coach” which I share personal anecdotes from coaching as well as the research done over the years.

The thing that amazes me each time I have done the talk and start out with the question “Why do kids play Sports” literally everyone knows the #1 answer – FUN but rarely will confirm that they have actually asked the kids on their teams or their own kids the same question and why it is just that, FUN.

During this Global Timeout, I encourage you to take the time to ask your kids the following questions:

 

  1. What do you miss most about your sport(s)?
  2. What do you love the most?
  3. Dislike the Most?
  4. Are there any others that you would like to try?
  5. What can I do to support you?

 

I suspect you will hear similar answers to when I posed the questions to a number of kids on teams I coached the top answers will be for the first two questions:

Being with my friends – playing when it’s my turn to play – pool parties/team dinners and the Snacks

Dislike the most?

When Coaches Play their favorites (run short benches), you/they scream at us for making mistakes and the Ride (to/from home), traveling to new places, working with a specialty trainer/coach, not being able to hang out with my friends

Any others you would like to try ?

I suspect will be anything from other team sports to individual sports to other activities like dance, drama, art, music, robotics, reading books or just going outside to horse around with their buds

What can I do to support you?

Be quiet or cheer for us in a positive way

NOT Screaming at us, officials or focusing on Winning at all costs

I suspect the majority of kids won’t say I want to go this prospect/showcase tournament in Yukatuk because there may be a scout there that will be recruiting for a NCAA Div 1 school full-ride scholarship or potential draft many years down the road when they are 9 years old (trust me, if they are to be found, they will be)

They probably will say please don’t coach me in the car to and from games, practices or criticize me or the refs for making mistakes we are just kids

NOT

I want to go to more off-season camps, more skills coaches, more tournaments, more practices, more, more more ….

Fast forward to now when none of that is available … what are they doing at home?

Are they now trying other activities or other sports did not have to time to do so?

Are you now spending quality family time including family home cooked meals each night vs. grabbing something on the run to a practice, game?

Are you connecting with your kids more than you ever have?

Are they saying Mom/Dad … watch this when they try a new skill/activity they had not in past?

Are they happy they are learning different skills than just the ones they learned playing one sport?

I suspect the answer is yes.

That is why you need to look at the Silver Lining right now, have those conversations while you are not running off your feet and spending quality time with your family.

 

As more times passes in the coming weeks and months, take the time to recharge, reflect, regroup and refocus for what your family priorities should be in what will be a revamped youth sports landscape.

One that I aspire will be more like what it should be vs. what it had become.

One that will focus on quality coaching development beyond X’s/O’s, Wins/Losses but on the importance of connection, caring and development of the person.

One where parents will recognize the value of seeking out resources, attending seminars, reading books/blogs for insight from industry experts regarding the science/data of the best path for your kids vs. private organizations selling a dream

One that will be affordable, in lieu of thousands of dollars with mandatory travel, just a few hundred dollars participating in community or school programs or better yet FREE, free unstructured play opportunities so all families can afford as the recessionary impact we will be dealing with will be long term. Many families have had parents lost jobs or unable to keep their small businesses going and will be looking for more affordable programming for youth sports orgs, parks and rec and schools.

One that will be all inclusive for all, regardless of socio-economic status,  gender or ethnicity.

One that will have fair play policies where all kids get to play and contribute to the outcome.

One that is safe to fail for coaches, players and the officials who are all learning and should not be scared of making a mistake as they may be screamed at for doing so.

One where the adults recognize that youth sports is just that, youth sports.  Kids playing kids for the love of the game, to have fun, to play with their friends, to be active and learn new skills of the game and of life.

One where it brings communities together because that is something we all will need when health authorities raise quarantine restrictions so we can rebuild.

One that will be reminiscent of what kids are doing today, free play without fear of making mistakes in their driveways, front and back yards or other public areas that permit physical distancing.

One where we value sportsmanship, winning with humility and losing with dignity.

One where the value of respect is not just a word on a sign but a core value of all stakeholders involved with youth sports.

And most importantly, One where parents just Love Watching Their Kids PLAY.

THANK YOU!

Posted Glen MulcahyPosted in Athlete, Coach, Early Sport Specialization, Organization Executive, Parents

Our 4th Youth Sports Digital Summit ran this past weekend and I am writing this at the halfway point and must confess I am truly humbled from all the feedback, comments, shares and overall numbers that visited our site, signed up and watched one or more session.

I plan to do a Facebook live version of this prior to scheduling out our newsletter but I know I will miss someone so I felt best to share in a blog as well.

As the youth sports community is in limbo as the world continues to practice physical distancing, what amazed me the most the weeks going into the summit was the fact that so many amazing organizations and sports leaders reached out either directly or by sharing out via their social media platforms to make it our best Summit to date.

It was when we were having our weekly 2-4-1 Sports Zoom call and Steve Boyle said he would jump on Facebook live with myself and team member Geoff Lenahan was a wow moment for me.

Then I spent the better part of Thursday afternoon, less than 12 hours before the summit was going “live” to figure out how we could do a joint Facebook Live Call and thanks to my best friends Google and Youtube we were able to figure it out.  After a hour of testing with our co-op students we ready to do so at 9AM Friday morning on day 1, Steve and I went “live” (albeit not without glitches as the first time).

The number of people reached, engagements and views of our first and second Facebook live posts was tenfold what we normally see on our social media.

 

I would be remiss if my first thank you was not for Steve and Geoff for jumping on the Facebook live this weekend, THANKS GUYS!

I also want to take the opportunity to thank all of the amazing speakers who shared their insight for this and all of our past summits going back to Summer 2018.  Each time a speaker accepts our invitation or reaches out to me directly to participate I am truly humbled they do so.

Thanks to all of our team members, Geoff, John, current Adriel, and Isabel and all prior co-op students who have put in the work to make the digital summits, podcasts and other digital resources we have built available in the last couple of years.

Thanks to the Federal and Provincial Grant Programs to provide funding to us as a small not for profit organization so we can sponsor students to provide them valuable work experience and help us continue to grow as an organization.

Just like it is when I have attended conferences either as a speaker or as attendee I know that it will take a few weeks to reflect on this weekend and the last few weeks that lead up to what was our 4th Digital Summit.

 

Kudos to every single person who visited our site, signed up for the summits, and watched one or more of the interviews to add to their tool basket and hone their crafts during this time of hiatus.  Special thanks to all of you that signed up for monthly or yearly membership passes to help us continue providing all grassroots sports stakeholders resources, especially now, when everyone is tightening their wallets due to the impact COVID-19 has had on so many industries, not just sports.

Ironically, the platform that we have been utilizing for over 3 years is one that is being ok … in December they had 10 million users, 4 months later, Zoom has over 200 Million users like schools, workplaces are shifting to digital vs. face to face meetings.

Thanks for everything that you do in the youth sports space, whether it as a coach, parent, official, volunteer board member volunteering for why we all do this, the kids.

The very same kids that are cooped up at home during this hiatus and when health authorities do ease up on physical distancing restrictions permitting kids to return to play at parks, fields beaches or organized sports the big unknown is what is that going to look like post-COVID-19.

 

 

I know after coaching for over 25 years how it can be a thankless gig in a sense and those of you that understand the importance of lifelong learning and are doing so to get ready for the time we can return to play …. THANK YOU!!!!

To all of our allies across the globe, thanks for locking arms with us in recent years so we can all work together to bring the game back to the kids … where it belongs.

Last, but not least, I would be totally remiss if I did not thank my amazing family, my wife Melissa for 25 years, daughter Erin and Son Liam for their unwavering support to permit me to do what I am truly passionate about, Kids and Sports.

Just like it is when I have attended conferences either as a speaker or as an attendee I know that it will take a few weeks to reflect on the last few days and weeks that lead up to our 4th Digital Summit.

With the uncertainty of when youth sports programming will ramp up again, I to add a live webinar (or some facsimile thereof) in the coming weeks to augment our podcast and building other digital resources.

In the event I forgot anyone, I apologize for doing so, I will ensure that I amend this blog and update if so as all of those that have supported me I want you to know

I am truly humbled and gracious for your support.

 

#WeApplaud #OnApplaudit

Please say thank you to all medical and front line workers you know for their selfless dedication to fight this fight.

We are all in this together.

Be Safe.

 

 

 

 

 

Shifting to a Virtual Environment

Posted Glen MulcahyPosted in Athlete, Coach, Early Sport Specialization, Organization Executive, Parents

 

In the last couple of weeks, the world as we know it has seen unprecedented closures of all sports, restaurants, schools, colleges, retail stores, and workplaces and so on so we do everything possible to contain the spread of COVID-19.

As we work with so many youth sports organizations with volunteer board members this week who had to suspend their winter seasons or postpone the launch of their spring seasons and many organizations (including ours) shifting to virtual work from home (WFH) I felt best to provide some tips how we can do the necessary work needed to ensure that we are prepared to ramp up once the medical community across the globe gives us the green light to do so.

In addition to youth sports organizations, we also have been a sponsor of co-op university students for several years who have helped us build out our platforms and know that colleges and universities also have shifted to virtual classrooms as well, and we, in turn, have shifted so they work from home to complete their co-op hours needed and aspire to sponsor more this summer.

As we have been building out our various digital resources the last few years thru our digital arm “For The Love Of The Game” to include digital summits, podcasts, webinars, online courses we have experimented with various software and hardware configurations and below is our list of recommendations how can set up a virtual board room/office if still scrambling to do so.

A computer – Either a laptop or desktop (PC or Mac).

A camera  – either built-in (laptops/tablets) or an add on webcam to their desktop computer.

Best bang for buck Webcam – Logitech C920 (> $100.00) – 1080P video with a decent built-in microphone

A microphone – many USB cameras will include an integrated microphone.  If you are using a laptop, it will also have a basic integrated microphone.

Better quality Microphones for buck include those with corded/Bluetooth headphones or Blue Snowball/Jedi are used by many people for video chats, interviews, podcasts

Collaboration software – there are many remote collaboration tools available on the market.  Our recommendation is Zoom, a free to use service for smaller groups for short meetings up to 40 minutes or for small monthly fee that can add additional users. Zoom uses the same hardware as Skype but in addition to meetings, can also be used for webinars and sharing screens

Conference Headset / Microphone– for those seeking a cleaner overall experience you may wish to consider a conference headset.  This will deliver high-quality sound and a high-quality microphone for work from home and can also be brought back to the office when given the green light to do so

Plantronics has a system that you can get very cost affective on eBay that allows users to connect to landline (if houses still have), Zoom/Skype via USB or Bluetooth (Cell Phones).  Model W740 and suggest getting the how to swap adapter for battery charging and an extra charger

Data /Software – Google Docs (free) for collaboration and sharing or Microsoft One Drive (subscription based on number of users but can get 1 Tb cloud storage with office 365 subscription)

Email – can setup work emails remotely as aliases with a Gmail account or webmail access. This can take a little finessing as we experienced for our interns to work remotely (ISP, Email hosting or browser conflicts/cookies), I suggest all sports orgs set up a Gmail account for interns so they use either in offices or WFH (work from home)

Team Connection – We suggest What’s App, it permits users to do group texting and accessible both by phone/tablet but also desktop/laptop with web-based apps. This also will not impact users data plans although many of the cellular providers are waiving data charges

Phone – Suggest call forwarding to a cell phone or remote log-in for voice mail

Not only can board members have their regular or emergency meetings weekly, but the Zoom Platform can also be scaled to host online training (vs. live workshops), webinars and suspect even AGM’s will be hosted as can have up to 100 participants for 20.00/month CDN with meeting duration up to 24 hours.  All can be recorded as well, but to do so the device hosting the Zoom Meeting must have available storage to do so (approx. 1GB/Hour of recording)

Our Online Option for Resources, Tips for all stakeholders in youth sports

In the summer of 2018, we hosted our first virtual summit to incorporate many of the technology platforms we recommend above thru a lot of trial and error (hardware and software) so stakeholders in youth sports could get insight from some of the top leaders in the space across the globe and we will be resharing our most recent summit with 18 speakers April 3-5th.  In addition to the insight all of the amazing speakers will share, we are also looking at sharing a live webinar on day one of this summit and encouraging all those that sign up to leave comments for all of the interviews to provide all youth sports stakeholders tips so they add to their tool baskets to implement when their upcoming seasons start up again.

The benefit, you can do so at home and access any device that is connected to the internet, phone, tablet, laptop, desktop, smart tvs or game consoles. The best part, it’s FREE to sign-up for vs. paying hundreds, if not thousands of dollars to attend live conferences (which have all be canceled for the foreseeable future also)

 

 

What: 2020 Youth Sports Digital Summit

When: We are going “live” with digital summit April 3-5th

Who: Interviews with 21 different speakers (key takeaways will be posted on the event page)

Why: We continue to host the online summits so all stakeholders of the grassroots sports community so they can learn tips from experts from across the globe as cost affectively as possible

Where: Accessible by any device that can access the internet (computer, laptop, smartphone, tablet, smart TV, game console)

How: Click HERE to go to the registration page with more info to sign up for FREE

Starting April 3rd, we will release 6 interviews per day that I will preface each interview with the key takeaways followed by 6 more on Saturday April 4th and Sunday April 5th.

The schedule for the interviews will be shared in advance so you can prepare for also.

In the event that you are unable to see/hear from all of the speakers you would like, we are offering cost-effective on-demand options for your to do so for this summit as well as all of our prior summits and online courses that we continue to build.  We now have over 70 hours of digital content that you can access with any digital device at your convenience.

Many other amazing guests who share insight on their amazing programs, coaching tips, developing cultures of excellence so anyone that signs up when their seasons start up again will hit the ground running!!!

We also provide links to resources, their websites you can reference going forward.

I know that all organizations across the globe are implementing contingency plans to ensure that we contain the virus and although it is a stressful time for all of us while we do so, we are all in this together.

One thing that I have been thinking as each day goes by is I hope when we are given the green light to return back to sports that hopefully it will allow us all to look at it from a different lens.

Perhaps the adults will take it less seriously and recognize that it is a game played by kids, officiated by kids, coached by volunteers (many of which are parents who stepped up) with volunteer board members to ensure programs run.

Perhaps those chasing the dream for their kids in the money sports (scholarships, professional contracts) will see that the return on investment they are aspiring for will be moreso in terms of their kids becoming great people, great athletes as they return and if they reach a level beyond high school, that is just gravy.

Perhaps after this time away, we will take a breath next time we are at youth sports game in lieu of screaming a kid for making a mistake, an official for missing or making a bad call, a coach for a mistake made due to learning HOW to coach (not what to coach).

Maybe, just maybe, there will be a PARADIGM shift that we have been aspiring for where adults Just Love Watching The Kids Play again.

At the end of the day, that’s why we do what we do, to help all stakeholders in the space create the highest quality youth sports experience possible so kids love the season more at the end of the season than they did at the beginning and they have active, healthy lifestyles well into their adulthood.

Our best wishes also go out to those that have tested positive for the virus so they can fight it with vigor and condolences to all those families who have lost a loved one.

We also encourage everyone to not panic during this time, just as we have thru other illnesses, economic times of instability, the world WILL get thru this, now more than ever we have to come together and follow all the recommendations from the health authorities so we are safe.

We can’t wait for the time when it is safe for kids to return back to PLAY, whether it be organized sports or free, unstructured play.

Hopefully, it is sooner rather than later.