Back to the Drawing Board

Posted February 8, 2019January 27, 2022 Glen MulcahyLeave a commentPosted in Athlete, Coach, Organization Executive, Parents

I must confess, I, like many of those I have talked to since Sunday, are still recovering from this year’s SuperBowl, not from the bevies, but from the fact that one of the top offensive teams the past two seasons only touchdown they scored was when their plane landed in Atlanta.

Many I talked to felt it was the worst Super Bowl they had seen as a result, which they shared and agree with in part but felt it was not …

… because the Patriots, under Bill Belichick and the ageless wonder Tom Brady, winning their 6^th Super Bowl together in 9 tries since they became the tandem that turned the Patriots into one of the all-time dynasties in the NFL

… because CBS, Tony Romo, and Jim Vance were chosen to be the commentators for the game vs. Fox, Joe Buck, and Troy Aikman as had been the case for many years prior

… because the Halftime Show was “Just OK” from one of the top pop bands in music today, Maroon 5, which one of the only highlights was the drones with balloons forming the shape of words Love and One, but two different rap artists intertwined where one had to have several profanities omitted in the live broadcast. Even Adam Levine tried to play the part of Rap artist with the heavy chains around his neck, and showing off all of his tats when he removed his shirt (What was up with that?)

… because it was shared after the fact that Maroon 5 was a last minute replacement for other musical acts turned the offer to do so from the NFL, Rhianna and Carbi B, due to the ongoing controversy pertaining to Colin Kaepernick’s kneeling at the anthem to protest inequality in the USA towards black and other minority groups and resulting lawsuit filed by Kaepernick for exclusion since he last played in 2017.

… because Jim and Tony joked at one point that one of the plays of the game that people will be talking about was not one of what should have been numerous TD’s, field goals with two of the NFL’s top offences matching up in the NFL but instead a 65 yard punt of the multiple the Rams Kicker was forced to make as their offense was shut down by the Patriots Defence.

… because the perceived underdog according to Tom Brady and company was in fact the Patriots and relished the role even though the Vegas bets were heavily in their favour.

… because we finally were able to see all of the infamous Super Bowl Commercials live in Canada during the game vs. being replaced with Canadian Content but none I felt were on par with past ones that people talked about for days, weeks after the game.

… because after 3 quarters of play, the score was 3-3, the equivalent of what happened last night as does in many NFL games and the winner of the 4^th quarter or OT (if it had gone there) would win the game.

Like many others, the 4^th quarter Tom Brady did what he has done for years, took control and threw short passes to MVP winner Edelman, the long bomb to Gronk to set up the game-winning touchdown.

… because my son, who is not a fan of football, actually sat and watched the game from start to finish with me for the first time EVER and it left him with such a sour taste in his mouth he probably will never watching another Super Bowl (although a D-Man in Hockey, does not appreciate that defense wins championships in Football).

… because the announcement of the NFL player who received the most prestigious award amongst players, the Walter Payton Award, for their contributions not only to the game but their community involvement away from the game that was awarded to Philadelphia Eagles player Chris Long did not permit him to say a few words to the crowd humbling accepting for the amazing work he does off the field.

This not only included Founding Waterboys to provide safe drinking water for kids in Tanzania 4 years ago and donating his salary for an entire season to funding scholarships and literacy programs, the epitome of giving back.

Below is induction for the award and his full acceptance speech.

I suspect his Dad, NFL Hall of famer and now Fox commentator Howie Long, was a very proud Daddy for all the great work Chris is doing off the field.

It was because of the news articles and interviews up to and after the game focused on how Tom Brady and company were the underdogs and how much adversity they had over come this season to get to the game, how much it meant to Tom Brady more than the past 5 and so on.

In lieu of it being touted as underdogs (one could argue Rams were due to how Vegas laid down the bets) for me it was a battle of the old guard (Belichick and Brady) vs. the new guard (McVay and Goff) and it truly was disappointing to me that Sean and company could pull it off with the offense they built to get the needle to swing in their favour

For me, the Superbowl happened early in the season, when the Chiefs and league MVP Patrick Mahomes dueled it out with the Rams (what I was hoping to be the Super Bowl Match-up) for the total opposite, 54 (Rams) to 51 (Chiefs) where it truly showed the offensive upside of both teams and lack of defense.

This was the epitome of the amazing transformation that Sean McVay had done since he became the youngest NFL head coach of all time at 31 years of age.

In just the two years under his watch, he has taken the Rams with much of the same nucleus of players who were coached by long term Jeff Fischer in 2016-17, from 4-12 record to reach the playoffs in the first time with a record of 11-5 in 2017-18 losing to Matt Ryan and the Falcons in the Wild Card Round, to 13-3 and getting a bye then wins against the Cowboys and Saints to reach the Superbowl this year.

As a result of making the playoffs last year with the Rams, Sean McVay was awarded the coach of the year award in just his FIRST year as a head coach in the NFL.

How then, has he transformed the Rams?

Be developing a culture of excellence with what has become known as the 4 McVayism’s that are now posted in the Rams Dressing Room.

In essence, his key standards/rules like John Wooden and other great coaches have implemented with their teams to develop their own cultures of excellence.

What do they mean?

The Standard is the Standard = the players set the bar for themselves and there are no excuses, the accept ownership for how they perform on the field.

2. Situational masters – meaning the players capitalize on the opportunities as they present themselves in games, whether it be creating turnovers or fighting for that extra inch to get that first down

3. We not me – equates to the there is no I in team, under Sean McVay, it is all about the team, not the achievements of individual players. The same analogy holds true when you play for the crest in front of your jersey, not the name on the back.

Our Rule – be on time – this is very similar to one of John Wooden’s top 3 rules, his first of three, was be on time. He, like Sean, and many other coaches that have developed cultures of excellence on their teams believe in the importance of starting practices on time, ending on time, being on time for any team events so that they can accomplish everything set out in practice and game plans. I learned the expression for a coach years back that I share with all of my colleagues, staff all the time – If you are not early, you are late.

Another thing that Sean has done has incorporated in the team is shared ownership, in lieu of old school coaches at times being dictators (AKA my way or the highway), he believes in an open door policy and communication and input from all players on the team how they (as a team) can become better so everyone shares in the success or in this case the misfortune of losing and having to got back to the drawing board.

Although the current rendition of the Rams struggled in the Super Bowl 53, under Sean McVay I don’t suspect they will be back, I KNOW they will be back, possibly as early as next season as Sean has now gone back to the drawing board to make the necessary adjustments not just during half time but throughout games as those in the Old Guard have shown can do time after time.

I suspect he and his coaching staff are already started to brainstorm how they can continue to improve their culture of excellence and build on the 4 McVayisms in the dressing room.

As the old cliché goes, 3 times a charm, in year 3 under the leadership of Sean McVay I am picking the Rams to not just make it to the Super Bowl, but be holding that trophy at the end of the game and hope like many others, that there truly will be a change of the guard in the AFC for someone other than the Patriots for them to face, the Kansas City Chiefs.

The costs of inactivity

Posted October 26, 2018January 27, 2022 Glen MulcahyLeave a commentPosted in Athlete, Coach, Organization Executive, Parents

Last night I was recognized with an alumni builder award by the School of Kinesiology, at the University of British Columbia. It truly was a humbling experience to be acknowledged by what is now the top Kinesiology Program in Canada and top 5 Globally.

It coincided with the book launch for Minds in Motion, authored by Don Wells whom stated that the book belonged to all of the former graduates, alumni, and school, he merely did the research to share the history of the evolution of the school from the days of Physical Education, to Human Kinetics to the school of Kinesiology. This after 7 years of research working on the book but like all other selfless athletes, gave credit to all the team members that made the book possible. He shared the insight of all of the amazing alumni that had graduated from the school, including Rick Hansen, who had been motivated to do his man in motion global tour by retired KIN faculty member, Olympians, Coaches, Sports Leaders, and numerous doctorates and postgraduate alumni for their contributions to sports medicine. I was asked to sit in a reserved seat at the front so I could quickly go up, say thanks and return to my seat to permit all of the other guests to speak about the rich history of the program that I graduated from many years back so they could stay on track for the full program. Some interesting statistics were shared by the current director of the school of Kinesiology, Robert Bouschel when he took the stage that I thought would be of interest for all people that are in the youth sports space today;

The demand for entrance to the School of Kinesiology has lead to the GPA required to be 92%, on par with the schools of medicine and engineering. I shared with Robert after all the presentations if that was the case when I was applying I would not have been accepted as I was a jock first, student second. While at UBC I participated in the intramurals program, weight room, completed my bronze medallion and first two levels of the original NCCP program that has now evolved to a multi-sport focus.

I asked him if there had been any changes to the projections by health authorities in Canada in the USA that today’s generation of kids may die 5 years sooner than their parents, making it the first time in history this may occur and he stated was still current even though many organizations have evolved in recent years to buck those trends

The current health costs per person in Canada is approximately $4000.00 per person or just shy of $15 Billion dollars! The upside is my home province, BC has the lowest cost per person average due to the fact many adults are still active in skiing, golf, biking, hiking, walking and other team sports like slo-pitch, ice hockey, soccer.

As Type II diabetes has trickled down in the teen age group because of inactivity and kids spending 7.5 hours a day in front of screens, that cost per person for those with Type II diabetes increases a further 3800.00/Yr (or 7800.00 total)

The current rate of obesity for today’s Canadian youth is 1/3^rd (33%) up over 20% since the 80’s where it was approx. 100%. He confirmed that if the current trends continue by 2040, 70% of Canadian youth will be fat or obese.

This would equate to a twofold or more impact on health costs, pushing it to over $30 Billion

He also shared that there had been a recent study done shared by CBS news that middle age (50) people that that practiced 5 lifestyle habits could live a decade longer than those that did not, one being exercise 30 minutes a day which could just be a brisk walk.

In the room, there was alumni for various years, including one from the first ever graduating class of UBC’s school of PE in 1949! Another from 1950 and others from 60’s and beyond. I had the opportunity to hear them speak to others (the lineup was long with other alumni wishing to speak to them) and they were still sharp as a tack and enjoying life in their 90’s! (albeit they are not quite as mobile as they were when they attended the school decades back)

I also had the opportunity to talk to various other faculty members and one that was just getting started at the school when I was there, Dr. Ian Franks, was credited by the author of the book and Robert for his contributions to the evolution of the school and numerous studies he and other faculty members had done. His area of specialty, which was my major, is motor control and performance. His is one of the global leaders in the field, as are now many of the other faculty members where the school has qualified for over $5 Million in funding for research. The very fact that I was in a room with so many PHD’s and post graduate alumni and was receiving an award when I did not go beyond my undergraduate degree was overwhelming. The reason I was acknowledged was not my scientific research and publications many in the room or the school has now received global recognition for, but for my contributions to the mentorship program, career fair and expert panels the last few years to assist the next generation of leaders in the space. This year I have been paired up with another mentee, who is a UBC Gymnastics High School Competitive Coach. We will meet in a couple of weeks to review his goals as he will be graduating from his undergrad degree in May and is trying to figure out his path to either pursue post graduate studies or work in coaching. In his original reach out to me to setup our first meeting he shared how excited he is to have me as a mentor and get to know my coaching philosophy as well as the key things for a coach to keep their athletes motivated to overcome challenges. I will expand further when we meet in a couple of weeks, but as I have learned asking thousands of coaches over the years what the top characteristics are of great coaches, it is all about the connection, caring and building relationships. I recently shared this short video out on facebook why we coach

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgnAm6_DYmU I thought Matt Deggs, Sam Houston State NCAA Div I baseball coach nailed it when talking about his shift from transactional to a transformational coach.

That’s why I coach. That’s why I mentor. That’s why we sponsor co-op students to get valuable work experience as we continue to grow as an organization. To build those relationships and develop youth into adults. The sooner that youth sports coaches shift their current mindset from focusing on winning at all costs to recognizing our calling is to develop the person, the sooner we will reverse the negative attrition rates we are experiencing where kids are quitting sports or not get involved at all which is leading to their projected 5 year shorter life expectancy. Our goal is to do what we can to give kids their 5 years back (and then some). Let’s all work together to bring the game back to the kids …. where it belongs.

“à bientôt” (see you soon)

Posted August 24, 2018January 27, 2022 Glen MulcahyLeave a commentPosted in Athlete, Coach, Organization Executive, Parents, Uncategorized

For the last couple of months we have been going thru a move from our former office, a 2 story warehouse with office buildout that was very cold in winter, very hot in summer as we had no HVAC systems and we have now officially moved into a new 2^nd floor office space with HVAC, multiple workstations, a boardroom, a “real” lunchroom and fully wired for sound with Fibre Optic to permit us to upload and download audio and videos much faster than we were able to in prior office space.

We also will be able to host workshops in our open area for 20 or so, and the ability to rent and ultimately lease the adjacent office space to host workshops and presentations for groups up to 80 vs. having to rely on orgs to provide meeting spaces with all the A/V setup for our presentations.

Why am I doing a post this week on the subject of our move?

Because yesterday I said, “à bientôt”, ( = see you soon) to our most recent co-op student who had worked with us this summer and continued to add to the building blocks of prior students since we started a few years back.

Her name is Myla, and she was responsible for editing and uploading all of the interviews for our inaugural For the Love of the Game Youth Sports Digital Summit that we hosted mid-July. She also created the new blog thumbnails, quote templates for both PARADIGM Sports and our digital arm For the Love of the Game in addition to posting to all of our social media platforms including setting up our Instagram account.

The reason I am sharing this is when I went thru her evaluation as a part of the co-op requirements, she shared with me that her experience working with us this summer was unbelievable, mainly as we are advocates for providing a safe to fail environment for all of our staff just as I do when I coach teams. We also have a zero tolerance for ANY forms of harassment, something that many NCAA schools in particular need to implement, including the most recent at Maryland University due to prehistoric coaching practices that lead to the death of one of their football players from heat exhaustion.

She was not the first, nor will be the last co-op student that will work with us, and each time that there last day comes it is a difficult one for me as I look back on the prior 4 months and am truly amazed of everything that they have accomplished by praising their effort, encouraging them to make mistakes vs. being concerned about outcomes and the fallacy of being perfect as I learned from an executive coach I worked with there is no such thing.

This is the main issue that I see with many youth sports coaches, regardless of the sport they are coaching, until they have coached for many years and realize there is so much more to coaching than writing up a drill on a whiteboard or drawing up lines, positions for games. Particularly in today’s environment with the pay to play system and emphasis on winning at all costs that have been outlined in numerous articles and press that we have contributed to.

Prior to Myla, there were several other co-op students that were instrumental in our growth as an organization, whether developing our websites, social media platforms, graphic design, research, creating data systems, audio and video editing.

Every single one of the students has shared with me how much they enjoyed the experience, learned a ton and gained valuable work experience to prepare them for the workforce after they graduated and all have reached out to me for references or commented on posts we have done thru social media.

The first was Mitch, he worked with me as was coming up with the initial business plan and brainstorming for PARADIGM Sports in the summer of 2015.

Another former co-op student was Jordan, who worked with us last fall term, and was responsible for creating our For the Love of the Game Website on our hosting platform for online training and setting the building blocks for us to be able to host our first digital summit.

Just last week he sent me these two images of the great John Wooden, one when he was coaching Kareem Abdul Jabar at UCLA when they went on their great run of national championships, the other when Kareem was walking with John 38 years later during an event to honour him at halftime for his contributions to coaching and the development of the young men at UCLA under his watch. Some of which including Kareem went on to play in the NBA, many others became doctors, lawyers or other professionals in the workplace and have left positive legacies thanks to John’s guidance as COACH.

Another of our students, Melvin, worked with us last Spring, he created our original WordPress site and registration links for the love the game.org for our inaugural live conference where we created our first wave of training modules with some amazing speakers. He then went to China for a back to back co-op as a hockey instructor as they are aspiring to put a competitive team together for the winter Olympics they will be hosting in 2022. His partner, Chase, when we were going thru the interviews made me aware of various grant programs to help us sponsor co-op students and was instrumental in creating our new PARADIGM Sports website last spring which we continue to build on today.

Two others, Danette and Karly that worked with us a couple of years back, were key in developing the initial WordPress PARADIGM Sports Website, powerpoint decks, logo, colors, business card design and sourcing imagery for blogs.

Karly shared this with me after she completed her co-op term,

“My time working for Glen was great – not only do you learn about business practices you also learn a lot about yourself. Though his guidance and mentorship, I gained confidence in my work abilities and succeeded in areas of my job that I presumed to be impossible. For example, I never thought that I would be able to create and maintain a website with no prior training, but Glen was confident that I could figure it out, which gave me sureness in my own capabilities. This is how he treated every task that was foreign to me – he believed that it was possible for me to accomplish it and knew I would benefit from learning something new. With some dedication, encouragement, and help from Google (and Youtube) I have found a new sense of certainty in my work and what I can produce.

Glen also instills a great amount of trust and loyalty in his employees, which is reflected in the work he does. He is incredibly passionate about youth sports and making a positive change in this environment. It was great to learn from someone who is so invested in making a difference and who truly cares about this matter. His high values and business integrity were very impactful and they will be brought forward into my future career.”

Needless to say, when I read this I got weepy-eyed that I had this type of impact but as I have continued to learn more about transformational leadership, that is the effect it has. In lieu of old-school coaching/leadership that creates an environment of fear and hesitation, it provides the opportunity for people to thrive and achieve things they never thought were possible.

In the summer of 2016 I attended John O’Sullivan’s Way of Champions inaugural conference, was unable to go last year but went again this June and connected with all of my Changing the Game Projects counterparts and interacted with over 100 coaches from across the world that was looking for more insight on transformational coaching, something that still in its infancy in youth sports and is our focus to change in Canada and beyond.

The last contribution that Myla did in her last couple of weeks was developing the Love what you Play podcast platform that will permit us to host the audio-only clips of our interviews from digital summits as well as other interviews going forward.

Our first podcast launches today, my talk with James Leath, and he shares insight on his new organization he founded Unleash the Athlete and his role working in the Esports segment coaching Egamers for a team that is owned by Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys. He also talks about the importance of engaging parents on your team and many other tidbits.

Pic of coin provided to all coaches at the Way of Champions conference, this one outlining core values on the back with the first being fearlessness.

When we were at the first Way of Champions conference, I recall all too well how James reminded us all of one of the quotes from Dr. Jerry Lynch made on Friday evening as we were all wrapping up Sunday afternoon to head to the airport to return to all of our various homes.

“I don’t have a Job (this from one of the top Sport Psychologists in the USA who has guided over 30 teams to NCAA national championships and worked with Steve Kerr and the Golden State Warriors in recent years winning NBA championships and author of 13 books)

When you have a job, all you are doing is making a living, paying the bills.

In lieu, I learned long ago that my calling, purpose if you like, is to make a difference.

As coaches, our calling is to make a difference developing youth into adults.”

That was an epiphany moment for me and all the other coaches that were sitting on the gym floor in 104 degrees heat with no AC in Boulder, Colorado and as our most recent co-op student tapped the sign I finally got up from unpacking “Play like a Champion Today” and headed down the stairs for the last time it was further reinforcement that is our role as coaches, leaders, managers, teachers.

Each week we will be releasing another podcast to coincide with our newsletter and as we now have a dedicated space in our new office we are calling the “Green Room” (due to green screen and green workstation that my kids said why are you moving this Dad, it’s UGLY but it I countered back it is functional) will be sharing video clips as well as working on incremental training modules.

This fall we will have two new co-op students, Cairo and Francis, working on the podcast, our next digital summit and continuing to build our social media platforms to provide you insight from ourselves and our various allies in the space who are aspiring for the much needed change needed to reduce the attrition rates and a generation of kids missing out on what should be a “transformational” youth sports experience so it ultimately leads to being active as adults.

As I have with all prior co-op students, I am looking forward to seeing how they continue to build on the prior blocks from prior students and how they thrive in a safe to fail environment that strongly believes in the Growth Mindset “I can’t do that YET” vs. fixed mindset “I can’t do that”.

We would love to hear from you in terms of feedback on what we can do to help you as a parents of young kids involved in youth sports, help you become the best coach you can be or administrators to develop cultures of excellence so you not only recruit, but retain your players and ultimately grow your programs.

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

Please ensure that your legacy is a positive one and you recognize your role as a coach is to develop youth into adults, not just writing up X’s and O’s on a whiteboard.

That was then, this is now

Posted May 17, 2018January 27, 2022 Glen MulcahyLeave a commentPosted in Athlete, Coach, Organization Executive, Parents

This has been a week full of meetings with various colleagues and associates as we all were trying to get as much done before our May long weekend.

Yesterday, however, I received a call from one of Canada’s National Magazines (once the article goes to print will share out the digital edition) to ask for my insight on the changing landscape in youth sports, in particular, the professionalization and pitfalls of early sport specialization.

I thought initially we would be scheduling the interview for a later date but when the writer asked if I could do so in 20 minutes, I said sure, why wait until tomorrow if you can do it today.

We chatted about the various issues that revolve with early specialization including burnout, overuse injuries, lack of overall fundamental movement skill development as well as the costs, both financial and time when kids start specializing at such a young age.

Last week I wrote about the reality of one of the drivers for specialization, parents aspiring for their son or daughter to receive a NCAA scholarship to setup them up to potentially be drafted to their major professional team sports.

The Reality vs. the Dream of NCAA Scholarships and going to the Show.

I subsequently shared with the writer for the magazine article that the statistics of kids who play youth sports who go on to play at NCAA is approximately 2%, of those 1% will be drafted on average to major professional sports and only 0.04% will actually reach the level of PLAYING professionally at the highest level.

We also touched on the other area that I have identified is an issue with early specialization, the research shows that the key years for motor skill acquisition is between the ages of 6-12 years old which is why nations like Norway, Sweden, Iceland who have adapted Sport for Life’s LTAD model focus on core motor skill development, fundamental movement skills across a broad range of sports and activities during that time.

They also limit or do not permit competitive games until kids are 13 years old so they can learn those skills in a safe to fail environment without the pressure cooker that kids in North America face and other nations, that has lead to the winning at all costs environment in youth sports.

“That was then” is a slide that I created for talks that shows random pictures of kids participating in free play activities, the ones that I did where I learned the fundamental movement skills vs. the precursor to youth sports, the Physical Literacy Movement so that we reinforce the importance of kids developing confidence and motivation to be active, so they are ultimately active for life. (the top right picture is a mini me version of me from the great film Sandlot)

In lieu, should we not just be promoting and supporting kids to just go out and PLAY like our parents did? Sadly, thanks to THIS IS NOW, kids are not motivated as we were to play outside, they are glued to screens over 7 hours a day in lieu.

One of the biggest changes to the youth sports landscape has been the evolution of the internet, the digital era, which like everything else new, is the direct cause and effect that has drastically changed the landscape of youth sports but EVERYTHING.

Now thanks to Google or youtube ANY coach can obtain ANY drill, ANY practice plan from ANYWHERE, there are thousands available on the internet. This means that the tactics, strategies, skills, drills of sports are readily accessible so every coach can focus on the WHAT of coaching.

Gone are the days where coaches would even have to think of “stealing” a drill when they saw another coaches practice, they are readily available on the internet.

This is why so many coaches focus on the outcomes, by focusing on the what – skills, drills, practice plans then in turn focus on wins and losses so it becomes a vicious circle

What is not readily available on line, or offered in courses, clinics, summits is HOW to coach.

It is the How, Not the What, that youth coaches need to focus on now more than ever if we are going to shift the needle to bring youth sports back to the kids.

Focusing on the process vs. the outcomes. Doing so, winning will be a byproduct in lieu of the focus.
Focusing on LTAD, Multi-Sport Participation vs. Early Sport Specialization
Focusing on zero tolerance for any form of harassment
Focusing on making youth sports fun again, so that 70% of kids don’t quit youth sports before they enter high school
Most importantly, coaches need to recognize the importance to care passionately, the #1 characteristic of great coaches is how much they care followed closely by how passionate they are about the sport. In lieu of just teaching the skills of the game (the what) focus on teaching the skills of life (the how).

It is our role as coaches to make a difference by developing youth into adults.

If we do so, we will move the needle so youth sports are just that, youth sports.

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