A Gymnast's Story

As embarrassing as this may be to admit, I am a 19-year-old college student who watches ABC Family every Monday night at 9pm to see “Make it or Break it.” That being said, I know that many of my gymnast friends who are adequately beyond the typical ABC Family viewer age love to watch it as well. And for me, this past week was no exception. In fact, it tied in perfectly with our past social foundations of coaching class: sports as play.
For those of you who aren’t avid watchers, here is a brief summary: 4 high school-aged female elite gymnasts from one gym went to nationals at the end of last season with hopes of making the national team prior to the 2012 Olympics. Although all 4 are strong athletes, it was clear that Payson was the most devoted to the sport, Kaley was the daddy’s girl/princess who was loved and envied, Lauren liked to stir up drama, and Emily was the new girl from a less privileged background. As Payson was staged to win nationals, during her turn on bars she fell on her head and broke her back. After being told she would never compete again, this season’s story continues on from there.
At this given gym, it is traditional for the team to participate in an open house competition to attract new gymnasts. However, following Payson’s career-ending fall, her mother made a comment to the coach saying, “sometimes they get so medal-driven they forget why they started gymnastics in the first place.”
With many sports, athletes get so motivated by winning that they lose sight of why they loved sports initially. With the “need to win” mentality, athletes begin to think of sports as work: they need to practice longer and harder to do better at the next competition, only to repeat the cycle in subsequent weeks. In my opinion, there is no sport that highlights this to the degree gymnastics does: where else do “careers” last a matter of years, being entirely wrapped up by the age of 20, if not earlier? Where else do you have to explain to a girl that she was simply born in the wrong year for Olympic ambitions—too young at 15, but pushing “retirement age” at 19? Many gymnasts feel compelled to practice all the hours of their childhood and adolescence in pursuit of their dreams, simply because one does not see gymnasts beyond those ages.
I feel it is entirely up to a coach to figure out how to deal with this problem. While some do not succeed and cause burnout to occur, others are able to deal with it in constructive manners. For example, in “Make it or Break it,” though the girls are still training heavily for their international competitions, the coach decided to make their open house into a performance instead. With the help of an “applause-o-meter” they would still be able to compete, but for the love of the crowd as opposed to a score. All the girls composed routines, expressing themselves in whichever form struck them most. Little did the girls know that their coach had a trick up his sleeve: the meter, in fact, was not working.
Though I was never to that level in gymnastics, I remember some nights I would come home and beat myself up over a bad practice. How was I ever going to advance levels? Win state competitions? I had to be reminded: was that really what I was working for? If that was the only thing, why was I still there? Where did the fun go? My coach was definitely instrumental in causing many girls in my gym to have a healthy relationship with the sport: being competitive when necessary, but balancing that with fun. I believe it is due to his work that I continue to love the sport today. Why else would I spend my Tuesday & Thursday evenings during college going to the gym? As I am a member of a club team, I am able to witness that my teammates were shaped in similar ways by their coaches: none of us are near the level of varsity, division 1 athletes. Yet, we choose to attend practice nonetheless because the sport is still fun for us.
Although many athletes feel the weight of the pressure to succeed, many need to be reminded of why they started sports in the first case. It wasn’t for the glory or success. It was for the fun of it.

Olivia Schreader
Notre Dame ‘12
Social Foundations of Coaching Course

Reactions To Bad Calls

Let’s face it, bad calls happen. It is simply a part of the game. More often than not, when a bad call is made, arguing does not help the cause. Even with the implementation of instant replay reviews, judgmental calls cannot be reviewed and overturned. However, there are different ways one can react to bad calls and recent examples help illustrate different approaches.
Consider the NBA game January 11th involving the Boston Celtics and the Atlanta Hawks. Midway through the 3rd quarter, the Boston Celtics led the Atlanta Hawks by 10 points when Celtics’ forward Glenn “Big Baby” Davis was given a flagrant foul for his hard takedown of Hawks player Marvin Williams. Celtics coach Doc Rivers immediately lost his cool and began arguing with the referees. He was given two technical fouls and an automatic ejection. Quite the reaction from the coach who has been preaching to his team, “He who angers you, owns you.” The Hawks hit four of the five free throws and cut the lead to six. The Celtics were left to finish the game without their head coach, and ended up losing 102-96. In hindsight, that was not exactly the best reaction. I’m sure Coach Rivers wishes he could take that one back and follow his own advice.
Another recent bad no-call illustrates a different response. At the end of the Seton Hall v. Louisville men’s basketball game, a Seton Hall player attempted to in-bound the ball after a made basket. However in doing so, he crossed the baseline. Typically, this would be called a violation and the ball would turn over to the other team. This would have been greatly beneficial to the Louisville team, as they were only down 2 points with 0.7 seconds left. However, the referee blew his whistle, asked for the ball, directed the player back behind the line, and allowed him to in-bound it again. As expected, Louisville coach Rick Pitino was furious. He argued his case, but with no avail. At that point he dropped the case, and ater the game, Coach Pitino shook hands with the Seton Hall coach and walked to the locker room. No major scene. Coach Pitino stuck up for his team, but was not irresponsible or act out of line.
As a coach, when dealing with a bad call, or even a bad referee, remember who is watching you and who needs you. As in the case with Doc Rivers, his ejection led to the collapse of his team and cost them the game. Although the ejection may not be the sole reason, it definitely does not help the team’s cause. Some may argue there are times when a coach needs to be ejected in order to spark his team – think Coach Dale in the classic movie “Hoosiers.” His ejection at a critical point in the game was done on purpose in order to display his trust in his assistant coach and to motivate his players. But more often than not, coaches should defend their players, without compromising their role in leading the team. A prime example is Coach Yoast in “Remember the Titans.” When referees are cheating the Titans, Yoast does not make a scene and overact. He simply speaks to the referee and informs him that he better call a fair game or he will report the referees’ intentions to the press. When dealing with bad calls, let’s hope coaches act like the role models they are, resembling Coach Pitino and Coach Yoast, or even Coach Dale – but only when necessary.

Ben Frost
Notre Dame ‘10
Social Foundations of Coaching Course

Connecting Spirituality within Sport: The PLC High School Athlete Retreat

Notre Dame High School in St. Louis, MO in partnership with Play Like A Champion Today(TM)is conducting retreats for their student athletes. Athletic Director, Ed Behr, and Campus Minister, Liz Miller, have united to conduct retreats at the beginning of each athletic season: fall, winter and spring. I had the pleasure to be a part of their winter retreat. Athletes took a break from studying for finals and came together to pray, to reflect upon who they are as people and as teammates and to set goals on who they want to become throughout the sport season. The athletes also heard testimony from a former collegiate soccer player on how he became more fully Christian through his sport experience, despite ever present pressures.

"Thus, I do not run aimlessly; I do not fight as if I were shadowboxing." 1 Cor. 9:26). The retreat served as a break from the business of a high school athlete's life filled with school work, exams, practice, games and other commitments. It offered a time and a space to reflect upon God's role in sport and how God is forming these young athletes to become disciples not only on their team, but in the world.

Parent-Coach Communication about Playing Time

Developing a positive parent-coach relationship can be a challenge. One of the most common controversies between parents and coaches is playing time. “Parents vs coaches” rather than parents with coaches can be destructive to a child’s experience of the game. Coaches cite playing time as one of the most common complaints from parents and parents cite playing time as one of the most common complaints about their children’s coaches. Here is some advice taken from our coaches clinics and parent workshops for you to use:

As a parent, how do you effectively communicate your frustration to the coach?

1. First, talk to your son or daughter about how they feel about the time they get to play. Are they having fun playing on the team? Do they feel they are not getting the game time they deserve? If so, ask them what they think they need to work on to get better? Set goals with them about specific ways they can improve in their sport.

2. Encourage your son or daughter to approach the coach before you do. Some children may feel uncomfortable or scared, but you must assure them that they have to take initiative. This is a lesson they should learn now so that later on in life they can stand up for themselves and take initiative in approaching teachers, college professors, bosses, potential employers etc.

3. Contact the coach in an appropriate way. Do not approach the coach before or after a game. If you approach him or her after practice, ask the coach if you can set up a time to talk either in person or on the phone.

4. During the coach-parent meeting, keep the following in mind:

• Start with a compliment and/or thank the coach for dedicating his/her time to working with your child. This will ease the tension in the conversation.
• Ask rather than tell. Rather than making accusations, ask the coach to explain what they see in practice.
• Ask them what specific areas your son or daughter will need to improve to be in the game more often. Decide on some goals and agree that you will both discuss those goals with your child.
• DO NOT compare your son or daughter to another player on the team.
• Do not try to convince the coach that your child is a better player than he/she thinks (even if you’re right).
• Do not insult the coach’s effort or ability to be your child’s coach. They are dedicating the time away from their families to be with your family.
  

What can coaches do to prevent playing time disappointments?

1. Communicate with players about your vision for their role on the team and what they can do to get more time in the game.

2. Write a letter to the parents and invite them to a pre-season meeting. Describe your coaching philosophy in the letter and how you plan to distribute playing time throughout the year.

3. Host a parent meeting at the beginning of the season and describe your playing time philosophy. Communicate with parents about your philosophy throughout the year.

3. If you are going to bench a player, make sure you communicate the reasoning behind this decision to both the player and the parents ahead of time.

4. Develop positive ongoing relationships with parents throughout the entire year. Get to know your players’ parents at school functions, social events, etc. The more positive your relationships are with parents, the more supportive they will be of you.

5. When a parent asks to talk about playing time, set up a meeting that fits into both of your schedules. If the parent is angry, assure them that you would like to discuss this with them at a better time. Let them cool off.

6. During the conversation, keep the following in mind:

• Listen rather than tell. They are likely to have a lot to say. Let them share their feeling and assure them that you hear and understand where they are coming from.
• First, point out their son or daughter’s strengths.
• Focus on what the child can do to get better not what they have done in the past.
• Refer back to your original communication with them about playing time.
• If the discussion becomes irrational, heated, and insulting to you, end the meeting and ask to schedule another appointment with your school administrator/third-party.
• Do not compare their child to another player on the team.
• Do not let your emotions get in the way of a rational discussion.

Coaches: What can you do to get more kids in the game? Read, “5 Strategies to Give Equal Playing Time in Sports.”

Is this a common problem at your school? Play Like A Champion Today™ offers workshops for coaches and parents that have a special focus on developing a positive relationship between parents and coaches. For more information check out our various programs or contact PLC at 574-631-9981 or by email plc@nd.edu.

5 Strategies to Give Equal Playing Time in Sports

As a coach, playing time can be your biggest headache. It can be difficult to give each player fair playing time. However, the opportunity to participate in sports with meaningful playing time is essential to childhood development, confidence-building and overall athlete development. PLC believes strongly in the distribution of equal playing time in youth sports. We recommend at a minimum for 6th grade and below as close to equal playing time as possible and for 7th and 8th grade at least 25% playing time for all participants.

So how do you do that? Here are 5 strategies taken from the Play Like A Champion Today™ youth sport coaches manual:

1. Communicate with your players and their parents. Let your players and parents know your commitment to fair playing time and what they can expect throughout the season. Make sure your playing time commitments are explained to the parents at a pre-season meeting. The better you communicate up front, the less push back you will receive during the season.
   


2. Plan ahead. Prepare a detailed substitution pattern before each game. Set your line-ups to have the best chance to be competitive in each quarter, half, or inning. Don’t “stack” certain line-ups to try to win – players pick up on this and might think of themselves as the “B Team.” Make everyone feel like they are on the “A Team” and you will get the most out of every player.
   


3. Stick to your playing time commitments, regardless of the game situation. Is sacrificing a player’s opportunity to have fun and feel accepted by his/her coach and team worth improving your record? You decide.
   


4. If possible, have an assistant keep track of playing time; this could be an assistant coach or a trusted parent. Recruiting some help will allow you to focus on game strategy and instruction of your players during the game.
   


5. Take advantage of lopsided opportunities and give more time to your less-used players (especially when equal playing time is not guaranteed). Don’t wait for the other coach to do this. If he/she wants to play their stars the whole game then that is their problem. Also, make sure this isn’t your only playing time strategy.

Feel free to comment on this post to share any of your strategies in distributing playing time fairly. We want your feedback!

Motivating Young Athletes: Punish or Perish?

Nothing pains a coach more to see a lack of effort in practice or on the playing field. How can coaches motivate athletes to put forth their best effort? A common answer is to teach them a lesson they’ll never forget, and a common form of teaching that lesson is to make them run and run and run some more. Last January, a Kentucky high school football coach was charged with reckless homicide when he had his player run some extra “gassers.” The “gassers” were ordered as a punishment for the lack of effort shown in practice on a day when the temperature hit 94 degrees. A fifteen year-old player died when his temperature reached 107 degrees. As it turned out, the gassers weren’t the only contributing factor. The young man who died hadn’t been feeling well that day. He was also taking a supplement, Creatine, and Adderall for ADD. The coach was acquitted by a jury on September 17.

Should coaches “punish” a lack of effort? There are two ways to look at this. From a backwards-looking perspective, one might ask whether the players deserved retribution for their lack of effort? Did the players do something wrong that merited the infliction of physical discomfort? When did a lack of effort in a game become a crime?

From a forward-looking perspective, the point of the punishment is not retribution but correction. Coaches make players run or engage in distasteful drills to teach them a lesson. The sprints and drills serve as a deterrent to discourage a future lack of effort. The problem with this kind of justification is that punishment avoidance has been repeatedly been shown to be the least effective form of discipline. Punishment motivates through fear, but what place should fear have in motivating athletes to play a sport?

The Associated Press reported that the county in which the player died now requires coaches to attend a seminar on using “positive reinforcement” with students. This is a step in the right direction, but perhaps not such a big step. Positive reinforcement is a more effective way of motivating behavior than negative reinforcement. But both positive and negative reinforcement are extrinsic forms of motivation. The use of extrinsic motivators implies that the play of the game is not intrinsically motivating.

Aren’t sports inherently fun? Shouldn’t the motivation to play a sport come from within? Everything we know about sports psychology and educational psychology tells us that athletes at all ages will be better off if coaches appeal to their inherent desire for mastery. The unmotivated athlete is a product of organized sports gone awry. The athlete doesn’t need “fixing,” the organization does.

A Punishment for Losing a Game?

“I was very disappointed in your performance at the soccer game on Thursday. You were sluggish, unfocused and not trying your hardest. That was the worst game we have had in three years! Everyone – we are running today at practice – get going around the field.”

Do you think these were the words of a collegiate level soccer coach? They were, in fact, words of a coach, but not at the collegiate level, not even a high school level coach. These were spoken by the coach of a third grade Catholic school soccer team.

Should a team be “punished” for losing a game?

Consider the added example of a freshman football coach whose team lost their game. In response, when the team returned to their school, the coach immediately sent the team to the practice field and had them engage in a full force tackle drill which had some of the players crying out in pain.

Play Like A Champion Today™ asserts that sports are games that are meant to be played by kids to have fun, to learn new skills and to grow – physically, emotionally, morally and spiritually. Do kids grow in sport when they are punished when they don’t have an optimal performance? Athletes may get stronger physically from punishment drills, but they will not grow emotionally, morally or spiritually through this type of punitive activity.

We all know that running is an important activity for the overall development of an athlete. It helps kids build endurance, grow in coordination and get faster and stronger. However, when a coach makes running a punishment, does this encourage the young person to engage in this activity that is healthful and helpful for him/her as an athlete? In most cases, it does not. In fact, for many people, this will have the exact opposite effect and make them hate the activity that was assigned as punishment. Goals of Play Like A Champion Today™ coaches are to help their athletes love the game, to become better players and to grow as fuller Christian persons. Critical coaches who punish their athletes will not accomplish these ultimate goals in their totality. This is true not only for younger athletes, but also for high school age athletes and beyond.

Some may say, “Punishment is good for kids to toughen them up.” Play Like A Champion says, “Coaches should wisen-up.” No good will come out of punishing athletes when adults do not feel they have performed their best. In fact, it is often harmful. The Play Like A Champion approach is filled with effective techniques to be an “Life Coach” making a positive impact on young athlete’s lives.

What Outliers Can Teach about Developing All-Stars

The five lessons below are taken from the book Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcom Gladwell. In this book Gladwell reveals how people become successful by looking at individuals that appear to be Outliers, abnormally successful people. These five lessons substitute the lessons about outliers with lessons about all-stars in sport.

1. Coaches choose all-stars. In Chapter 1 of his book, Outliers: The Story of Success, Malcolm Gladwell points out that on elite 16-18 year old hockey teams the majority of players were born in the months of January, February or March. How could such a strange phenomenon occur? The cut-off date for Canadian hockey leagues is January 1st. When children try-out for hockey teams at early ages, a December-born player and a January-born player are compared to one another even though one is nearly a year older than the other. Coaches select the January – March players thinking they are more “gifted,” “skilled,” or “talented” when at this age they just happen to be older and more physically developed. These “talented” older players end up on select teams, practice more often, and play at a higher competitive level and are made into all-stars.

2. All-stars have to want to play and work hard. Teams win championships by working hard in practice. How do you get players to want to work hard in practice? Some coaches try to force it upon their players with fear and punishments. However, research does not show that this is effective. Players get better when they like practicing and when they love the sport. They would spend hours in the driveway shooting hoops. This is the edge they have over other players of similar gifts and talent.

3. All-stars are given opportunity to work hard. Not only are all-stars willing to work hard, but they are given the opportunity to learn and work hard in their sports. Children and adolescents, especially those living in cities with few fields and gyms, need the opportunity to play. It is the only way they can get better.

4. Effort is connected to reward. All-stars, like the outliers in Gladwell’s book, feel that there is a connection between their effort and a reward. For some all-stars this means winning, but winning is not directly connected to effort. No matter how hard you work are, the other team may be better, there may be some missed calls, the weather may not cooperate, etc. If winning is the only reward for effort, then players will not be as motivated to succeed nor will they want to work as hard as if they were intrinsically motivated (see lesson #2). This is connected to setting goals in PLC’s GROW Approach.

5. All-stars feel Autonomy. All-stars, like Outliers, become successful when they feel that they have some say in the direction of their lives. This is the third component of the GROW Approach: Ownership. Give athletes ownership over their play and they will take up the responsibility to succeed on their own. If coaches take away that autonomy, then athletes will feel that pleasing the coach is more important than playing the game well.

Malcom Gladwell hopes to convince his readers that Outliers aren’t really outliers at all. Coaches should be convinced that all-stars aren’t really all-stars at all. Or better yet, as a coach you determine who will become an all-star. Give everyone a chance.

Developing Parents as Partners

From the Fall 2008 PLC Newsletter:

Undoubtedly one of the biggest issues that coaches discuss in our PLC workshops is how to effectively communicate with parents. In this issue of the PLC Newsletter we will briefly review the strategies in “Part 6: Developing Parents as Partners” of the SAM workshop and invite you to share your best practices or discussion topics on this blog.

1. Get on the same page. Parents and coaches want the same thing: for their children to become Champions! Parents should help coaches to become aware of their children’s particular needs, while coaches should make parents aware of the needs of the entire team. Coaches: send and introductory letter at the beginning of the year and invite parents to a preseason meeting (See www.playlikeachampion.org/coaches/parents.html)

2. Encourage parents to keep their expectations in perspective. The odds of a high school athlete becoming a professional athlete are less than 1 in 13,000 according to a study published by the NCAA: http://www.ncaa.org/research/prob_of_competing/index.html.

3. Encourage parents to act as parents. Children need their parents to positively motivate them. Coaches: help parents to understand the importance of PLC’s GROW philosophy.

4. Promote positive sideline behavior. Coaches: set expectations for positive behavior and clearly define unacceptable behavior.

5. Solicit parents’ input at the end of the season. Download copies of the Parent Survey on our website Coaches Page (www.playlikeachampion.org/coaches/surveys.html) or make copies of the survey from the back of your manual. This information will help you and PLC continue to improve.

Effective Communication Tips:

• Pre-season communication: letter and pre-season meeting.
• Establish specific times to be available to talk on the phone or by email.
• Appoint a parent liaison, a team manager, or Champion Committee.
• Collect post-season evaluations from parents and athletes.
• Host a post-season celebration.
• Send weekly email updates or create a team website. Do not communicate when either you or the parent is angry.

Please share your comments, best practices and strategies that you have used to develop parents as partners.