Play Like A Champion

PLC NEWS

"RUDY" to speak at 2008 PLC Leadership Conference (3/25/08)

Known to millions as “the little guy with the big dream,” Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger is one of the most inspirational football players in the history of the University of Notre Dame. A living sports legend, he was immortalized in Tri-Star Pictures’ blockbuster movie, RUDY, and is the spokesperson for a revolutionary line of sports drinks that bears his name. A highly sought-after motivational speaker, Rudy entertains and motivates school children, university students, professional athletes, and corporate audiences worldwide. He has shared speaking platforms with President George Bush, President Bill Clinton, Peter Lowe, Joe Montana, Colin Powell, Christopher Reeve and many others. Rudy is the founder of the Rudy Ruettiger Foundation, which develops and supports programs to help children build self-esteem, reach their full potential, and become positive role models. The foundation also sponsors the Rudy Award program for children who overcome obstacles and exemplify the qualities of character, courage, contribution and commitment. Rudy continues to influence and inspire athletes of all ages through the Rudy Movement (www.therudymovement.com).

Please see our Upcoming Events page for more information regarding our 2008 Leadership Conference.

11/28/07 - New Elements to Sports as Ministry Curriculum

PLC is please to announce the addition of several new appendices to our SAM curriculum.

SAFE ENVIRONMENT - As required by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, all Catholic diocese and parishes are required to provide safe environment training to all those who work with youth. In response to this mandate, our PLC Sports as Ministry (SAM) curriculum now includes a safe environment component designed specifically for athletic programs. SAM’s safe environment component, “Providing Children with a Safe Environment: Respecting Boundaries,” integrates child protection information within its GROW framework and provides coaches with the essential information required by the USCCB.

IMPLEMENTING THE PLC APPROACH - We have developed a 12-week plan to help coaches integrate the core tenets of PLC into their coaching practice (over the course of the season). Each week we have selected an area of focus that we encourage coaches to give special attention to and incorporate the suggested activities throughout the course of the week. See our "Other Links" page for full pdf.

10/9/07 - PLC Receives Official Endorsement of ND Athletic Department

PLC has worked in collaboration with the Notre Dame Department of Athletics to bring you our Educational Series. Current and former head and assistant coaches provided personal experiences and best practice suggestions to enhance the content and quality of our SAM, Parent, and Coaching for Character (C4C) curriculums. Kevin White, Director of Athletics for Notre Dame, has provided a wonderful testimonial endorsing our program. See our testimonials page for full version or download below.

9/1/07 - Football Coaches embrace PLC Coaches Workshop

90% of workshop participants who attended the PLC Coaches Workshop held at the Sacred Heart Cathedral School in Knoxville, TN were highly competitive youth football coaches of athletes ages 8 - 14. Over 96% of these participants indicated overall satisfaction with the workshop and would strongly recommend this program to others. In addition, 100% of participants felt that the PLC curriculum was relevant to their situation.

8/23/07 - PLC Workshops a Success in Kansas City, MO & Austin, TX

PLC began its 2nd year of training youth sport coaches and now parents this weekend, August 18th & 19th, in the Diocese of Kansas City, MO and the parishes of Holy Family and St. Theresa in Austin, TX.

The Kansas City Parochial League (KCPL) held PLC Coaches Workshops on both Saturday and Sunday educating over 60 volleyball, flag football, and middle school athletic directors. 91% of workshop participants who left written feedback indicated that they would recommend the PLC Workshop to others. When asked this question one participant stated "Yes, I think every coach needs to sit through the program and be reminded of what it means to be a coach." Vince Fitzgerald, League Director for the KCPL, gave the following endorsement of the program:

"(The) Play Like A Champion program lived up to all my expectations and more. It is a great way to inform coaches of their role as Catholic Youth Ministers in the overall development of the athletes they are coaching. Catholic Youth Sports is a continuation of kid's Catholic education and the PLC program helped our coaches to recognize this. PLC builds teamwork, respect, ownership, and put the fun back in Catholic Youth Sports."

Holy Family and St. Theresa parishes of Austin, TX hosted one PLC Coaches Workshop for 70 coaches and athletic department representatives from surrounding parishes. The parishes also held two additional Parent Like A Champion Workshops for parents of children participating in their youth sports programs. Over the course of the weekend PLC trained over 150 individuals in an attempt to impact the climate of youth sports within their league.

8/23/07 - PLC Leadership Conference Update

Earlier this summer, PLC held its second annual PLC Leadership Conference. Representatives from 13 Catholic dioceses, 5 parishes, and 4 independent organizations around the United States and Canada were in attendance and were trained to implement PLC's Sports as Ministry program within their diocese, parish, or school. Diocesan representation included individuals from the Dioceses of Albany, Austin, Columbus, Erie, Gary, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Niagara-Ontario, Oregon, Orlando, Rochester, South Bend/Ft. Wayne, and Tulsa.

In addition to preparing dioceses and parishes to present workshops for coaches, this year's conference unveiled the Parent Like A Champion Today™ program, an interactive workshop to help parents of young athletes. The PLC Parent Workshop offers parents advice on how to guide their children through their youth sports careers. Parents receive education and materials that help them reinforce the goals of character development through sport stressed by the PLC program. Parents also receive guidance on how they can help their children to form habits of spiritual reflection, perseverance, team work, good nutrition and regular exercise.

Prof. Clark Power, Director of the PLC initiatives, stated "The conference exceeded our high expectations. Leaders of Catholic Youth Sports are clearly committed to giving their coaches the best preparation possible. We were also delighted by the enthusiastic response to our parent program. Parent education is long overdue and will make a great difference in the quality of youth sports programs."

Conference participants also experienced some exciting Notre Dame-specific events including presentations by Mike Brey, ND Men's Basketball Coach, Missy Conboy, ND Senior Associate Athletic Director, and Tim Welsh, ND Men’s Swimming Coach. Participants also enjoyed dinner in the Press Box overlooking historic Notre Dame stadium, a tour of Notre Dame's beautiful campus and athletic facilities including an opportunity to hit the real "Play Like A Champion Today" sign in the football locker room. The weekend concluded with mass celebrated by Rev. Edward "Monk" Malloy, President Emeritus of the University of Notre Dame.

8/8/07 - Columbus Moves Forward in Implementation of PLC

The Diocese of Columbus, OH hosted its first PLC Coaches Workshop on August 4, 2007. Program Director, Professor Clark Power, and PLC Certified Trainer, Jack Mack from St. Brigid of Kildare in Dublin, OH, presented the program to over 150 youth sport coaches, athletic administrators, and sports commissioners from the diocese. The leadership team of Katheryn Buckerfield and Jon Phillips from the Recreation Association with the Diocese of Columbus are in the process of developing a plan for diocese-wide implementation.

PLC Introduces New Sports Parent Curriculum, PARENT LIKE A CHAMPION Summer 2007

In addition to coach education, PLC provides workshops for parents of young athletes that focus on appropriate roles and responsibilities of parents for acheiving "child-centered" results.

The PLC Parent Workshop's curriculum and materials aim to:

Examine parent expectations in youth sports programs and how these expectations relate to the stated purpose of youth sport.
Identify behaviors that contribute to a toxic sports climate and explore alternative behaviors that will elevate the current culture of youth sport.
Provide practical advice on sports nutrition, exercise, and motivation that can help children succeed not only on the playing field, but also help them to develop habits of wellness that will last a lifetime.

Contact our office to find our more about our Parent Like A Champion Program.

Navigate to:

TOXIC COACHING NEWS

PROBLEMATIC Parents NEWS

YOUTH ATHLETE ISSUES NEWS

HOT TOPICS

NEWS HOMEPAGE