The Most Powerful Advice I Ever Received: “Just because it failed doesn’t mean you’re a failure”
Just because it failed, doesn’t mean you’re a failure. I heard this for the first time when I was in my early 20’s. Having completed an arduous laboratory experiment which required many repetitions over weeks of work, I could draw a conclusion about my hypothesis: it was wrong. Trial after trial proved my result: negative. […]
Recruiting to Win is Easy, Building to Win Takes Talent
In the last 15 years I have watched the youth athletic field transform from playground to competitive cauldron. As college programs expanded, dangling the promise of scholarship dollars, and sports clubs upped the ante with paid coaches and select teams, the win at all costs (WAAC) culture came of age. Somewhere, we left a lot of […]
In Today’s World, Sport is No Longer Optional, It’s Essential
In the wake of the daily headlines, do sports and recreation even matter anymore? What does it matter that I teach kids to dribble, pass, and shoot? What does it matter that they learn to play the positions? What does it matter that I set a line up with starters and subs? play a system, […]
Coaching Conundrum: How Do We Get Kids to Listen!
This coaching question came my way… I have a few kids on my 10u soccer team who do not pay attention when I am giving out instructions or teaching them something. How do I motivate them without sending them for laps or other discouraging things like that? I remember having to run laps when I […]
Making Mistakes is A-okay
Many girls, by nature, are tentative. Go ahead. Watch the U7 boys play. They throw themselves into the game, into their opponent, get whistled for rough play. Then watch the girls. They fight over offering the other player the ball. A whole new species. Girls are tentative, not necessarily because they are being polite, but because […]
