How to Enjoy Watching Your Teens Play Sports - Article from Growing Leaders

"You better check yo self before you wreck yo self." - Ice Cube (1992)

Some good, old school rap advice...LOL :-)

Sometimes we miss the mark on why we are having our kids participate in sports in the first place. It's always good to reflect on that, remember why and apply it. 

"When your child is done with sports and the “glory days” are over, what will be left? Will it be more than trophies and news clippings? Hopefully it will be a strong foundation of character that will keep growing as he or she does."

The article "How to Enjoy Watching Your Teens Play Sports" gives some thoughts on keeping perspective and outlining how you can frame conversations with your child/players to get the maximum benefit from their participation in sports.

Growing Leaders is an excellent coaching, parenting, & teaching resource that helps me develop insight into working with players. Please check out their website and material, I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

Equal playing time in youth sports?...Let's ask a few questions first?

Equal playing time rears its head over and over in youth sports. At what age or point in their development and in what competitions and areas of their sport lend itself to skewing more towards competition and less about development? 

There are a lot of different opinions there so I am leaving that discussion alone. I'd rather talk to personal responsibility and what a player can do to "turn things around" for themselves.

Here is the original article that got me thinking. My comments are for the older player, say middle school and up.

These are the excerpts of the takeaways from the article above (for me at least)...

1. Not everyone is going to get equal playing time. 
2. Not everyone is going to get an A on his or her test. 
3. Not everyone is going to get the same amount of stage time. 
4. Not everyone can be first chair in the band. 
5. Not everyone is going to be a starter. 
6. People earn these things by their performance.

Before you look towards a conversation with the coach...ask yourself (parent's should ask their kid)...

1. When was the last time you have been to the gym to work on your skills? 
2. Have you been working in the weight room? 
3. Have you had a good attitude? 
4. Have you been working like a team player?  

I'll add a few things...

• Did you choose to go to the movies with your friends instead of making a training session or hit the gym? 
• Did you abandon your training regimen because of peer pressure or social activities?
• Do you even have a training regimen outside of team activities??? (You should!)
• Did you disregard advice given to you by your coaches regarding the work you needed to put in and expect things to change just because you want them to?
• Did you worry more about your plans that night than you did in the tactic being learned in training?
• Did you sit around playing XBox or Fortnite in your "off-season" (There is no "off-season")
• Do you feel entitled to playing time because of your grade/age? (Ex. Senior over Freshman)
• etc., etc., etc....you get the gist...IT'S ON YOU!

As a player, if you cannot check all the boxes to everything that would have led to your improvement as a player, then you haven't really earned the right to question your coach, have you?

You should embrace the adversity, obstacles and work (AKA The Grind) of becoming the best version of yourself, mentally, physically, and in relation to the skills and talents related to your chosen sport. It all boils down to having a growth mindset. (watch the growth mindset video)

Regardless of whether your efforts lead to increased playing time or not...focusing on what will produce change is much more effective than a Mom or Dad having a conversation with Coach. Short term and for the long haul...on and off the field. Embrace the grind, do the work and be great!

P.S. FYI...after say, 12 years old, a parent should not be having the conversation, at least at first, with the coach...the conversation should originate with the PLAYER. (Sorry "Lawnmower Parents"!) Parents should empower the player to speak with the coach.

Fake It to Make It! "How-To" On Exuding Confidence Even When You Ain't Feelin' It!

Tryouts! Pre-Season!

• "Will I make the team?"
• "What does the coach think?"
• "How do I feel about my chances?"
• "Am I going to make it?"
• "Ahhhhh!"

Yeah, it's that time of year for college, high school and middle school soccer players (at least in my neck of the woods). Ugh!

Not allowing your negative feelings to dictate your actions is not easy. Your body language might suffer. You might negatively react instead of absorbing events, thinking, reasoning and soundly formulating how to act. 

This is a time that puts an athlete's confidence to the test...watch the video below to see how you can "trick" yourself into getting into a confident self-image, even if your not quite feeling it at the moment.

Graham Betchart is the director of mental training for Lucid Performance Inc. (Twitter: @trainwithlucid). 

Getting Recruited 101: Some help in writing to college coaches...

Check out this article from USA Today High School Sports on writing effective emails and communicating with college coaches.

https://usatodayhss.com/2018/3-helpful-examples-for-emailing-college-coaches

Find out more about getting recruited at US Today HS Sports Blog:

https://usatodayhss.com/tag/recruiting-2


Do you have any tips? Leave them in the comments.

Good Luck!
CP

I love when I come across an article that I wish I could have shared with my 15 year old self...

There isn't a person alive over 30 that doesn't come across what I call "software for the mind" that they wish they had known or adopted at a much earlier age. This is a great article that gives some insight into how to buckle down, trust the process and think more long term towards your end goals.

Link to article "7 Crucial Lessons People Often Learn Too Late in Life":  http://on.inc.com/2oE1ouE

The takeaway:

#coaching #soccer #futbol #studentathlete #motivation #motivationalquotes #parenting #parents #athlete #mindset #growthmindset 

A Great Analogy for Player Development...Trust the Process, But Don't Ignore Opportunity When It Stands Before You

So, do we go "low & slow" (read below) ALL the time or is a push by coach or Mom & Dad...or a self-directed-by-the-player plunge into the deep end the best thing for player development? I think a little of both is the recipe. The mastery of knowing when and how is what a coach/parent/player needs to work at. I personally subscribe to sticking to a process until an opportunity comes along that gives the player the chance to make a leap ahead. If you fail, so what? You tried, you go back into the process and wait for the next opportunity...BUT if you succeed!!!

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Low & Slow (vs. fear)

by Seth Godin | Twitter: @thisissethsblog | Web: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/

My sourdough rye bread failed. For the first time since I've been baking from this starter, this weekend's batch didn't work.

I know why.

I rushed it.

I didn't let the dough ferment long enough.

And then I made the oven hotter, in an effort to get the loaves finished so I could leave to meet someone.

That's not how great bread works. It's ready when it's ready, not when you need it to be.

Of course, the analogy is obvious. Much of the work we do as creators, as leaders, as people seeking to make change--it needs to ferment, to create character and tension and impact. And if we rush it, we get nothing worth very much.

There's a flipside.

Sometimes, we mistakenly believe that we're building something that takes time, but what we're actually doing is hiding. We stall and digress and cause distractions, not because the work needs us to, but because we're afraid to ship.

Impatience can be a virtue if it causes us to leap through the fear that holds us back.

For athletes, food is fuel... What do you fuel your body with? We count calories, but maybe it's time we spend more time on counting chemicals too?

For athletes, food is fuel...

What do you fuel your body with?

We count calories, but maybe it's time we spend more time on counting chemicals too? 

If herbicides and pesticides kill bugs & plants, what the he** is it doing to your body? How can it affect your growth, performance, recovery, etc.? (...and it's not just food...cosmetics, personal products like shampoo, deodorant, lotions, etc.)

Listen to the podcast below to educate yourself...and read a bit here: http://bit.ly/cpppesticides

"How To Ruin Your Kid’s Life In Sports" - Great Article!

Will Ferrell in "Kicking and Screaming"

I've made every parenting mistake along with every coaching mistake. Mistakes are how you learn, if you pay attention and learn from your mistakes...the old "Lose, but don't lose the lesson" quote comes to mind.

Read below for a great article on how we behave, how we should behave and how we can help our kids (coaches and parents) enjoy the experience of sports participation, especially at the younger ages when they are just beginning and trying to master fundamentals that will be all important for their game later on.

Ask yourself after a little self-reflection...what adjustments do I need to make to help my kid (parents) or my kids (coaches) enjoy the sport more?

Click here: http://bit.ly/how2ruin

Recognize to Recover...US Soccer's outstanding resource for all...Nutrition & Hydration

#USSoccer has a great site called #RecognizeToRecover, that covers everything from #INJURYPREVENTION, #INJURYRECOVERY, #HEAD #BRAIN CONDITIONS #CONCUSSIONS, #HEADINJURY, #CARDIAC CONDITIONS TO #NUTRITION & #HYDRATION. It is an excellent resource for the #player, #parent & #coach.

A great place to start is Nutrition & Hydration. Many misconceptions when it comes to nutrition can be cleared up by reading...find it here: http://bit.ly/ussoccernutrition

When people think about being a good #soccer player, they tend to talk about an individual’s abilities. What most people forget is that for any individual at any level, being a good soccer #player starts with being #healthy and #eatingright.

Soccer is a demanding #sport that requires both #endurance and sprint #ability, and those high-intensity efforts result in a high-energy demand. Especially during periods with many matches or a lot of #training, nutrition is important to recover and protect against overuse #injuries. A good #diet and the right nutrition can support intensive training while limiting the risks of illness or injury and are also important in the preparation for games and speeding up #recovery afterwards.

#studentathlete #growthmindset #coaching #motivation #parenting #mindset #play #fitness #fit #motivation #Exercise #Soccerlife