Athletics

Ins ights from Softball Sta r Jennie Finc h on Playing Multiple Sports

   One of the hottest topics in youth sports is when athletes should specialize. In the latest podc ast from  the Liberty Mutual Responsib le Sports Program Powered by Positive Coaching Alliance,  Olympic Gold Medalist and NCAA Champion softball star Jennie Finch explains the value of playing multip le sports in her interview with PCA Founder and Executive Director Jim Thompson.
 
"I look back at my kind of athletic career," said Jennie, who recently announced her retirement from competitive softball, "and I see so many positives of me playing volleyball and basketball. It helped me become more body-aware and make my body move in different ways. I think my coordination also was helped by me playing those other sports. 

"And, you know, I see a lot of kids today being burnt out of one sport because they're told to choose at such a young age, and I feel like so many kids don't even know what they could be good at because they're only playing one sport since they were eight years old. So, I look back and I'm grateful that I had the opportunity to play those other sports." 

Listen to the whole podcast, including Jennie's thoughts on teammates filling each others' emotional tanks. 

Ask PCA: Coaches Saving Spots For Athletes Who Miss Tryouts 

Thanks for your responses to our most recent "Ask PCA" question about a player being kicked off the team for swearing at a coach who had been calling him names. Most responses sympathized with the student-athlete and found fault with the coach.

To review that question and PCA's answer, you can continue scrolling through this item, but for now, consider this week's question: 

Should Coaches Save Spots For Athletes Who Miss Tryouts? 

"I'm wondering about High School coaches who 'hold' spots for students who couldn't be at tryouts. What do you think of this practice? Are there state or local school districts with policies on this topic?"
-- Anonymous

 Comment on this topic on the "Ask PCA" blog.  

 Following is the previous "Ask PCA" question and PCA's response:  

"My son was recently kicked off of his high school football team. A coach had been calling him names, and my son directly swore at the coach in response. I am not mad at my son as he knows he made a mistake and he did everything he could to correct it.  He went back before and after practice 6 times apologizing to the team and coach.  What I am upset about is that coaches have the right to call you names and try and get under your skin but an 18 year old doesn't have the right to respond. What do you think about this situation?" 

 PCA Response by Jim Thompson, Founder and Executive Director  

Coaches are given great leeway in our society to act in ways that classroom teachers, for example, are not permitted. It is not acceptable for a coach to verbally abuse a player but it is often tolerated, while athletes who lose their temper and retaliate are usually punished harshly. This isn't fair, but much in life isn't fair. Your son is going to be in situations in life where he will not be able to lose his temper without severe consequences.
 
It is not okay for a teen athlete to swear at a coach, even one who is calling him names. I suggest you ask your son to write about this experience including a) what he learned from it, b) how he wished he had responded, c) what he will do in the future if something like this happens to avoid losing his temper, d) what he thinks is an appropriate consequence for his action, and e) what he intends to do to make amends for his behavior (for example, does he think he needs to do something more than he already has done?). After you have read it, talk with him about it and have him plan what he intends to do now.
 
Having him address this in writing will make this more of a teachable moment for him and force him to think about it in a deeper way than simply apologizing and being done with it (which, by the way, is good). It also may help him in his case to be reinstated if what he writes shows his remorse and his commitment to make sure it doesn't happen again.
 
Regarding the coach, you are in a difficult position because any complaint you may make against the coach, justified or not, can seem to be accepting that your son's behavior is acceptable. You may want to stay out of this and let your son work on his own to try to get reinstated to the team. If he is successful, he will know he did it himself, which is a big accomplishment for a young man of his age. If he isn't, and it may be that it just isn't going to happen, then he will at least have wrestled with this and be ready to do better in the future.

Coaching Tip: Improve Performance with Stretch Goals 

 (This excerpt from The Power of Double-Goal Coaching, the latest book by PCA Founder and Executive Director Jim Thompson, explains how coaches can use Stretch Goals to get the most out of youth athletes while helping them get the most out of youth sports.) 

Stretch Goals improve performance. A Stretch Goal is something you can't do right away, so a stretch is required. Stretch Goals go a little beyond what people think they can do, but are reachable with effort over time. Here are some examples: 

Basketball: Improve three-point shot percentage to 40 percent 

Soccer: Increase distance of a goal-kick by 10 yards 

Swimming: Improve start and turns to drop 5 seconds off 100
freestyle time 

Lacrosse: Cradle the ball with weak hand high as skillfully as with strong hand 

Baseball: Hit outside pitches to the opposite field consistently 

Football: Regularly make catches just with hands, not the body. 

Here's why Stretch Goals work: if we set an ambitious goal, we know instinctively we can't achieve it the old way. We have to try something new or work harder (or both). A Stretch Goal can be a catalyst to learning what it takes to do what we want to do. 

The ideal Stretch Goal can become a "Just-Right Challenge," in which
athletes are excited to take on a challenge because it feels within reach with some extra effort. When athletes (or anyone) are facing a Just-Right Challenge, motivation is a non-issue. They can't wait to tackle it. Ask athletes to think of Stretch Goals that are Just-Right Challenges for them. Help them develop a practical, step-by-step plan to achieve them. Have them revisit their Stretch Goals regularly to ensure they aren't discouragingly hard (or boringly easy). Help them adjust goals to be more achievable and motivating, or set new goals when achieved. As with Effort Goals, Stretch Goals are most powerful when players set their own. 

Teams can set Stretch Goals as well. When I coached high school girls'
basketball, my captains decided to shoot for the Central Coast Section
(California) title in our division. 

I worried that this goal was too ambitious and almost suggested focusing on winning our league title. But I didn't discourage them from their stretch goal, and we won our league. I believe part of our success was that we set our sights high. If we had set only the lower goal of winning our league, we might well have fallen short of that. The higher, more unrealistic goal actually was more practical. 

-- Jim Thompson, PCA Founder and Executive Director 

For more tips like this, purchase The Power of Double-Goal Coaching.