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A quick message about sports
I want to share the message of sports-based youth development, and I wish there were a quick way to do it. But alas, there are a lot of moving parts. However, the quickest way to do that would be this: Sports can change lives, for better or for worse. People often operate under the assumption…
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Learning to leave the past behind
As an athlete, I had the unfortunate quirk to dwell on my mistakes. If I missed the defensive tackle and the other team scored or tripped over my feet and lost the ball and the shot on goal, I replayed those mistakes in head over and over. I struggled to let go of the past…
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What I took for granted
Growing up, I had the opportunity to participate in structured physical education (PE) classes. I distinctly remember later swapping school stories with friends and shocking them with the rigorous nature of PE in my elementary school. You did that in elementary school? The version of dodgeball we played is a story for another day. But…
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So, about coach training
Think back to when you played youth sports and the coaches you had. Chances are that those coaches learned how to coach from the coaches they had. They were simply repeating the behaviors they saw modeled for them. Maybe if you had that one great coach who changed your life for the better. But what…
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Play under surveillance
Years ago, as a youth athlete I went to soccer practice and that was it. I looked with envy as the other players engaged in pick-up games on the weekend and off days. I had always heard that was the best way to improve my skill level, but I never joined in. It was just…
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The biggest problem in youth sports is probably not what you think it is
Quick, what would you say is the biggest challenge facing youth sports right now? If you are like a lot of people in the field, you will probably say money. Sports is just getting way too expensive these days with the pay-to-play model. Fair, that is a problem. High fees are making sports cost prohibitive,…
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What the melee at a middle school basketball game tells us about what’s important in youth sports
Two weeks ago, a man died at a middle school basketball game. He was not the victim of a sudden onset of a health issue. But instead of a larger issue that plagues us. Violence. As the events were reported, a brawl broke out in the stands. A collection of adults, who should know better,…
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A men’s ball got used in the Duke vs FSU women’s basketball game How is that a problem?
After her team’s loss to FSU, Duke women’s basketball coach Kara Lawson was irritated in the post gamer press conference. “This would never happen in a men’s game. This would never happen,” she said. “It’s embarrassing for our sport.” Lawson as quoted by ESPN What happened? A men’s ball had been used. Both teams were…
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Men don’t care about the WNBA. Or maybe they do? (Part 2)
After my deep dive into the ESPN comment section on the YouTube community tab, this is what I so far. Women’s basketball receives the most negative/off topic engagement in the comment section, but it is not a problem specific to that sport. Similar patterns were seen on other sports (women’s college gymnastics, women’s soccer. But…
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Men don’t care about the WNBA. Or maybe they do?
As a lover of sport, I follow ESPN. I admit though, I am not very into basketball. So in a move very unlike me, I clicked on a WNBA story from their community tab on YouTube. I knew nothing about the WNBA player Jonquel Jones, nor the significance of her trade to the Connecticut Sun,…
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The Sideline Fix 