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Recognizing that most of us are way to busy coaching right now, what follows is a "heads-up."
When new issues start appearing in the fall, I want to address the issue of evaluating coaching - in all its disguises. This includes self-evaluations, and evaluations by program administrators. I also want to consider whether (or how) parents and athletes can (or should) evaluate coaches.
If you have any thoughts on this topic, please e-mail me. Or, if you know of any existing resources, please send that along as well.
Further, I would greatly appreciate feed-back. Let me know what you like or don't like. Tell me what you want to see here. Connect with me by clicking on my name below. Only through your input can this be a truly worthwhile experience for both author and user.
Mike Clark
Coaching & Sports Section Editor
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Some new info at an old favorite site; healthAtoZ looks at Healthy Snacks - always a hot topic, especially during the summer season.
This is only a quick intro! For what a coach may be expected to know, check out "Self Improvement."
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Have you been following Rick Wolff's commentaries in Sports Illustrated? Have you missed any? Well, some of his best stuff is collected at Parenting Advice From Coach Wolff. This is part of the Athlete.com site. This project continues to develop.
A site worth following - as it has some good stuff now and looks like it may grow - is BetterCoaching.com. Take a look at the Wayne's World section to get the views of a clinical psychologist. He's interested in all the developmental issues, as you'd expect, but the look at ADD is really worthwhile for most of us.
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If you're on an unlimited budget, consider the 2001 Global Coach Conference. Sponsored by the USOC, the topics will be of interest to many. But, registration is $395, and there is no associated Web site. Imagine that! Contact the USOC Coaching and Sport Science Division at (719) 578-4802.
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If you have ideas, comments, letters to share, or questions about particular topics, please email one of the following Coaching & Sports Section Editors:
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"Coaching? It was never what I envisioned doing. It's stressful, difficult, and it doesn't pay well. But I'm hooked. Knowing that I can make a difference in kids' lives is a big positive, and the reason I'm here."
- Ann Donovan
WNBA Coach
"Reputation is what you're perceived to be. Character is what you really are."
- John Wooden
"It's a lot tougher to be a football coach than a president. You've got four years as president, and they guard you. A coach doesn't have anyone to protect him when things go wrong."
- Harry Truman
"...in my book success and winning are not always the same thing. To me, success is playing - or working - to the best of your ability."
- Joe Torre
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Probably no single topic gets more discussion, and is less understood, than weight training for the young athlete. The very term can cause problems, especially for a coach who wants players to start working out.
Parents and athletes alike will have all sorts of questions. And, they will have heard all sorts of arguments for, and against, weight training.
To add to the confusion, Web searchs come up with a lot of sites. Most of them are very commercial, or else they are threaded discussions. In either case, it probably is a good idea to be skeptical of the content. What you - the coach - need is sound information that you can share with everyone concerned! So, in this follow-up to Gib's note from last issue, here are some resources.
Some suggestions:
| • | Begin with the American Academy of Pediatrics position statement. This one is very specific in certain areas. |
| • | Follow this with a consideration of what is in the National Strength and Conditioning Association's position statements. |
| • | A quick response to concerns can be based on Lyle Micheli's comments in a Boston Herald article. |
| • | Once you've decided to get involved, you need a good sources of information. A one-stop site might be Sports Coach. There are several topics of interest including; Conditioning, Mobility, and Strength. One plus is that each section includes references. |
| • | The best one stop source of solid science is Coaching Science Abstracts. Go to the various issues and you'll find any number of articles. This is a great source of info on a variety of topics. Fortunately, Brent S. Rushall, the author of many of the articles, gives you the skinny. But, there's enough detail for you to get the entire article, if you want. |
| • | Two additional points: First, according to a site advertising services, athletes generally need to be at least 4'10" to begin using resistance training. Evidently this recommendation comes from equipment manufacturers. The machines are just too big for smaller people. Secondly, "resistance" has replaced "strength" or "weight" in many cases. If you do your own search, use this word as well.
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No Curfew? The Old-Fashioned Way: Earn It,
by Houston Markham, Jr.
Our philosophy on positive team discipline emanated during the fall of ’94 after coaches and players met to discuss ways to curtail or eliminate the many disciplinary problems we were experiencing.
As in most athletic programs, at ASU we had a list of violations and punishments, such as tardiness for practices, meetings, treatment sessions, classes, etc. Major violations such as missing classes, practices, study hall, treatment sessions, meetings etc. included harsher penalties.
Read the rest of this article to find out how positive discipline through earning curfew time off became a reality.
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The University of Illinois Extension Services have an incredible page! It's titled Sports and Nutrition: The Winning Connection. From this portal, the concerned coach can look at four major topics: Diet, Pregame Meals, Energy Levels, and Fluids.
The Pregame Meal Planner is particularly detailed. It provides looks at Guidelines, Suggested Meal Plans, Food to Choose and Foods to Avoid, Eating at All Day Events, and No Time? There's even a recipe for a homemade liquid meal. The language is simple and straight forward, and easy enough for a coach to give directly to athletes.
Possibly more important are the sections on energy levels and fluids. In these cases, the focus is on what should be done in the months and weeks before competition. Meal Plans includes complete menus and suggestions on tailoring them to the needs of particular athletes.
Fluids makes two huge points: get your athletes in the habit of weighing in and out at practice, and making up the difference in water. Secondly, strategies for getting them to drink enough appear in the section, Getting It All Down.
In summary, a close study of this site may provide the essentials you need to know about athletes, and their nutritional requirements.
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"We all fight the battle of getting kids to warm-up properly for practices and meets. Sometimes it’s like "pulling teeth" to get kids to properly warm-up, and warm-down, their bodies for the stresses of training and competition, and prevention of soft tissue injuries.
Today just telling kids to do it isn’t good enough. Athletes today want to know why they are doing it. Though the article's titled, Preventing Soft Tissue Injuries in Track and Field, it has a lot of useful information no matter what sport you coach!
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On Youth
Youth is not entirely a time of life -- it is a state of mind. It is not wholly a matter of ripe cheeks, red lips, or supple knees. It is a temper of will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions.
Nobody grows old merely by living a number of years. People grow old only by deserting their ideals. You are as young as your faith, as old as your doubt; as young as your self-confidence, as old as your fears; as young as your hope, as old as your despair.
In the central place of every heart, there is a recording chamber; so long as it receives messages of beauty and hope, cheer and courage, you are young. When the wires are all down and your heart is covered with the snows of pessimism and the ice of cynicism, then and only then have you grown old.
- author unknown
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Check out the Featured Coaching Resources at CoachingStaff.com. Included is:
All-Pro Software; a Stat tracking and scheduling software for multiple sports with free demos. It also has a League Scheduler for creating round-robin leagues, and Tournament Scheduler for creating single and double elimination tournaments.
There are many software packages. Check it out!
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