Silo Parents: No Community in Youth Sports
People desire connection to something bigger. In pursuit of those connections, people too often kill any chance they might have had at the authentic community they crave.
Growing Motivated Children Starts with Relationship
I often wonder what day of the week my dad gave up on his life. He simply stopped caring, stopped trying, and eventually checked out entirely. Contemplating his fall from grace as a singular day event is how I try to wrap my head around something that is […]
To Train or To Play: That is the Question
“Mom, I’m bored!” “Why don’t you just go outside and _____________?” I know how my parents filled in that blank. If you were raised in the 70’s, 80’s, or early 90’s, your parents probably filled in that blank the same way. The instructions for filling empty spaces of […]
My Kid’s Not Playing, Why Go to the Game?
I was coaching an away game for a college team one Saturday afternoon when a fanbase showed up to root for our team’s manager. Yes, the manager. Eight people huddled on the aluminum bleacher bench cheering her on. They had a sign and chanted cheers like “Sally, […]
For Sports Parents Who Want to Sit Alone: It’s Okay
I couldn’t do it. About ten minutes into my daughter’s soccer game this past weekend, I had to move myself down the sideline and as far out of earshot of the other parents as I could. I’m not sure if there was a specific thing yelled, but the […]
Why Coaches Lose Sleep
It was 2:00 am last night, or technically this morning, when my latest round of sleeplessness hit. I had fallen asleep hard, probably because standing in ninety minutes of relentless 50-degree rain for an emotional conference loss had worn me out. For whatever reason, I went from soundly […]
10 Ways To Parent Athletes Better
Parents are the most influential adults in an athlete’s life. Let me say that again. PARENTS are the most influential adults in an athlete’s life. The better the relationship is between athletes and their parents, the better the experience is for everyone. Thankfully, building the parent/athlete relationship is not […]
Life is Not Fair, but Team Adult Must Be
In these days of significant divide in ideologies, there is at least one thing people can agree upon: life is not fair. We know this. We witness this. The longer we live, the more we experience this. So, why toil at all toward justice? What if I told […]
Sports Abuse: Not All Pain Leads to Gain
I’ve been working on this sports book project for over seven years. I have tried to identify the personal places I need to grow and some of what I’ve worked through has been tough to process. I have avoided thinking or writing about this one…until now. I am […]
COACHES: How to Disarm Pitchfork Parents
Fight? Flight? Neither. There is a better way. I’ll get to the strategies for disarming disgruntled parents in a minute, but I want to first lay a backdrop for where pitchfork parents are born. Do you know what age groups seem to have the craziest sports parents? Well, […]
The Team Adult Playbook 