“Dear Player, (and subsequently parent (s)) CONGRATULATIONS! You have been selected to become a member of the Travel Program. This was a competitive process and you should be proud that the Club coaches have invited you to become a part of this prestigious program.” Ahhh, the coveted club-invite […]
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.
There are no happy endings. Endings are the saddest part, So just give me a happy middle And a very happy start. -Shel Silverstein “He’s done,” the distraught […]
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, […]
So far, the most emotionally intense time of my life revolved around senior year for our firstborn. Given that I had experienced a few overwhelming moments in my life up to that point, it does say something that our kid’s senior year affected me as much as it did. (I’m […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
I overheard a couple parents chatting on the sideline of a soccer game the other day. One of the parents was lamenting a situation for her older daughter who is “stuck” playing volleyball for what the mom felt was a “waste of a season.” “She’s one of the […]
The Team Adult Playbook 