From The Bottom Up

From The Bottom UP:

I am working with a group trying to institute an equipment change in their sport for safety reasons. They went to the top and got a less than enthusiastic response. When presented with this problem at our presentations, seminars, and workshops we say to “Stop trying to teach the pig to sing. It’s a waste of your time and annoys the hell out of the pig.”

True change comes from the bottom up. The top guys and women don’t want to disrupt the apple cart. They don’t want to lose their status. They don’t want to fight the improbable fight. They are under tremendous pressure to maintain the status quo.

But that doesn’t mean we can’t change the culture.

At your next game go to the opposing coach that you trust. See if he or she will agree to the change you are proposing and explain why it is important to the children, not the adults, that this change be instituted.

Then, hire Frozen Shorts to teach all the parents, coaches, and children why this change is needed and what it will accomplish. We tell them it is not just for this sport, but for all the activities the kids are in. This includes the classroom also. We teach the race that doesn’t exist, and why it needs to stop. The chase for athletic scholarships is so expensive that it costs more, for 99% of the people, to pay for play, than they will ever get back. Our program allows for real true competition and the importance of having fun. The more the kids enjoy what they are doing the better they will be at it. Stop the Tsunami

Psychotic

Psychotic

Talked to a mom whose 16 year old son has had 4 surgeries? He plays basketball year round. Do the math. Health is the most important part of a child’s journey through youth and HS sports. One sport year round is unhealthy. Do the math

Kids are playing video game because they get to play. Not even half of them are full time gamers. They are just kids who want to play. Adjust or the kids will do it for you.

Seriously, as a youth and high school coach you wear the gear everywhere you go. You call yourself a coach when meeting people. You talk about it more than your family. You criticize other coaches constantly, even professional ones. And you think you won’t over react when coaching? Adjust or your kids will do it for you.

 I will compete harder against you when it matters in a big game, than most people you know. 8 concussions, 4 broken bones and over 100 stitches to my face are living proof. I’d bench my mother at the end of a game if she wasn’t playing well. And it wouldn’t faze me. But an 8 year old game where you are all yelling at the kids to do your bidding? No thanks. It does not matter to them, only to you. It’s their game. Let them play for fun.