EPTU

EPTU. I heard from a coach that equal play under 10 rewards kids who don’t want to work and put in the effort. They are kids, not micro adults. Embrace their age appropriate desire for FUN. It should be an integral part of your coaching philosophy. Or is just a word you throw around to appease your conscience? Had a coach tell me Kobe does it that way when he's trying to win a game. Well coach your player is not Kobe and never will be. He’s a high school student. Teach him that way.  Imitating what the pros do in practice and games does not apply to 99% of the children playing youth and HS sports. So why do it? Make 2 equal teams in practice and let them play. No interference from coaches for correction sake. It enhances  good competition and fun. This concept  embraces what the athletes do naturally as children  which may help your team improve more than packaged drills from a DI or Pro coach. Remember, they are not  mini pro athletes. Maybe a coach could watch his or her team play before practice starts and learn what the players enjoy doing and create drills around that free play. Free play, most underutilized "drill" in all of youth sports and high school sports.

Injuries to multi sport athletes

During a recent mentoring session with a coach he asked if back in my day, we had kids miss a whole season with an injury. I said it rarely happened. Most of the time when it did it was an accident. Somebody tripped over something, or they ran into something and got hurt. Occasionally, and I remember it happening once in high school, did I see a player get hurt during a game that caused him to miss the rest of the season.

But today, you see or hear about it often. With 3000 kids a day going to emergency room for sports related injuries, and so many more kids playing youth and high school sports, it is no surprise that the amount of injuries has increased to children playing sports. Single sport athletes are 2-8 times more likely to get injured than multi sport athletes according to AAOSM.

He then said he knew a multi sport athlete that had 2 knee operations and at 16 was now facing more rehabilitation for his latest injury.

I told him that one of trends I was witnessing in youth and high school sports was kids playing on the edge or over it. In the last soccer game I watched, two kids go up for a header and the one kid, who was not going to get the ball recklessly slammed his head into the other player breaking his nose. I saw a hockey player take 5 strides and slam a kid into the boards separating his shoulder.

One of the most important things we are trying to teach at our talks, seminars, and workshops is community. Play hard but fair. Opponents should be able trust the opposing players in a game, or even their own players in practice not to do something stupid. Parent should not encourage this behavior in the stands or on the way to the game in the car. They should not congratulate their kids in the car on the way home either. They should say to their kids that sportsmanship and class are an important part of youth and high school sports

Paycheck and Taxes

Is it about the paycheck and taxes?

Since it’s Labor Day, let’s talk about working, paychecks, and taxes. In this day and age of youth and high school sports, I am struck by the similarities between our children’s new era of “play” and a job. If put into business terms, it seems that youth sports organizations are issuing taxes and parents are paying these taxes without either side being fully aware of the actual physical drain on their “bank” accounts.  These taxes, like almost all taxes, are adding so much outside negative stress that it has become increasingly difficult to keep your “head above  water” in this mythical race that does not exist in youth and high school sports.

 Now most people work for the paycheck, I understand that. I did it for many years and did not feel satisfied, so I change my approach drastically.

By “paycheck” we mean the earnings of the banners, trophies, elevated status, and ego of playing for “elite” travel teams. You add to this the race for the mythical full ride athletic scholarship and it’s a heavy “tax” but these kids and parents today have so much invested in play that the play has turned into a job.  The parents are paying “taxes” to youth and club organizations out of this new “paycheck”.  As we all know, if you are paying taxes, you want some tangible services returned to you. The more taxes that you pay, the more and better services you demand. This is not happening.  You are now in a culture where you are paying more in taxes than you will ever get back. Truly a “life time tax”.

Is it really about the paycheck/victory?  Do organizations and parents want to earn the “paycheck” of banners, the “paycheck” of trophies, the “paycheck” of elite travel status, and the elevated ego “paycheck” of more is better? Do they not see the long term cost in life, work, relationships, and families?

Maybe you need a vacation? Maybe you need to start your own business? And by vacation, I mean rest and quality family time. By your own business I mean free play and pick up games.

It’s a simple business plan, just not so easy to implement.

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.

Underage Recruiting

Underage recruiting

I was invited to attend a youth sports presentation in Chicago. During the presentation a gentleman got up and spoke about how a sophomore that he knew was already getting offers for a DI athletic scholarship. After the presentation I approached another man who said to me that “Michigan already has a lot of their 2018 recruiting done.” And another one said to me that “The kids are getting the offers, what's the problem?”

Well here in a nutshell is the problem. You cannot get a legitimate DI Athletic offer from a college until you have graduated your junior year in high school. You must also have completed the core courses required by the NCAA to be on track to graduate to a matriculated DI college. Next, an athlete then must submit all the required documents to the NCAA eligibility center. After the review, the athlete is issued an ID # from the eligibility center. That number is the only number that determines whether an athlete is eligible by the  NCAA and the college offering the scholarship.

If that does happen, the student then must sign two letters, the letter of intent. And the grant in aid letter to receive the scholarship

Until that happens, there is no legitimate binding athletic scholarship. Heck if it just took a verbal commitment, Farah Fawcett and I would have been dating a long time ago.

So what is the real problem? In talks with scouts, coaches and agents, is that the kids who are getting these offers think they are binding, when they are not. There is also the perception that if the college coach does not honor this verbal commitment; he or she will lose recruits. Maybe, but probably not. There many kids waiting to fill theses spots if you are not.

Now there is every reason for recruiters to go younger and younger in their pursuit of talent. We are putting an extrinsic force on a child that should be about internal realization and fun. The professionalization of youth sports and the adulting of kids have long term negative consequences for all concerned.

But lastly, and surely most importantly. My sources tell me that less than half of those commitments will ever be realized. And that happens for many reasons. The athlete stops developing. They get hurt. They burnout, or lose interest.

But the ones that trouble me the most are the inner city kids who are sold a dream in a race that doesn’t exist and leave sports bitter and betrayed. Then my fear is, they will pass it on to their children. Stop the Tsunami in youth sports.

The Real True Base

The Base

Over and over again I hear the phrase “we need to teach these kids how to win.” Over and over I hear the phrase “Kids need to know about winning and losing.”

And the newest one “I love my kid so I am going to let them play the one sport they love year round and support them. “I want them to take it as far as they can go. “

Now I submit to you why this is just another example of entitlement and not the base kids need and want to be successful in life.

On many occasions I have seen well meaning parents whose biggest influence on their decisions regarding their child’s participation in youth and high schools sports is televised sports. Most have not played past the high school level, if that, so they rely on what is basically false advertising.

You see only 1% of all kids who go to a 4 year college will play at the DI level and only ½ of that 1% will play for free.

 As far a s specialization goes, well I like ice cream. I can’t eat it every day. It will make me sick or I will get sick of it. Kids change their minds all the time as to what they want to do in a day!

Parents need to know the difference between goals and dreams. They are not partners with their child in the youth and high school sports experience just because they played a lot of money.

First children need to learn to play together. How many times as parents did you have an older child take away something from a younger child? You have to teach children to share and cooperate to be part of a community. They are already competitive.  Nobody knows how to win.

That’s the base. Anything after that is all about adults’ ego, status and pocketbooks.

Children need to feel safe. They need that safety so they can fail and not be called a failure. They need the freedom to be creative and try new and different things without the fear of retribution from adults. That’s right. The car ride home with the parents is one of the biggest fears children have playing sports. What we need to do as adults is to create an environment for the children that allow them the atmosphere to develop and enjoy free activity first and foremost. Since only about 10% of all kids who are the “best” at age 10 are the best at 18, let them play for fun. Also, puberty changes everything. For the kids 10 and under its equal play. Try it; I know the kids will like it….if you leave them alone.

They will learn to be competitive fairly and safely. This will teach them life skills they can use for the next 50 years of their lives. This is the base youth and high school sports should strive toward, not athletic scholarships

 Isn’t that supposed to be the true winning goal?