Issues & Advice

So, it’s okay to do things that you don’t really love every day. You know, you don’t have to be real passionate about it sometimes for it to be meaningful and important.” Former bodybuilding champion John Brown has the winning formula for raising great athletes. All three of his sons earned Division I football scholarships […]

You are completely aware that if this coach were a math teacher, it would be not only appropriate, but your moral obligation to go report this adult’s behavior to the principal. You know the email. It’s the one you receive at the start of the sports season from the head coach of your child’s team. […]

When doing quarterback throwing drills for accuracy, often bags or other targets can take the place of athletes. If you do not have enough athletes around, for example, you can use stand up bags. I have heard it time after time: “My kid can throw the football a country mile.”  “He has got a cannon […]

Don’t trash talk the coach. Let your children vent, if they feel the need, but don’t join in on their rants. This only feeds their frustration. In an ideal season, parents and coaches work together — sports parents feel supported by the coach, and the coach feels supported by the parents. Everyone — players, coaches […]

It’s very easy for players to slip into their comfort zone when they’re practicing or playing. Unfortunately, for many that comfort zone may be far less than they’re capable of achieving when pushed. The other day I was reading an article in the NFCA’s Fastpitch Delivery newspaper. It was written by Megan Brown, Ph.D., an assistant coach at […]

The benefit of the doubt goes to the swimmer, and officials are there to educate. Officials do not disqualify, swimmers disqualify themselves, the official acknowledges the infraction. It’s Not a Meet Without Officials When you boil a swim meet down to its bare essentials, the whole thing can be distilled down to four essential, inalienable […]

It’s their sport not mine. The more I got involved and questioned my kids about details of their swimming, the less they wanted to talk about it with me. Parenting has taught me I am far from perfect. There are so many new emotional situations thrown at us with no instruction manual. Hopefully, we learn […]