-
Sport Has To Be Fun
Most, if not all, sports are still games at their core. That matters. Before trophies, scholarships, contracts, or status, sport should be fun first, especially for the players. It should not matter whether you are in the World Cup final or in a pickup game at the neighborhood court. We owe it to ourselves to…
-
If You Can See It, You Can Be It
It has been quite an exciting off-season for the NBA, and it just started. The NBA draft just recently occurred, major players are being traded, and contracts are being negotiated. But one of the most surprising and groundbreaking developments deal with coaching. Out of the eight open head coaching positions this off-season, seven of them were filled…
-
Building a Better World
We are nearly a week into the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. It has already proven to be an Olympics like none other in the past. The best surprise is the lessons the greatest athletes in the world are teaching us. It’s OK to make yourself vulnerable. Winning isn’t everything. According to the International Olympic Committee,…
-
The Olympics & Culture in Sports
When one thinks of what culture in sports means or what is captured in this phrase, there is an excellent chance it is the Olympic Games that they think about. The Games are the largest regularly occurring cultural festival in the world, the greatest coming together of people from different nations and cultures. It is…
-
It’s Still Just A Game
I took some time for myself and my family recently, and we got to do some traveling. Something we have not done in over a year due to the pandemic and all the fun that brought to our world. Before going on our trip, I did some looking around online to see if it would…
-
The Color of Success
It was quite exciting for Australian swim fans when Brendon Smith came from nowhere to proclaim himself a real threat in the men’s 400m individual medley. His excellent performance in the heats saw him finish fastest but the actual event was more challenging. After sitting in seventh position for most of the event, he found…
-
The New Land Rush
The Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners sent shock waves to the landscape of college football this week by sending signals that they are seeking to leave the Big 12 conference and join the SEC. They are coming on the heels of the landmark Supreme Court decision that allows collegiate athletes to monetize their celebrity, thus…
-
It’s Time to Talk…Are You Ready?
There has been a recent culture shift, where athletes are now using their platform and resources to create spaces for open and honest conversations beyond their sport. HBO’s The Shop: Uninterrupted is a show starring Lebron James, where he and other celebrity guests, mainly professional athletes, join together in a barbershop for unfiltered and honest discussions…
-
A Celebration of Hope
“The Olympics have the power to bring the world together, to inspire, to show what’s possible,” said World Health Organization boss Tedros Adhanom. He added, “May the rays of hope from this land illuminate a new dawn for a healthy, safer, and fairer world.” Yet, the opening ceremony for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics is tomorrow,…
-
It’s All in the Mind
Mental resilience and stability are favorable attributes in anyone but not least in an elite athlete. These characteristics are essential to protect an individual from the negative effects of detractors. When Hawthorn AFL champion Dermott Brereton took a swipe at goalkicker Bailey Fritsch accusing him of being a fake tough guy, Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin…
-
Could it Just Have Been a Poor Match Between an Organization and a Coach?
I received a call from a coaching colleague this week, we will call her Tracy. Tracy and another coach were hired a few months ago to lead different teams in a world-renowned organization. Tracy was extremely excited to begin, especially since sports were in full swing again in the United States. Tracy and the other…
-
More Than One Way To Be An All-Star
On Monday, July 12th, Major League Baseball started its annual tribute to the best players of the season, or most popular, depending on how you look at it, with its All-Star break. The traditional first day of the break involves a feat of stamina, strength, and hand-eye coordination as select players are invited to participate…
-
Is This a Bad Dream?
Basketball is in the spotlight right now, but it is having a rough go of it. The USA Olympic team is far from a “Dream Team,” the long-awaited Space Jam 2 is getting terrible reviews, and nobody is watching the NBA Finals. Team USA historically dominates the Olympic basketball competition. Their reign may be in…
-
Coaching is More Than Just Knowing the Game
Coaching is about sport, it’s about educating, but it’s also about leadership. At the center of sport, the coach is uniquely placed to influence the athletes and set the standard for behavior. At the grassroots level, this is about extending that influence on to parents as well and establishing a safe and stable environment for…
-
Temper, Temper!
Sometimes passions ignite on-field and result in unpleasant behavior. It must be hard to be ‘fired up’ to play hard but keep a lid on those emotions. On Monday night West Coast Eagles lost unexpectedly to North Melbourne and the upset caused teammates Elliot Yeo and Jeremy McGovern to publicly fall out. Yeo described the…
-
Heroes and Villains
This week, baseball has taken its annual midseason break to celebrate its heroes at the All-Star Game. In a season unlike any other, one hero has stood out by accomplishing feats never done before in the sport. It has been great to get to know him a little bit. Two-way player Shohei Otani is a…
-
All’s Not Fair
It’s imperative that there is an even playing field at all times in competitive sports for the game to be fairly played. When errors were made during player interchange in St Kilda’s round 15 demolition of Richmond, there ended up being a surplus of players for the side. The AFL has been accused of turning…
-
Not All Beer & Skittles at the Top!
Steve Smith lost his position as Captain of the Australian Cricket team in 2018 following the infamous ball-tampering scandal. The former captain says he was not involved in planning to tamper with the ball during the Cape Town test against South Africa but as the leader, he took responsibility for failing to put a stop…
-
When it Comes to Vaccines, is There a Change Coming in Professional Sports?
CF Montréal, a team within Major League Soccer announced that they traded a player, Erik Hurtado, to the Columbus Crew SC. Trades happen every day in all professional sports leagues across the world, with most trades receiving little fanfare. However, this trade solely happened because the athlete was not vaccinated against COVID-19. Will future athletes…
-
Dear England
Winning an international soccer competition is brutal. Changing a culture is more challenging. Somehow, an unlikely leader has managed to accomplish the latter with a new vision based on clear values and patriotic identity. Today, he leads England against Italy in the final of Euro 2020. Winning the match will achieve the former. Gareth Southgate…
-
All Work No Play
What happens when a person is all-work and no-play? They become disengaged, disenfranchised, and basically burnt-out. This is as true in the sportsperson as it is in any other profession and the best way to prevent this fuse from being lit, is to ensure a healthy work-life balance. The fantastically centered Australian Tennis star, Ash…
-
The Roaring of the Lions
Does it really take gruelling training and punishment tactics to raise a good athlete? Does the development of mental resilience necessarily require ‘training hell’ and ‘starving games’? Tim Tszyu likens his indoctrination into boxing greatness to his favourite movie The Lion King, where the young cub emulates his great warrior father. But is his emulation…
