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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…
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Funny How Time Slips Away
This past year or so has been tragic. There has been so much death and so much destruction to our way of life. And, unfortunately, our culture has been in survival mode, and it is going to take us years to understand and appreciate all that we have lost. We are so used to hearing…
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Standing Up for What is Right at the Cost of Winning
As youth it is perceived that coaches know best, that is their job, right? To lead, guide, develop, and improve? At what point do we transition from coaches being all-knowing, to seeing athletes as equals on the pitch? Or do we ever? Recently, Syracuse Men’s Lacrosse has seen their players take a stand against domestic…
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Sports for the Student Brain
For kids, we often view sports as a way for them to stay healthy, have fun, and get some fresh air. The benefits, though, go deeper, as a study from the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity reveals. After examining decades of educational data, researchers Francois Trudeau and Roy Shephard concluded that physical…
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Who’s Choice is an Athlete led Culture?
Since Roman Abramovich bought Chelsea FC in July 2003 a number of managers have come and gone and yet trophy winning has been consistent. Managers have been sacked after winning a European cup (Di Matteo and Sarri) whilst club legend Frank Lampard was sacked at the beginning of this year as the club stalled to…
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The Miasma of Winning
The news on Monday that Nadia Comanenci, one of the greatest, if not the greatest Olympic women’s gymnast, is reported to have suffered what is described as “horrorific abuse,” at the hands of her coach Bela Karolyi and his wife Marta, is less shocking than it is saddening. Reports that Comaneci confirmed in an interview…
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The Sport of Disc Golf
Are you looking for a new, interesting, and cheap hobby? Disc golf is all of those things and more. You’ll find an incredibly welcoming community, full of long time vets, tons of newcomers, and every skill level in between. The beginnings of disc golf occurred in the 60s when “Steady” Ed Headrick invented the Frisbee.…
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… And as the Smoke Clears, the Vision Becomes Clear?
In my last article Where There’s Smoke? Or … Unwitting Target? I wrote about the sexual assault case currently being heard in Sydney Australia. NRL footballers Jack de Belin and Callan Sinclair await their fate as the jury continues to deliberate. The pair have pled not-guilty in a case that suddenly seems to have not…
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Emotional Connections in Sports Coaching
As we all know the best sports coaches are the ones that are able to create strong relationships with their athletes and hence help facilitate great performances from them. As a leader they inspire, motivate and are able to get under the very skin of the athlete, especially those who go out of their way…
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Patience and Discipline
Getting drafted in the first round of the NFL draft is an incredible accomplishment. Not only do you have to be a great player who has demonstrated the ability to play at the highest level, but you also have to convince teams that you can make the transition to the NFL effectively. As a result,…
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Turning The Other Cheek… Well, Maybe Not Physically
One of the concepts most of us learn early on in life is the one about turning the other cheek. Essentially, according to the concept, if you are wronged by someone, you should not immediately retaliate against the person who wronged you as that person will eventually get their “just desserts.” Unfortunately, this can be…
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Where There’s Smoke? Or … Unwitting Target?
There are countless reports in the media of sexual assault cases involving famous people, certainly sports stars feature largely among them. Whether or not they are guilty is beyond the scope of this article, but one might pose the question … why, if the accusations aren’t true, are they such targets for them? Today the…
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Will the Boomers Go Boom in Tokyo?
NBL (National Basketball League) Australian National team head coach, Brett Brown stepped aside late in 2020 amid issues of the NBA possibly delaying its 2020-2021 season which had caused uncertainty for the Tokyo Olympics campaign. There was a real concern that his sudden departure in such a climate would adversely impact the team by prompting…
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Can We Handle the Truth?
More so than other sports, Major League Baseball is woven tightly into the culture of our society. The two evolve together. Last weekend, the San Diego Padres and the Los Angeles Dodgers completed the second of two consecutive weekend series. Not only were they seven great games with a sense of playoff baseball in April,…
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Should Athletic Talents Build the Foundations of Education?
Many parents often start their kids in school a year later than they are actually eligible. There are often many reasons for this: size, social development, signs of delayed learning, etc. A common one, is often so their child can be bigger for sports in the future. A concept I often find puzzling, deciding at…
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The Value of Playing for Fun
In his book Late Bloomers, Rich Karlgaard explores the world’s “obsession” with early achievement and young talent. From the business world — think Mark Zuckerberg — to the film industry, Karlgaard argues that we seem to crave prodigies and actively seek out the same outcome for our own kids. The side effect of this hunger…
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That’s the Way We Have Always Done It
Have you ever had a coach, teacher, parent, boss or anyone else ever tell you that “we have always done it this way”? After decades or centuries, some things really do not change. Is it because the way something is done is really the best way, or is it because people are fearful of change…
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A Recovering Agent Looks at the NFL Draft
After actively representing NFL players as a certified contract advisor- more commonly known as an agent- for a decade, almost every question I am asked, even today, about my time as an agent centers around the NFL Draft, which starts on Thursday night. There is something about this non-sporting, sports event, by that I mean…
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The Facilitators of Abusive Cultures in Sport
For abusive cultures to survive and even prosper, the abusers need to be supported, they need facilitators. The facilitators are usually management or a funding agency with the role of facilitator varying dependent upon the individual circumstance. Some facilitators of abuse in sport will claim to have not known what was going on. There have…
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Lest We Forget
April 25 is ANZAC Day (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps). On this day in 1915, Australian and New Zealand soldiers formed part of the allied expedition that set out to capture the Gallipoli peninsula. A great legacy has been left to the generations that followed; a legacy of great sacrifice and bravery that is…
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Sports Coach: The Dangers of Hubris
There is no doubt that self-confidence is an important factor regarding successful outcomes in sport, both for the coach and for the athlete. Having complete trust and confidence that a goal can be achieved is a trait found in the most effective sports coaches. It is also one that has a marked influence on the…
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Find Your Flow
What has gotten you through the past year? Have you taken up baking sourdough bread or nurturing a small jungle of houseplants? According to psychologist Adam Grant, many of us have been in a state of languishing. We’re not depressed or burned out, but just feeling joyless and aimless. The cure lies in finding an…
