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Identifying Opportunities for Collaboration and Teamwork in Sports Coaching
Collaboration and teamwork are indispensable in the world of sports coaching. An organization wheremembers function harmoniously as a team can effectively leverage individual strengths, mitigateweaknesses, and achieve collective success. As John C. Maxwell famously said, “Teamwork makes thedream work” (2002). This quote underscores the power of collaboration and the integral role it plays inachieving an…
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The Evolution of a Bully
In an organization or team, a weak culture is an inspiration killer and demotivates, nobody is likely to stand up and be noticed, or do anything noteworthy, unless they feel safe to do so. In a corporate environment that would result in an extremely stagnant operation that is full of drones toiling away for an…
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The Mindful Athlete
There are plenty of quotes and cliches about the mental aspect of sports. Mountaineer Edmund Hillary, the first to climb Mount Everest, once said: “It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves.” Muhammad Ali stressed that the will must be stronger than the skill. And as legendary women’s basketball coach Pat Summitt put it,…
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Negative Fan Perspectives of Athletes
Professional athletes, especially the stars, are frequently envied for their athletic abilities. Everyone has their favorite player that they try to model their game after, or go around yelling things like “Kobe!” when throwing garbage into the bin. However, there is an absurd amount of negativity that surfaces anytime one of these players isn’t as…
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Escaping Toxic Culture- The New York Mets Challenges
There is little purpose in rooting for or even loving a team that fails to extend an honest effort or reasonable level of respect to their fans. That’s true of players and management alike, and every franchise should begin to make a reasonable effort to eliminate sexual and gender based harassment from their culture because…
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The Culture Behind Competition in Sport
For many in sport, striving to be their best and comparing their efforts against their competition is what pushes the boundaries of performance. Double Olympic Heptathlon Champion Daley Thompson once said he would train twice on Christmas day as he presumed his competitors would only train once. The word competition comes from the latin word…
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In the Blood: Family Culture & Sports
It has often been said that the family that plays together, stays together. A determinant of sporting participation in youth is the sporting culture that runs through the family. The propensity to play sport is greatly increased when this culture of active involvement exists at home and the child has grown into that environment. This…
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The Corinthian Spirit: Integrity, Fairness and Loyalty
The one thing we know for sure is that the vast majority of athletes and sports coaches abhor cheating – they just cannot stand seeing cheats prosper. There are so many great athletes across sports that have been denied the gold medal because of cheating. Cheating destroys dreams and causes great emotional harm to other…
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Hope is Dope!
“Dude, You’re On ESPN!” That’s what Dom Valdespino told his girlfriend, Hope Trautwein, after she completed the impossible last weekend, a perfect perfect game. That’s right, two perfects. Twenty-one batters came up, and twenty-one batters struck out. No one put a ball in play. Nobody had done this before in the history of NCAA Division…
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Why Do We Overlook Toxicity In Leaders Simply Because They Perform Well?
As someone from New England, anything that has to do with bad news for New York sports teams generally makes me happy, especially if it has to do with New York’s American League baseball team. However, this time the news involves their National League counterpart, the New York Mets, and this is more about the…
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The Dirty Art of Sportswashing
Saudi Arabia has reportedly spent $1.5 billion on bolstering its reputation by investing in major sporting events. Grant Liberty from the Human Rights Organization says that the Saudi kingdom has generously bankrolled high-profile events such as chess championships, golf, tennis, and the Saudi Cup which cost $60m alone, making it the world’s richest horse-racing event…
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Spring into Fall Ball: The Importance of Spring Football in Player Development
FBS spring football is in full effect with Powerhouse Clemson hosting its spring game this past Saturday. After a yearlong hiatus due to COVID, it is exciting to see traditional spring football back. The games are a chance for fans to get excited about their teams and get a good early look at how the…
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Golf is Not a Game of Perfect
Golf is the antidote to our anxious western culture. To be successful at golf, you have to unlearn many habits that have been drilled into us in school and later as we worked our way up the corporate ladder. Frederick Winslow Taylor and his scientific management style have turned us into independent beacons of efficiency…
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PIVOT!! PIVOT!!
When we hear the word “pivot” I’d be willing to bet many of us first think of Ross Geller’s famous “PIVOT!! PIVOT!!” Growing up a dancer, when I hear the word pivot, I think of a change of direction, or a turn. Pivoting is common in many sports: basketball players pivoting back and forth to…
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The Wrong Platform: Athletes Spreading Disinformation
I’ve written in the past about the role athletes can play in promoting positive change in their communities. Their platform offers unparalleled influence, and several serve as community leaders and activists for noble causes. Athletes are blessed with the right amounts of wealth, celebrity, and admiration to exert significant sway. Most athletes do: they start…
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Are All of Your Organization’s Actions in the Best Interests of the Athletes and Team?
Yesterday, Culture in Sports participated in our first webinar. It was with Drexel University’s School of Education’s Sport Coaching Leadership Program. It was a great opportunity for us to share what we are currently working on at Culture in Sports. In addition to writing every day about all topics within the scope of culture and…
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The Coaching Relationship; Avoiding Toxicity
A few hours after this article drops, Culture in Sports will be presenting its first webinar in conjunction with Drexel University’s School of Education’s Sport Coaching Leadership Program. The title and subject matter of this webinar is” A Bad Playing Field: Recognizing and remedying toxic cultures in sport: Perceptions for administrators, coaches and athletes. Like…
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The Lessons of a Value Based Culture in Performance Sport
How do we instil the values into the athletes in our shared sports culture? How are these values created and subsequently evolve? Are they set in stone for any member of the sports culture to sign up to or do they evolve organically in line with the values of the leadership? Are the values which…
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You Don’t Have to be a Star To Shine
I remember in the ‘good old days’ when psychology wasn’t associated with youth sports and we weren’t encumbered with scholarly theory on whether or not we should be rewarded for showing up. Yes, we did show up for the fun; for our love of the sport, but it is undeniable also, that being recognized for…
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Persistence, Determination and Performance
If there was ever an example of a sporting legend that displayed an unprecedented degree of persistence and determination it would be the mountaineer Edward Whymper. There can be no doubt, in the mind of sports coaches, over the importance regarding the part that persistence and determination play in helping to deliver performances that achieve…
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You Can’t Hoot with the Owls at Night and Fly with the Eagles in the Morning
Have you seen Ted Lasso yet? If not, you should. It’s not really about what you expect it to be. Sure, the show chronicles a folksy American football coach from Kansas going to England to coach a Premier League team. Much of the comedy centers around the clash in cultures and Ted’s lack of understanding…
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Pete Rose and the Astros
I realize that seeing the title of this article may cause some confusion. To clarify up front, no, Pete Rose has nothing to do with the Houston Astros, and they have nothing to do with him. However, they both have some similarities when it comes to the sport of baseball. In late August of 1989,…
