As our cultural shift has led sports teams from a centralized leadership role to one that expects each player to have those capabilities, the ongoing need for athletes to be more self-sustaining has dramatically increased. […]
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Articles
Competence: It’s more than just doing the job
In a recent article by the Harvard Business Review (2020), 40% of recent graduates did not feel “job ready” and potential applicants would not even consider applying for entry level positions. They cited a lack […]
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A Culture of Silence
Here we go again. Again. Last week, detailed sexual harassment allegations spanning over the past decade against women’s professional soccer coach Paul Riley surfaced in The Athletic. Two former players who claimed to be harassed […]
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When Ws Don’t Mean Winning
Do you remember when you first realized the former name of the Washington Football Team was racist? Maybe it was a gradual shift in thinking or perhaps it hit like a thunder bolt. Either way, […]
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A Learning Organization
Culture in Sports is a learning organization. Our goal is to learn everything possible, whether it is about culture, leadership, or anything else that can help athletes, coaches, support staff, teams, and organizations. Being a […]
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Feedback: How to optimize learning and confidence
Carol Dweck is acclaimed for her work on Growth Mindset. It has provided material for educators and coaches for years. However, there is one area of research that I want to bring back into focus […]
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Strength Through Purpose
A year ago, talk show host Skip Bayliss criticized Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott after admitting he was suffering from anxiety and depression after his brother’s suicide. His admission was called a sign of weakness, […]
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When an Athlete Is Not Focused
Athletes, regardless of age and level, are not always mentally prepared or focused for practice or competition. This lack of focus can lead to poor technique, not giving 100 percent, having a bad practice, teammates’ […]
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It Is All About What Comes After
Devoting my second weekly column to Ken Burns’ Muhammad Ali documentary, that aired in four parts- Four Rounds- last week on PBS, has me running the risk of repeating myself. But in “Round Four,” which […]
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Yasiel Puig Walked So Everyone Else Could Run
The Culture Shift in Major League Baseball If you’ve watched much Major League Baseball at all over the past few years, you’ve probably noticed a pretty big shift in the culture of the game. Not […]
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How DOMS Dooms your Athletes
Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) is something almost every single athlete, amateur or pro, has experienced in their lifetime. It starts off with an intense exercise followed by a day of feeling fine, then followed […]
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Motivation: What drives a more sustainable willingness to grow?
What motivates you? What motivates the ones you lead? These questions are common. Especially, when we think about how to inspire others (in particular Gen-Z). Understanding a person’s drivers can be beneficial for increasing motivation […]
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The Strongest Athletes in Sports
Last week the women of USA Gymnastics testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee about their stores of abuse, assault, and being ignored. One of the highest elements of government heard their stories, and made these […]
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Prime Time Coaching
When many of us think of Deion “Prime Time” Sanders, we think of how he completely dominated the NFL for 14 seasons. But now, the 2x Super Bowl Champ has found a different way to […]
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The Athletes We Share and the Athletes Who Divide Us
Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, has thirty plus year legacy of making thought-provoking documentaries for PBS. His current subject is Muhammad Ali. Burns’ four-part look at Ali’s life and times premiered on Sunday and continues over […]
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It’s Part of Taking Care of Your Athletes
As a coach, athletic director, trainer, general manager, or a host of other positions in an organization that focus on athlete safety, health, and performance, an athlete should be ready for competition. That is what […]
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The Power of Perception: The Impact on Culture
This can be a tough pill to swallow, but the reality is this: The people we lead know us better than we know them. Why does this occur? Especially for so many well-meaning leaders out […]
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Documenting Greatness
For people like me, this is a beautiful time of the year. I’m a sports fan, and the overlapping of the end of the baseball season and the beginning of football creates excitement. I’m also […]
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“That Man Miller” & Derek Jeter, Team Owner in the Hall of Fame Together
In Cooperstown, NY last Wednesday afternoon, four new members of the Baseball Hall of Fame’s 2020 class were enshrined in the Hall- a year later than planned due to the Covid pandemic- but since no […]
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Overtraining: Why Less is More
A team’s success encompasses many aspects involving the managerial staff, players, coaches, and fans. Compromise one of these aspects and a lack of success follows throughout the entire organization. During COVID we saw how teams […]
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Colleges, Please Take Care of Your Athletes
College student-athletes recently got a boon after the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) allowed them to sell the rights to their names, images, and likenesses from July 1st, 2021 and onward, so now players can […]
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This Age of Athlete Activism is Rooted in 9/11
Soon after the Twin Towers fell on September 11th, 2001, I received a phone call from Los Angeles. The voice of the Fox Sport Net assignment desk editor was hurried and bit tentative. “It is […]
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What’s for Breakfast?
You often hear people say that culture eats strategy for breakfast or lunch. I assume someone thinks it eats it for dinner, too. Everyone seems to be talking about culture these days, or at least […]
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No Girls Allowed
Yesterday, the Taliban’s head of the cultural commission, Ahmadullah Wasiq, reportedly said women would not play cricket, or any other sport, under the new regime in Afghanistan. While it was not a surprising announcement, it […]
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It Is Cheating and You Got Caught
A few months ago, I wrote an article about Bill Cowher, a former coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers, saying that “It’s only cheating if you get caught” and discussed taking competitive advantages into the grey […]
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Against All Odds
Imagine being out of a sport for almost three years due to an injury. Now imagine returning to the same sport after the injury. And now imagine getting the opportunity to compete again. McKenzie Milton […]
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What Started as a Small Lie
No, I am not talking about players flopping on the field here. There was a World Cup qualifying match between Argentina and Brazil on Sunday. The match lasted a little more than seven minutes. The […]
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Too Long Away, Much To Say About the Power of Sports
I didn’t realize I’d been away for a month, at least from writing here, in my favorite space at Culture in Sports. Having predicted the return of sports since the beginning of this Summer, it […]
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Thumbs Up or Down?
August was a bad month for the New York Mets. They started the month on a high note. They were the first-place team in the NL East and had made a blockbuster deal with the […]
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Delegating Tasks
By the title of this article, you may just want to skip to something else, but please take the time to read how there are plenty of coaches, general managers, athletic directors, and front office […]
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An Abusive Coach Caught on Camera
Last week a video surfaced of a high school coach screaming and shoving one of his players on the sideline during the game. It was a horrible coaching moment that luckily did not get worse […]
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Jessica Long: The Athlete Any Coach Would Love to Have on Their Team
As the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games continue, an amazing feat happened: Jessica Long, a Team USA swimmer and most decorated active Paralympian, won her 25th Paralympic Games medal. Long has competed in the Paralympic Games […]
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Paralympic Games
The Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games have officially started. This is a very exciting time during the summer Olympic season where over 4,400 athletes, in six different disability groups, compete in 22 sports. These athletes have […]
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Old School vs. New School
Major League Baseball did something pretty cool earlier this month. They held a regular-season game between the Chicago White Sox and the New York Yankees in Dyersville, Iowa, at the site of the movie set […]
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Fans Behaving Badly
A recent football match in France was stopped midgame due to fans throwing objects at athletes, storming the field, fighting with athletes, and because of their overall behavior. It was extremely sad to watch and […]
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Coach With an Expectation That You Will Not Receive Anything in Return
Coaching is not easy at any level. When someone is coaching a recreational youth team, there are athletes who are dependent on your role, their parents who want the best for their child, others who […]
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Why Have Several High-Level Personnel Left the Las Vegas Raiders’ Front Office?
I can only imagine that running a professional sports team is not easy, especially one with historic success, at times, and tumultuous periods. During the good times, everyone wants to be involved, but during the […]
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Who is Accountable?
After five years of investigating, the NCAA levied sanctions against Baylor University for mishandling multiple sexual violence cases this week. However, the penalties were not severe. Several key players in the scandal escaped punishment. Why […]
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What Happens When Coaches Are Reckless
The last few weeks have been extremely interesting in the sports world: The Olympic Games recently wrapped up with the Paralympic Games kicking off in a few weeks, Simone Biles brought athlete mental and emotional […]
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“Only” 11th Place?
With the 2021 Olympics finally at an end, taking a look at some of the results and outcomes of these events seems rather pertinent when it comes to the frame of mind of the athletes, […]
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Olympic Season Isn’t Over Yet
After a year of delay, the 2020 Olympics Games have wrapped up and have shown us great examples of true athleticism, courage, and bravery. If you’re still in the Olympic spirit and want to watch […]
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Why Women Can Save Baseball
While the Tokyo Olympic Games consisted of many exciting moments and thrilling athletic accomplishments, its legacy is problematic because Covid-19 protocols created a made for media only spectacle. In laying bare how money rules the […]
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Time for a New Season
The past two weeks have not been as I expected. Two events I have waited for with anticipation, along with some trepidation, happened on July 23rd, the opening of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, and […]
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The Trees of Munich & The Tear in the Fabric of Sport
The 1972 Munich Olympic Games are the first Olympic Games I can remember. I was 8 years old on that late August Saturday when they began. Old enough to know that I loved sports and […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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, […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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, […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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The Rules are The Rules
Unfortunately, we will not see Sha’Carri Richardson compete in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics later this month. Richardson is the fastest female athlete in the United States and quite possibly the world. But she broke the […]
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But Rules Are Rules
A positive marijuana test and a month-long suspension has evolved to more than it initially seemed. From ridiculous claims by journalist Claire Lehmann that Sha’Carri’s “strong nails and hair” were evidence of steroid abuse to […]
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Like It’s Not Hard!
Covid19 has messed a lot of things up for a lot of people, not least the people who have tragically lost their lives to the disease. Humanity has needed to adapt to new procedures and […]
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The Sports Coach as a Leader: Aligning Personal and Organizational Cultures
American swimming coach Megan Oesting has been sacked after being in post with SwimMAC Carolina for only 9 months. Differences in her management style and cultural stance have been cited as the main reasons. According […]
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Another Swing and Miss
Well, it was about time Major League Baseball took a stand! Clear and decisive action is required when players behave poorly. Without it, we risk anarchy. It’s essential to send a message to let the […]
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I was astonished last week when learning that Simone Emanuel https://swimswam.com/after-exhausting-year-olympic-champ-simone-manuel-out-of-100-free-final/ had been diagnosed with Overtraining Syndrome. I was left wondering how a nation such as the US (famed for its domination in swimming at […]
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Grateful for the Dog Days
It happens every year around this time, but typically a little later and a tad bit less intense. The sun aligns with the star system Sirius and brings heat, drought, sudden thunderstorms, lethargy, fever, mad […]
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Pay to Play?
Have youth sports become a pay to play business model? Are resources equally available to youth of all economic backgrounds? I would argue not. many club teams have scholarship opportunities, but is that enough, when […]
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The Athlete’s Voice
This past week has been a remarkable one in sports. An active NFL player came out as gay. A superstar gymnast took the penultimate step toward becoming the greatest of all time in her sport […]
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Allegiances & Ideals
An argument has erupted in the United States over Gwen Berry’s protest against the nation’s anthem and the flag at the Olympic track and field trials. The hammer thrower also placed a black t-shirt over […]
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The Benefit of Experience
“Youth is full of sport, age’s breath is short; youth is nimble, age is lame; Youth is hot and bold, age is weak and cold; Youth is wild, and age is tame.” – William Shakespeare […]
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The Team Fixers
It’s apparent that the coach exerts a major influence on the cohesiveness of the team when looking at the recent history of the New South Wales Waratahs. To their detriment the team has been coach-less […]
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Sports Coach: The Road to Mastery
The road to mastery is a long and winding road that requires, not only technical knowledge and understanding, but these two components applied over time. We have all met sports coaches that race through qualifications […]
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It’s About Time!
The United States Supreme Court ruled unanimously last Monday not to allow the NCAA to prohibit its student-athletes from receiving benefits related to their education. This decision opens the way to ending the current practice […]
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The High Price of National Pride
The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) will strive to deliver national pride and inspiration through international sporting success.” – AIS Last month the budget documents for Australia’s involvement in the Tokyo Olympic Games were released. […]
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The Fairer Sex?
“I think it’s a fantastic time to break that glass ceiling and see more females in male-dominated areas.” – Eloise Sheridan Women are not better than men, this is an unequivocal fact, and it is […]
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Innocence Transcends Differences … And Then We Grow Up
I work at a high school and I was assigned a duty to watch an area during the two-day athletics carnival. The first thing I noticed as I stood thinking of all the very important […]
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An Abundance of Missed Opportunity
Here in the United States, we are all pretending we are back to normal now. It’s liberating and refreshing. And for the fully vaccinated, well-deserved. But, unfortunately, the party-crashers are threatening to spoil the fun […]
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Treat Others How You Wanted to be Treated
Major League Baseball seems to have been in the news a lot lately, mostly for their crackdown on pitchers and illegal substances. Awhile back the White Sox Player Yermin Mercedes broke an “unwritten” rule of […]
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The Art of War
I think it’s fair to assume that a healthy culture includes respect for ourselves and for each other. The sporting world should operate under much the same premise. When fighters ‘talk smack’ to and about […]
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The Weight of a New World on Her Shoulders
Transgender weightlifter, Laurel Hubbard transitioned eight years ago at the age of 35. Since then, she has successfully met all of the requirements of the International Olympic Committee’s regulations for trans athletes and fair competition. […]
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Trust the Coach That You Just Hired
I recently had a colleague reach out to me about a coaching issue that she was having. She was hired as a head coach of a youth sports organization during the pandemic and was waiting […]
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All the Colors of the Rainbow
June is officially Pride month, a perfect time to embrace individuality and inclusivity, tolerance in all avenues of our lives; our work, our social lives, our sporting pursuits. The perfect time to develop a culture […]
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Playing on the Edge!
AFL Brisbane Lions Captain Dayne Zorko has promised not to dull his fire despite his recent suspension for the charge of intentional conduct, with low impact and high contact. The same charge was levelled at […]
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Competitive Sport: A Window on National Cultures
Australia’s modern day suffragette, Madeline Groves, withdrew from the nation’s Olympic Swimming Trials in protest against misogynistic behaviours exhibited by some members of her National Governing Body (NGB). This must have been an extremely difficult […]
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Player Safety Rears its Ugly Head Again
The Adelaide Crow’s David Mackay fronted a tribunal hearing over a rough conduct charge, and the fallout threatens to polarize the football community. In a game that is designed to have players contesting the ball […]
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We’d Give You a “10,” But the Best We Can Do is a “6.6”
I would guess that a majority of people out there are familiar with a relatively popular pawn shop show that airs on cable television where customers come into the show thinking they are going to […]
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Not Just an Entrée
Following unrest over the line up for the tennis at the Australian Open this year, there persisted a sour taste in the mouths of some of the female tennis players. The management at World Athletics, […]
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Swipe Right Delete
There exists in any swim club a small fraction of swim mums and dads who will have coaches running for the nearest rock under which to hide. None more so that those with swimmers aged […]
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The Best Ability is Availability
Getting through a professional sports season is a grind. Packed schedules, travel, and competing at a high level against the best athletes in the world take their toll on the human body. As a result, […]
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The Power of Play
All over the world children are joining clubs and teams, urged on by parents eager to do the best for their child’s enjoyment and development. There are those children though who don’t have the same […]
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One More For Radical Sportsmanship- Meeting the Moment
In trying to define both what small “c” and small “s,” culture in sports is and means, and what the platform “Culture in Sports” stands for, several common priorities and goals emerge: Prioritizing the safety […]
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‘Pics or it Didn’t Happen’
Following her initial complaints of misogyny within Swimming Australia, Maddie Groves has further alleged that the culture of Swimming Australia is so bad that people who wish to thrive in the sport are forced to ignore […]
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Trust is a Two-Way Street
As an athlete, I had many coaches who just expected athletes to trust them because they were the coach. I also had coaches who showed that they deserved trust. The coaches that showed or proved […]
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