When one thinks of Culture In Sports, Track & Field (specifically the Pole Vault) embodies the mentality that any athlete should aspire to be a leader and to work hard. When I was eleven years […]
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Tag: Culture
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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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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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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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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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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The Mean Streets: Survival of the Fittest
Some sports are inherently more dangerous than others, but even though mixed martial arts (MMA) competitor Fau Vake faced danger each time he competed, it was outside the ring that he met his fate. Vake […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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Be the Best Coach You Can Be
Being a coach is not easy. A coach must look out for the safety and well being of the athletes, team, assistant coaches, and support staff. A coach has to provide a safe environment, not […]
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The NCAA and the Winds of Change
The NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament is in full swing, and teams are jockeying for this year’s championship trophy. The tournament is both a cultural staple, with millions of Americans filling out brackets each year, and […]
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Today Is a New Day
As a leader and coach, I have always gone to bed always thinking about what I could do better for the athletes, team, or the people that I lead. I always try think of ways […]
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We Need a Culture of Consistency in Believing
How do you feel about athlete abuse? How do you feel about athlete abuse when it’s in your sport? Is it still abuse? How do you feel about athlete abuse when it’s by your friend? […]
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It Is Just a Game
It is just a game. No, I am not belittling or discounting any of the hard work that athletes, coaches, and staff put into competing. But I am talking about what people do after their […]
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The Standards and Ethics of Leaders in Sport
The Telegraph Sports Book of the Year 2019 – Sevens Heaven by Ben Ryan – chronicles the ups and downs of a coach who moved his life to the other side of the world to […]
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Sport: A Platform for Advocacy
The influence of top athletes; their ability to amplify important debate allows advocacy on a global level. Sport is unique in that it can bring together people of different cultural backgrounds; different nationalities; different religions […]
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Stamping Out Intolerance
In just a few short weeks, on April 15th, Major League Baseball will celebrate the 74th anniversary of Jack Roosevelt Robinson’s debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers. The man, better known as Jackie Robinson, was the […]
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Use Your Powers for Good or Evil
Do you remember listening or watching coaches, teachers, or other adults when you were a young child? Do you remember when they would tell you to do something, you just assumed they had the authority, […]
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A Tradition of Classism & Racism in ‘Elite’ Sports
Ever since the formation of modern sports in the 19th century, certain sports have been assigned to particular socio-economic groups. Non-contact sports have been associated with the upper classes while the ‘rougher’ sports were relegated […]
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Stars of the Sea: Surf Lifesaving, Nippers & Starfish
“The surf lifesaving movement … is truly Australian in spirit. Its character savors [sic.] of sun-drenched sand and a free and boisterous surf. In it we see democracy function as it was meant to. There […]
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Lost in Others’ Whys
When we are young our days are explorations of anything new. We do stuff because we think it looks like fun; our older brother/ sister does it; dad/ mum says it would be go for […]
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Rite of Passage: Kids in Sports
Participation in sports not only helps to develop coordination, physical agility, health, and flexibility, but also to develop friendships, comradery, and the traits necessary for observing fair-play and learning how to lose gracefully. Introducing children […]
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Have the Houston Rockets Hit Rock Bottom?
The Houston Rockets had a sad outing against the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday. It was their 11th straight loss (They now have lost 12 straight), where they had the lowest shooting percentage and the fewest […]
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The Highs and Lows in Sports Help Bring People Together
On Tuesday, February 23rd golf legend Tiger Woods experienced a terrifying car accident. His car tumbled down a hill and he was pulled out of the SUV by the jaws of life. After the accident, […]
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My Game of the Century
In Nebraska, where I grew up, everyone knows about the 1972 Nebraska-Oklahoma game. It is known as the “Game of the Century.” Lyle Bremser’s call of the classic Johnny Rodgers punt return is legendary. Still […]
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What Can I Do to Make the Culture at My Sports Team Better?
There are so many great ideas on how to influence positive change in an organization that are spoken about in academia, leadership circles, and in the news. Everyone has an idea. Everyone is an expert. […]
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Why Doing the Right Thing Seems So Hard
In trying to define the focus of Culture in Sports, and what we should be writing about on this site, the Led Zeppelin song title, What Is and What Should Never Be, comes to mind. […]
Read MoreI Believe in You
Did you ever have a coach tell you that she believed in you? If you did, that coach may have been onto something. That same coach probably told you that he was proud of you […]
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Treat Those Two Imposters Just the Same
We have a chance here to demonstrate that while winning and losing have value, they are as Rudyard Kipling- talk about a complicated potentially toxic legacy-correctly observed, two imposters to be treated the same. Victory is a neutral, not definitively a positive concept.
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Coaches and Trainers, Please Stop Holding Practices
Coaches and trainers need to do the right thing and stop holding practices. If coaches still choose to hold practices, then maybe article could be used to persuade them. An athlete’s mental, physical, and emotional health and safety should never be compromised for training or competition.
Thank you Dr Jon Rudd and Christian Klaue for your contributions to this article.
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One Small Gesture Could Mean the World to Members of Your Team
Sometimes telling someone thank you or good job can change the way they perform for your organization.
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A Contagious Culture
I watched a local high school soccer game in Orange County, CA last week and saw some pretty disturbing things. One of the coaches was laying on his side and was on the phone during the […]
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