Have you ever had 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 or maybe even said that she loved your effort or hard work. When you reflect […]
Read MorePost Tagged with: "Positive Culture"
Providing Positive Feedback
When did you last take the time to provide positive feedback to your athletes? Was it last week, month, or year? Have you ever provided positive feedback as you are always “hard” on your athletes? Providing positive feedback, saying great job or thank you to an athlete may just make […]
Read MoreMercedes Petronas F1 Team Teamwork and Culture
Mercedes F1 team are one of the biggest teams and most successful teams winning seven constructor’schampionships in a row and have dominated the sport in the last decade. In 2010, the companybought the Brawn GP team, rebranding it as Mercedes and since then have been at the pinnacle ofthe sport. […]
Read MoreTeam Fearless!
In an environment where there is clearly a ‘safe space’ for all team members, there is ultimately a proficient leader in place. By establishing the best mindsets, behaviors, and climate, the good leader is building psychological safety. A positive team environment that has made provision for that safety as well […]
Read MoreValues
Values in any sports organization are extremely important. Values of the organization show coaches, staff, and athletes what is important for the organization. CEO, presidents, GMs, and coaches’ values show what they believe, what they have learned, and who they are. With all of these different values, from so many […]
Read MoreRisk and Camaraderie: How to Support Your Competitors
Sports Culture is often unique as you move from sport to sport. I know, this is news to everybody. (Sarcasm) But sometimes you come across certain individuals that express Sport Culture so uniquely that it makes you take a step back and rethink it yourself, for me that person is […]
Read MorePrime 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 impact the great sport of football. Deion Sanders is in his first year as head […]
Read MoreIf 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, […]
Read MoreIt’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 […]
Read MoreIt’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 […]
Read MoreWhen 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 […]
Read MoreTrust 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 for the government to allow sports participation. Once the government gave permission for practices and […]
Read MoreEmpathy, Comradery, Humanity
Sunday morning, I saw a CNN breaking news post on Twitter that Danish midfielder Christian Eriksen collapsed on the field during the Euro 2020 match against Finland in Copenhagen. He was given medical attention on the field as his teammates protectively encircled him to protect his privacy during his moment […]
Read MoreIn the ‘Pies Best Interests
The Magpie’s have had a horror time of it lately, The Do Better Report which was released in January this year, found the club guilty of ‘systemic racism’ while under Eddie McGuire as President and Nathan Buckley as Head Coach. Heated boardroom arguments and a less than sterling performance from […]
Read MoreParents Behaving Badly
How disappointing is it when it’s the parents behaving badly and ruining the fun for the children? Last Sunday an under 13s rugby league game left a 35-year-old father requiring facial surgery. A wild brawl is said to have broken out in which up to 20 people were involved. The […]
Read MoreInclusive Culture in Sports
“If you can play, you can play.” – Miami University men’s hockey team We’ve talked a lot about sexism, racism, even classism in sports, but of course there are many ways to exclude and disenfranchise people, and surprisingly in our seemingly enlightened times, it’s still very much an issue. I’m […]
Read MoreThe 5 Essentials for Becoming a Professional Sports Coach
The road to becoming a professional sports coach is a challenging one. There are many amateur sports coaches operating today without any formal qualifications. There have been, mainly in the past, some sports coaches at the highest level who have achieved outstanding results without being formally qualified. The question is, […]
Read MoreHope 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 […]
Read MoreYou 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 […]
Read MoreCan Sport Salvage Our Troubled Youth?
The teenaged years are so difficult, there is much to learn to become an independent adult and if there is no one there to help them to understand that mistakes do happen, and to help them learn to cope with the rollercoaster of emotions, that journey becomes overwhelming and fraught. […]
Read MoreTough Coach, Caring Coach
It is self-evident that the most effective sports coaches have a major influence, not only on their athletes but also on the sports organisation in which they coach. For sports coaches, especially those classed as ‘serial winners’, there exists what might be considered something of a paradox – that is, […]
Read MoreTeasing Out the Talent from the Chaos Within
Talent may not always have character and attitude,however attitude and character will always contain some level of talent. Bill Sweetenham (elite swim coach) swimmingscience.net 23 October 2017 Take a deep look at the eyes of coach John Mosley in Netflix’s Last Chance U: Basketball series as they meet the camera […]
Read MoreHow High: McDermott Sets the Bar
Not many athletes use the psychological tactic of a ‘rating system’ as a means of performance enhancement, in fact according to coach Matt Horsnell, most competitive athletes would find the system has the other effect on them. Australian high-jumper Nicola McDermott, however, calmly dissects her performance into different categories and […]
Read MoreLee Westwood and His “Secret Weapon”
One of the most talked-about names in golf recently has been somebody that most have not heard of, his name is Lee Westwood. Westwood is a 47-year-old Professional Golfer who has been in contention to win two of the last PGA events; the Arnold Palmer Classic and the Players Championship […]
Read More