The Power of a Good Coach

At the Roy High Royal Basketball games the starting line up throws out shirts or reusable grocery bags with a chance to play in the Les Schwab half-time challenge. My kids have been trying to catch one all season. My daughter finally caught one at the last home game. Our problem was I have two kids and only one ticket for the half-time show. The mission was a half court shot.  My son was trying to convince his sister that he could make the basket, because he made his bed that morning. He ate a good breakfast, and he passed his math test that day. He was sure the basketball gods would be with him. His sister wasn't buying it, but decided to ask if they could each take one throw and share the ticket.

I realized all the words my son was saying to his sister, were words that good coaches had said to him in the past. J had the opportunity to attend Weber State University's basketball camp and Coach Rahe told all the boys that the basketball gods smiled upon boys that made their beds, and the shot would go in every time. Coach Barns told the boys that they would do better in sports if they focused on their school work. Coach Whicker told the boys they needed to eat good food, or they would run out of energy before the game ended.

Billy Graham once said, "A coach will have more impact on young people in a year than the average person does in a life time."

So what makes a good coach? A survey found that teens want a coach that cares more about the team's moral than winning. They also found that teens want to play and improve more than wining. What surprised me most in this survey was that kids realized fun was the first three letters in fundamentals.

I once heard that sometimes to learn how to do something you must first learn what not to do. As a coach don't yell and belittle kids. Everyone needs to learn how to accept criticism, but positive words bring about positive feed back. Many psychologist say it takes at least five positives to one negative to rebuild confidence. My kid may never make it to the NFL but let him dream and be the best player he can be.

Parents Coaches want to serve the whole team. Don't tell them how to do their job. You could have signed up to coach the team. Start out with this habit while the kids are younger to prevent bad habits on your part before you child reaches high school. 

Getting along with each other is part of the game.