The other night, I went to a banquet. It was an induction ceremony for the North Carolina Soccer Hall of Fame, and two North Carolina based teams that won national championships were being honored. One was the Greensboro United U15 girls team that won the US Youth Soccer Presidents Cup in 2011. The other was the Duke University 1986 NCAA championship team.
[Read more…]Lawnmower Parents Hurt Player Development
You’ve heard of Helicopter Parents, right? If not, they are the parents that hover over their children to the point of smothering.
These parents are common in sports. They are in near-constant contact with the coach, they pack and carry their kid’s bag, and they never have to tell their child to remember something because they’ve already taken care of it. [Read more…]
Coaches and the Seduction of Certainty
I came across a phrase the other day that caught my attention, and it got me thinking about a trap into which coaches easily fall.
After a little bit of success, loosely attributed to some correct decisions, coaches can start feeling pretty good about themselves. And that’s the point where the coach is susceptible to falling victim to the condition I read about. It’s called “The Seduction of Certainty.”