Winning Youth Coaching Interview: Divorce and Sports Parenting

My recent interview with Winning Youth Coaching on divorce and sports parenting.

http://www.winningyouthcoaching.com/

Youth Sports - Specialization

Different Teammates and Coaches:  one of the problems with specialization is that athletically gifted kids end up in a social and athletic bubble – they see the same teammates and coaches year-round.    This creates entitlement and a narrow frame of reference for how to interact with teammates, classmates, teachers and coaches (or peers, co-workers and bosses down the road). 

Playing multiple sports allows the student-athlete to learn how to effectively work, collaborate and problem solve with different personalities.  And developing those relationship and communication skills might be the best reason of all to play multiple sports.

More sports parenting tips @ Zero Offseason and my book available @ Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Zero-Offseason-Divorce-Sports-Insanely-ebook/dp/B00PLY51RW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1419864677&sr=8-1&keywords=zero+offseason

 

Youth Football - Offseason Drills & the "Shiny Object" Syndrome

Game Situation: Every drill you practice in the offseason must directly apply to a game situation.  If the team runs a west-coast offense with three-step drops and quick passes, it doesn’t make sense to focus on running deep post routes and verticals all offseason.  Every drill should serve a purpose.  Explain the “why” behind every drill and how the skill learned applies in a game situation. 

There is an infinite number of offseason drills and a lot of coaches and sport-parents get sucked into a bad habit of running drills that have zero application to the team’s actual scheme.  The majority of those drills may not apply to what you should focus on.  Keep it simple.  You only need a few drills – avoid the “shiny object” syndrome.  Lots of drills look neat.  But if it doesn’t apply don’t use it. And again, this goes back to good communication with the coach.  Find out what to focus on in the offseason.

More sports parenting tips @ ZeroOffseason.com

http://www.amazon.com/Zero-Offseason-Divorce-Sports-Insanely-ebook/dp/B00PLY51RW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1419864677&sr=8-1&keywords=zero+offseason

NCAA Football Recruiting: Core Courses & GPA's

Why Core vs. Non-Core Course Designation Matters

It’s important to know the difference between core and non-core courses because only core courses are used to determine eligibility for athletic scholarships. 

An overall GPA may and probably will differ from the core course GPA.  For example, a student-athlete may graduate high school with an overall GPA of 2.8 and a core course GPA of 2.5.  The 2.5 core course GPA is what college recruiters and admissions departments will focus on when evaluating a student-athlete.  And these core courses start the freshman year of high school.

For more sports parenting info @ Zero Offseason

http://www.amazon.com/Zero-Offseason-Divorce-Sports-Insanely-ebook/dp/B00PLY51RW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1419864677&sr=8-1&keywords=zero+offseason

NCAA Football Recruits and Grades - New Reqs

New Athletic Qualifications Starting 2016

Can a student-athlete receive athletic scholarship money and play college sports if grades are not met?  Definitely…maybe.  Starting August 2016, for Division I entering freshman student-athletes, the following three-tiered qualification system applies:

Full Qualifier (all academic requirements are met):  this requires completing the 16 core courses, a 2.3 core course GPA, and the matching SAT/ACT score.  A “full-qualifier” student-athlete may receive athletic scholarship money and both practice and compete in games starting the freshman year of college.

Academic Redshirt:  this is the student-athlete that completes the 16 core courses, but with a core course GPA between 2.0-2.299 and the meets the sliding SAT/ACT score for that GPA. An “academic redshirt” may receive athletic scholarship money and practice with the team during the freshman year of college.  However, an academic redshirt may not play in games during the first year.  Also, the academic redshirt student-athlete must remain academically successful during the first term of college (completing 9 semester hours or 8 quarter hours) to be eligible to practice for the remainder of the year.

Non-Qualifier:  a “non-qualifier” is the student-athlete that falls short of the above academic standards.  A non-qualifier student-athlete cannot receive athletic scholarship money, cannot practice with the team, and cannot play in games during the first year of college.

NCAA Recruiting and Agents

“Agents”:  if there is one absolute in the recruiting game it is this – stay away from agents trying to build a relationship with your student-athlete. 

There is no faster way to destroying amateur eligibility and putting a black mark on your reputation than accepting representation, vague promises of future representation, or benefits like housing (see Reggie Bush) or cars from an agent to a student-athlete or family.  And with the immediacy and reach of social media any interaction by a student-athlete or family with an agent will get noticed. 

The NCAA bylaws strictly prohibit this student-athlete/agent relationship under § 12.3.1.1 and .2.  This includes both written and verbal arrangements and both present and casual promises of future representation after your son has completed his amateur eligibility in that sport.

Youth Football and Summer Camps

Summer Camps & Clinics

The great thing about summer camps and clinics is that camps and clinics allow the student-athlete to adjust and compete against new, unfamiliar competition.  It takes the athlete out of his or her comfort zone. 

Just don’t get caught up with “the Jones.”  Some parents lose perspective.  They’ll schedule their kids for back-to-back camps all summer. 

Catch yourself when you start thinking, “well, if the Jones’ send their daughter to three goalie camps, then we’ll send our daughter to four goalie camps to gain an edge.” 

At some point, the camp to camp to camp approach creates diminishing returns: (1) it becomes a waste of time and money and (2) it takes time away from digesting the skills learned. If an athlete only has enough time to work on technique but no time to digest and think through what was learned the retention and reinforcement is lost.  Breathing room is critical to athletic skill development.

More sports parenting tips @ Zero Offseason

http://www.amazon.com/Zero-Offseason-Divorce-Sports-Insanely-ebook/dp/B00PLY51RW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1419864677&sr=8-1&keywords=zero+offseason