Divorce Negotiations: the Frog & the Scorpion

Great story from Both Sides of the Table on negotiating. When the other side shows you who they are...believe them.

http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/2015/07/26/what-you-can-learn-from-a-scorpion/

Divorce & Sports Parenting: Seven Mental Roadblocks

The Seven Mental Roadblocks in Youth Sports:

Seven Mental Roadblocks.  If this is your child’s first sports season, review those areas where he or she has struggled making progress outside of sports (school work, chores, etc).  It usually involves a combination of these seven roadblocks:  procrastination; perfectionism; fear of failure; analysis paralysis; limited comfort zone; indecision, or complacency.  Expect to see these same roadblocks pop up in their athletic development.  Develop a plan to keep them motivated.

...More tips on sports parenting in Zero Offseason available @ www.amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com/Zero-Offseason-Divorce-Sports-Parenting-ebook/dp/B00PLY51RW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1439657599&sr=8-1&keywords=zero+offseason

NCAA Athletic Scholarship Odds

“Numbers Don’t Lie”

3% of high school athletes earn an athletic scholarship

1% of high school athletes earn a “4-year” D1 scholarship

25% of frosh athletic scholarship recipients are no longer on scholarship entering their sophomore year of college

80% of scholarship/financial aid are non-D1 level opportunities

.08%.  And finally, of the 1M plus high school football players only .08% will eventually make it to the NFL.  Those are…long odds.

More sports parenting tips in Zero Offseason, available @ www.amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com/Zero-Offseason-Student-Development-Recruiting-ebook/dp/B00XT6XAEK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1439217080&sr=8-2&keywords=zero+offseason

Student-Athlete Development & NCAA Recruiting: Burnout

Burnout & Breathing Room, part II

Here’s two classic examples of youth sports burnout:

Former tennis star, Jennifer Capriotti, started training for 6 hours per day…at age four.  Capriotti turned pro at age 13, by age 14 she was a top ten player on tour competing against hyper-competitive players a decade older than her.  At age 17 Capriotti dropped out of tennis.  Biographies on the rise and fall of this tennis prodigy point to Capriotti’s parents’ divorce and the resulting turmoil as a contributing cause of her fall.    

Imagine being one of the best in world in a chosen sport, making unbelievable amounts of money to play a game, all the fame and recognition, endorsements, and you just…walk away.  Burnout stole a big chunk of Capriotti’s career.  She came back to the tour years and achieved more success but she lost several productive, peak years due to burnout and stressors off the court.  Capriotti lacked a solid foundation to build from and fall back on when the off court events showed up.

Next, there was Todd Marinovich, aka “Robo Quarterback.”  At age three Marinovich was working on football strategy with his dad, at age four he was scheduled for routine practice sessions.  All that singular focus paid off initially – he went on to star at QB for USC.  Marinovich’s success made him a first-round pick by the Oakland Raiders and he completed a promising rookie season. 

But burnout caught up with Marinovich.  A well-chronicled series of off-field substance abuse and legal troubles robbed Marinovich of a promising career in the NFL.  Like Capriotti, Marinovich lacked a solid foundation to build from and fall back on when the inevitable off field struggles showed up. 

These are just two examples of burnout.  Of course there are many examples of youth athletes with singular focus from an early age that experience success without too much off-field trouble (Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps for example).  But for every Capriotti, Marinovich or Phelps there are hundreds of thousands of kids that won’t go pro, kids that just want to play a game after school.  And if a kid loves sports, but quits at age 13 from “burnout,” then that is a problem.  But it is a fixable problem – (1) sports parents must first get on the same page, and only then (2) align those parental goals with the athlete.  

Burnout is a thief.  Burnout steals all the great life skills that youth sports can teach.  It is up to the sports-parent to get on the same page and align their goals with that of the student-athlete.  And it is also up to the sports-parent to create breathing room and purposefully schedule downtime from competitive youth sports.

For more tips on student-athlete development & NCAA recruiting see Zero Offseason @ www.amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com/Zero-Offseason-Student-Development-Recruiting-ebook/dp/B00XT6XAEK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1438866729&sr=8-2&keywords=zero+offseason

Student-Athlete Development & NCAA Recruiting Tips

Evaluate - Burnout & Breathing Room

Roughly 70% of kids quit sports by age 13.

Kids stop playing sports for various reasons but the main reason cited is “burnout.”  Burnout by…age 13?

Test yourself again and again – first, are both parents on the same page regarding youth sports time, expenses and expectations?  Second, are the parents’ goals aligned with the student-athlete’s abilities and interests?

A study by i-9 Sports surveyed 400 working sports-moms on the impact of youth sports on the family.  The results?  Not so good. 

25% of sports-moms reported conflict with spouses over sports expenses and deciding which sports the child could play;

66% of sports-moms reported that youth sports interfered with work and promotions; and

76% of sports-moms reported that they were glad when season ended!

Kids are sponges.  They will pick up on parental conflict no matter how well the parents shield this from their child.  And if mom and dad are arguing back and forth on sports expectations that will obviously have a negative impact on how the youth athlete views playing sports.  Parental conflict is a contributing cause of burnout. This is why it is so important for sports parents to get on the same page before even thinking about hiring a personal coach, sports psychologist or nutritionist for the student-athlete.  Parental support is the foundation for anything else that follows.

Here’s two classic examples of youth sports burnout....to be continued...

More tips on student-athlete development & NCAA recruiting in Zero Offseason, available at www.Amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com/Zero-Offseason-Student-Development-Recruiting-ebook/dp/B00XT6XAEK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1438784308&sr=8-2&keywords=zero+offseason

 

 

Zero Offseason - Interview with WSJ's Small Biz Report

Very much appreciate the interview with Gordon Deal of the Wall Street Journal's "Small Business Report."  We covered my book Zero Offseason and the ABC's of Divorce & Sports Parenting.

If you pick up Zero Offseason @ Amazon thru Friday, Aug 7th email me and I'll send you a free PDF copy of the book to share with other sports parents, student-athletes and coaches.

www.amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com/Zero-Offseason-Divorce-Sports-Parenting-ebook/dp/B00PLY51RW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1438695625&sr=8-1&keywords=zero+offseason

Failure & Survivors

Good article from Both Sides of the Table re: grit, failure & entrepreneurs.

http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/2015/07/29/survivors/