Sports-Dad Sues High School Track Coach for $40M.

“Sports-Dad Sues High School Track Coach for $40M.”

True story!  A track dad sued his son’s coach and school when the student-athlete was removed from the team for unexcused absences.  Track dad claimed this harmed his son’s chances at a college scholarship.  But what college coach wants to deal with that family for next four years?  

When only 3% of high school athletes earn an athletic scholarship this is not the best approach for sports parents.

Offseason Preparation

Preparation matters.  A 20 minute Apple product launch presentation requires 250 hours of prep time.  That's probably the right approach for the offseason.

Divorce Court Sucks

Litigation sucks.  Nobody wins except the lawyers billing by the hour.

If going through a divorce, or modifying a parenting plan or child support order look for options that will keep your situation out of court.

One newish method is called "collaborative law."  It's usually, but not always a more effective and less expensive and less time consuming approach to solving family law disputes.

The Intl Academy of Collaborative Professionals link is below for review.

https://www.collaborativepractice.com/

Grit vs. Lazy Talent

Grit vs. Lazy Talent

Mental toughness beats lazy talent over time, every time.     

Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods had phenomenal, unreal athletic talent in their prime. But what made Jordan and Woods scary competitors, according to their peers, was their grit, mental toughness, resilience and tunnel-vision.  Jordan and Woods would simply outlast and gut it out longer than their competition.  This mindset causes the competition to pack it in early.  There was a great story about Jordan (after one of his many retirements) that almost immediately after ending his basketball career he would be out on the driving range before the sun came up practicing and practicing and practicing his golf game.  That is grit.

There is no mistaking who has the mental edge before kickoff.  Both teams know it.  No need to hire a body language expert to see who has is mentally prepared to dominate.  When the Seattle Seahawks destroyed the explosive Denver Broncos offense in the 2014 Super Bowl it was clear what team had the mental edge.  The Broncos set offensive league records that year in passing yards, points scored, touchdowns and games with 50+ points.   The Seahawks handled the Broncos 43-8. The Broncos had packed it in before the coin toss.

Encourage this mindset in your student-athlete - develop a mental edge and drive to outlast the competition.

Deflategate

...America hasn't seen Boston cheat like this since Kennedy stole Illinois in '62.

Go Hawks.

Head Coaching Tip: Listen to Assistant Coaches

Running a football team gets hectic and it's easy to become myopic about goals and strategies.  But is always pays to listen to the ideas from assistant coaches.  Take the time to hear different perspectives.

Here's one classic example of a leadership failure:

In the 1970's an engineer named Steve Sasson invented the first digital camera.  Steve got a patent for the digital photography technology and took his new business model to his employer.  His boss's response??? "Meh, not for us.  Pass."

And who was Steve's employer??? Yep, that would be Kodak!  Kodak had a 30 year head start on digital photography, failed to see a changing business model, and eventually went into bankruptcy.

....Make sure to carve out time during a busy schedule to listen to the ideas of assistant coaches.   

Divorce Self Help for CA Sports Parents

A good self help legal resource for California sports parents.

This covers divorce basics, form requirements and timing, parenting plans, child support, wills & trusts, and other issues that divorced sports parents need to know about.

...worth bookmarking...

http://www.courts.ca.gov/selfhelp.htm