(BLOG 15) Top 20 Coaches Know Their “Big Why!”
Check out a quick video regarding this topic: https://youtu.be/CVyte6abN3A
Creating a positive learning culture is vital to classroom teachers, but it’s even more crucial to coaches. Let’s put it this way: there won’t be hundreds of people in the bleachers watching a math class this week…but they’ll be there Friday at the high school basketball game. Top 20 coaches are constantly aware of their real purpose: human development. They might be sidetracked from time to time by their short-range goals, but they develop the habit of coaching from their Big Why.
Most coaching clinics and trainings focus only on the How and the What of sports, drills, practice plans, strategies. Top 20 coaches are not only masters of their sports, but they are keenly aware of how their inner lives have a dramatic impact on their players.
As a classroom teacher for forty years, Top 20 Trainer and Co-Founder Tom Cody spent almost as much time coaching various grade school and high school boys’ and girls’ sports teams. Looking back at his experience, it is now painfully obvious to him that his best coaching came when his purpose was crystal clear,…and his worst moments were when he got caught up in his own ego and based his self-esteem on the wins and losses.
A coach will be a huge role model for his/her players. That powerful influence will have either a positive or negative impact on development of those young people. Top 20 coaches are aware of the high stakes involved in these circumstances. While the goals are important (there’s nothing wrong with trying to win), the purpose always, always takes center stage.
No young athlete will carry the awards, the victories or the championships with them into their adult lives. What will they keep forever? Star Qualities they developed during their athletic experiences: persistence, teamwork, courage, and self-discipline, to name a few. Coaches’ decisions, behaviors and non-verbal communications go a long way toward the development of these qualities,…or the lack thereof.
Top 20 Training offers sessions that deal directly with more effective coaching. For several years, we have partnered with the Minnesota State High School League and associate director Jody Redman to deliver trainings called “Why We Play.” These sessions are designed to help coaches, administrators, parents, and student-athletes become more aware of the Big Why behind youth sports.
Contact us to hear how we can open up this topic further with your coaches, students, faculty/staff, or business: info@top20training.com
