The PGC Blog

Being a student is a lot like being an athlete. To be the real thing you emulate the stars. Too few, however, are making any effort to emulate outstanding scholars. Plus, we don’t see many outstanding scholars on TV on Saturday afternoons…or do we?

Spirit is noise. A successful team must practice in a noisy, spirited atmosphere; otherwise, the players won’t work up to their potential, they won’t inspire each other, they won’t energize each other. Given the natural ebb and flow of anyone’s personality, feelings, and energy, you can expect every individual to experience some down time or at least some not-exactly-at-your-best time during the course of a practice. But this is much less likely to happen in an atmosphere where special efforts are being made to uplift each other.

Excerpted from a PGC/Glazier Coaching Clinic session in Los Angeles, CA. Tyler Coston spoke on How to Develop Leaders in Your Sports Program. Leadership is more than just doing the right thing.

You need to give your players a realistic opportunity to demonstrate their leadership. Give them some leeway, some space. Make all the corrections and criticisms that you have to. Just hold them for a defined period of time now and then so your players have a chance to show you what they can do. You can’t expect your players to take initiative if you are always taking it for them.

You are ruining your child’s experience. I know, I know, you are competitive. You are different. You and your child “have an understanding.” Whatever the story is that you tell yourself to justify your actions. Trust me, you are making things more difficult for your child, whether you know it or not. Quit being that parent in the stands that is the coach.

Why do so many players prepare for the season like they are playing the lottery? Why do we look at our future and hope something good happens? Instead, create a dream for your future, map out your direction, and create the discipline you need to develop championship habits.

Coaches, have you ever paused for a moment or taken the time to reflect on the balance you’re keeping between your family and coaching? I know that can be a tough question to ask yourself, but there may not be a more important one to consider. I challenge each of us to take a timeout today. A timeout to pause and reflect on our own lives. As we take this timeout, there are three basic steps that we must honestly contemplate in order to evaluate our coaching/family balance.

Process. Process. Process. You have probably heard it thrown around in the last several years when it comes to sports teams and their approach to success. It’s a “buzz word” that a lot of well-known coaches refer to all the time. Recently, I had the opportunity to hear one of these coaches, former Atlanta Falcons head coach Mike Smith, talk about this idea of process. What he said blew me away.