2020 PCA-Chicago Positive Impact Celebration
Just observing and doing a little coaching of my son’s teams and going to high school games, I’ll just say that there is a great need for the Positive Coaching Alliance. Having you guys continue to train, and getting coaches thinking about the big picture…I think these opportunities can be really positive and productive for kids, and constructive….or they can be pretty negative or pretty destructive. I’ve seen both ends of that spectrum. So the need for the kind of training this organization is doing is actually why I am here tonight, because I see the need.
On aligning the goals of Parents, Coaches and Athletes
I think too often parents are hoping for or living for dreams for their kids that aren’t realistic either. It’s all about the next step or whatever. I understand that sports can be the ticket out but it can’t be the only ticket. I guess the question is, who is the truth teller in those conversations? Just trying to have very honest conversations…those are the three right legs of the stool – the Coach, the Parent and the student-Athlete. What are realistic goals? What are we trying to do here? It’s one thing to talk, but then I watch coaches on the sidelines and I watch parents parent from the sidelines, and they lose their minds. And so how do you have a little discipline as adults and let kids be kids and just have some fun.
On creating a climate for success
Again the role models you had here as coaches tonight, were just fantastic. I think some of the things we talked about earlier just being very overt, honest and explicit about that the goal here is to grow as a person. The goal here is to become a great teammate. The goal here is to have some fun. The goal here is to work hard. The goal here is actually to fail. I think that’s a willingness to fail and to stretch yourself and to learn from that and pick yourself back up and keep going. Having those kinds of very honest conversations with parents and student-athletes I think at least starts to set a foundation for here are the rules and here are the goals for the season and then at the end of the year we can fairly evaluate did we make progress on those things. The irony, obviously, is that if you do those things well, I promise you the wins will follow. These things aren’t in conflict. That stuff actually creates a climate in which actual success on the playing field, or court, I believe is much, much higher.