We put Youth First.
Reclaiming the role that youth sports plays in the development of our kids.
The Adults are First
The headline on the cover of the September 4, 2017 issue of Time Magazine reads: “CRAZY TRAVEL. CRAZY COSTS. CRAZY STRESS. HOW KIDS SPORTS TURNED PRO” The article begins with the subtitle, “How your kid’s rec league turned into a $15 billion industry.”
We have created youth sports systems that are performance driven and hyper-competitive, causing parents to invest enormous amounts of time and money into travel and club programs, private instruction and early sport specialization.
The professionalization of youth sports has taken what was designed to be child’s play and turned it into a grown up,
dog-eat-dog reality.
Chap Clark, a leading youth expert, writes in his book Hurt 2.0; “Every adult has been reared on the notion that youth sports build character. In light of what I have seen – the advancement of the best at the expense of the weak, the preference for the skilled even as the eyes of the awkward plead for a chance, the pressure of the parent who lives vicariously through his or her child’s “play” – little character is being built. I have observed just the opposite in fact. True character is built when one is rewarded for hard work, when one is willing to sacrifice for a friend or teammate, when one experiences the instilled value that proclaims the love of sport and not just the lust for competition. This is perhaps the most obvious arena in which abandonment has made its mark on the adolescent psyche. We still use the rhetoric that youth sports build character, yet what we have taught our children builds nothing other than arrogance, self-centeredness, and a performance ethic that is destructive to healthy, communally connected development.”
Help us put our Youth First.
What role should youth sports play?
According to leaders in youth development, youth sports should provide opportunities for exercise, making friends, gaining competence, building confidence, learning about teamwork, taking risks, developing character and self-discipline.
There is a growing body of research, led by the Aspen Institute, which is now supported and endorsed by all major governing bodies starting with the U.S. Olympic committee. (USA Hockey, USA Baseball, USA Wrestling, USA Basketball, USA Soccer, etc.)
“It’s all about building healthy communities.
If we are going to ensure that all kids have the chance to grow up fit and strong, we must, among other efforts, eliminate the barriers to sports participation. Childhood is the ideal time to prevent obesity, and none of the key strategies holds more promise in reducing obesity rates among children aged 6-12 than participation in after-school physical activity programs, according to a 2014 analysis published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. That’s especially true with black and Hispanic youth. We must find new ways to help young people enjoy being active every day—no matter where they live or how much money their families make. It’s critical that all kids have the opportunity to find and play sports they love.”
From the Aspen Institute Sports & Society Program – Project Play Report
Thermostat or Thermometer?
Why focus on Conduct and Sportsmanship?
Youth sports provide us with great learning experiences if we approach them with the proper perspective.
Our perspective is that how you play the game (your attitude, your effort, and your conduct) is more important, than whether you win or lose on the score board. Conduct and Sportsmanship are a choice. These are things that we can control. We can control them in practice, in a game, at home and at school. We can control them as players, coaches and as Mom & Dad in the stands. In fact, coaches and parents, we need to set the example for our kids.
When things are going our way, it is easy to go through the motions. But when things don’t go our way, having the proper perspective and making the right choices requires us to be intentional. Think of it this way; you can be like a thermometer and react to the environment around you OR you can be like a thermostat and choose to set your environment by managing your response.
For example, as a coach, I have learned that how I act when a call doesn’t go our way, directly affects how my players act. If I get upset because of a called strike and get on the umpire, what do you think my hitters are going to focus on? I have a responsibility
to set the temperature and maintain it when things are going good and when things are not going so well.
As a parent, it is a similar conversation. Do we focus on dissecting the game on the ride home, question the coach’s decisions, blaming the umpire? When we choose to focus on those things, what environment are we creating? How do our kids learn how to overcome adversity and get better?
I recently read a book written by Ohio State Football Coach, Urban Meyer – titled: Above the Line.
In summary, it is a great book about creating team culture. He describes Above the Line behavior as being Intentional, On purpose and Skillful. (Sounds like the Thermostat.) Below the Line behavior is described as Impulsive, On autopilot and Resistant. (Sounds like the Thermometer.)
One chapter in the book is titled the “R” factor. The chapter subtitle reads: “It’s not what happens that matters. It’s how you respond.” He has a formula for it: E + R = O.
Event + Response = Outcome.
Meyer says “it teaches us something very important about how life works. We don’t control the events in life, and we don’t directly control the outcomes. But we always have control over how we choose to respond. How we respond means everything.”
He says that the goal is to make their football player’s Response stronger that any Event they might encounter.
Simple examples of events that happen during a baseball/softball game:
Event = you are playing SS and the ball takes a bad hop and you make a fielding error – what is your Response?
Event = you are playing 3rd Base and the SS just made an error next to you – what is your Response to your teammate?
Event = you are at bat, the umpire calls the pitch “strike 2”, you thought it was low and outside, what is your Response?
Event = Mom & Dad, coach subs your son/daughter out of the game, what is your Response?
Those are just simple events that can happen during a game. In life, sometimes tough things happen to us, events that are out of our control and how we respond is really important.
Why focus on positive conduct and good sportsmanship? How you play the game will determine whether you win or lose - in life.
Thank you to the Walser Foundation, Federated Insurance, Pearson, Jostens, Cashwise Foods, Bennerotte & Associates, Jaguar Communications, The Retrofit Companies, the Minnesota Sports Federation, the MN Twins Community Fund, the Minnesota Timberwolves and MSU Mavericks for their support of the Youth 1st Team Awards program.
We put Youth 1st by connecting Conduct, Character and Community to youth activity programs.
Why focus on Conduct and Sportsmanship?
Youth sports provide us with great learning experiences if we approach them with the proper perspective.
Our perspective is that how you play the game (your attitude, your effort, and your conduct) is more important, than whether you win or lose on the score board. Conduct and Sportsmanship are a choice. These are things that we can control. We can control them in practice, in a game, at home and at school. We can control them as players, coaches and as Mom & Dad in the stands. In fact, coaches and parents, we need to set the example for our kids.
When things are going our way, it is easy to go through the motions. But when things don’t go our way, having the proper perspective and making the right choices requires us to be intentional. Think of it this way; you can be like a thermometer and react to the environment around you OR you can be like a thermostat and choose to set your environment by managing your response.
For example, as a coach, I have learned that how I act when a call doesn’t go our way, directly affects how my players act. If I get upset because of a called strike and get on the umpire, what do you think my hitters are going to focus on? I have a responsibility
to set the temperature and maintain it when things are going good and when things are not going so well.
As a parent, it is a similar conversation. Do we focus on dissecting the game on the ride home, question the coach’s decisions, blaming the umpire? When we choose to focus on those things, what environment are we creating? How do our kids learn how to overcome adversity and get better?
I recently read a book written by Ohio State Football Coach, Urban Meyer – titled: Above the Line.
In summary, it is a great book about creating team culture. He describes Above the Line behavior as being Intentional, On purpose and Skillful. (Sounds like the Thermostat.) Below the Line behavior is described as Impulsive, On autopilot and Resistant. (Sounds like the Thermometer.)
One chapter in the book is titled the “R” factor. The chapter subtitle reads: “It’s not what happens that matters. It’s how you respond.” He has a formula for it: E + R = O.
Event + Response = Outcome.
Meyer says “it teaches us something very important about how life works. We don’t control the events in life, and we don’t directly control the outcomes. But we always have control over how we choose to respond. How we respond means everything.”
He says that the goal is to make their football player’s Response stronger that any Event they might encounter.
Simple examples of events that happen during a baseball/softball game:
Event = you are playing SS and the ball takes a bad hop and you make a fielding error – what is your Response?
Event = you are playing 3rd Base and the SS just made an error next to you – what is your Response to your teammate?
Event = you are at bat, the umpire calls the pitch “strike 2”, you thought it was low and outside, what is your Response?
Event = Mom & Dad, coach subs your son/daughter out of the game, what is your Response?
Those are just simple events that can happen during a game. In life, sometimes tough things happen to us, events that are out of our control and how we respond is really important.
Why focus on positive conduct and good sportsmanship? How you play the game will determine whether you win or lose - in life.
Thank you to the Walser Foundation, Federated Insurance, Pearson, Jostens, Cashwise Foods, Bennerotte & Associates, Jaguar Communications, The Retrofit Companies, the Minnesota Sports Federation, the MN Twins Community Fund, the Minnesota Timberwolves and MSU Mavericks for their support of the Youth 1st Team Awards program.
We put Youth 1st by connecting Conduct, Character and Community to youth activity programs.
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