Play 'Em All: Allowing Kids to Play Multiple Sports

As a coach, let kids decide which sports they are going to play.
Don't make them pick.

Some coaches have rules against it. If it isn't directly stated, it is usually implied. Schedules are made so that there isn't room for anything else. You make kids choose. 

If you are like most coaches, your team isn't brimming with D1 talent that you can easily recognize in the seventh or eighth grade. A kid doesn't come into your office, or classroom, and say, "Coach, I want to dedicate myself only to (insert sport here) because I know I am that talented or dedicated that it will be my future." While some of you may have had this happen, most of us can't relate. 

The reality is that there are millions of kids who play ball who don't make it past high school.

Why make kids give up a sport sooner than they have to?

Don't!

High school and junior high especially are training grounds. It isn't until then that they can really give it an honest shot to choose one sport anyone. Just think, a kid playing youth ball that is voluntarily coached by a dad, you know, the one whose son is actually a guard, but somehow is the best QB on the team. How many times have you either seen or heard something like this happening. It's not until kids get an honest coaching shot, that they should even consider one sport over another. 

Let kids play 'em all. 

Kids should play everything. Not only does athletics build many of the character traits they will need for the rest of their lifetime, but it makes kids better athletes. A certain skill in one sport, can hone another skill in a different sport. Baseball requires that kids learn to see the ball and focus on it. Doesn't that help your wide receivers? Aren't good pitchers usually good QBs? A post player on the basketball team works one-on-one, using their hands all the time. Don't your defensive ends do this too? 

Have you ever heard a coach say, “I can't wait for my guys to come into summer camp out of shape? Lying on the couch all summer will surely give us an edge?" Of course not. Football coaches should want kids coming into camp that have been playing ball all summer, who are conditioned, and have been competing. Basketball coaches should want the same thing when the winter rolls around, right?

The only issue that could arise is other-sport practices while your sport is in season. Work this out with the coaches of the other sport. Create a cooperative system that benefits you both. It will benefit you both.

This shouldn't even apply to junior high. Let kids go to basketball practice on days when you don't have football. Let kids be kids and play them all. We have the opportunity to have summer workouts and conditioning early in the summer. The problem is that's the heart of baseball season in our area. I will hold off the beginning of my practices because I know that so many kids are playing baseball. Those that can make it, will. Those that have practices or games, they are excused as they are still in season.

Be telling a kid to pick a sport, they may be deciding between two things, or more, they already love. Let them decide when it is time to choose. In the mean time, tell them to, "Play 'Em All!"

Cool as Ice: Keeping Your Cool in Stressful Situations

Letting the ref know what colorful adjectives describe him. Taking out frustration on a headset. Slamming your hat into the ground. Grabbing a kid by the facemask.

Either you’ve done some of these things yourself, or you know someone who has.

Let’s face it, football is an emotionally-charged, ticking time-bomb.

It’s easy to let all of that emotion out. It can feel good, right? But does it make things better? Blowing off this steam may make you feel better, but your coaches, fans, and most importantly, your kids, may feel otherwise.

At some point in your career, you are going to be completely dumbfounded by something that a kid, or official does. It’s a guarantee. How you handle yourself in that situation has the power to define who you are as a coach. Blowing up, while it may prove a point, can have far greater negative implications that positive results.

Consider the following:

There is a game going on. A heated competition. Is that really the place to blow a gasket. While you are displaying your mastery of English semantics for the official, your QB is waiting for a call. Your team is falling behind. You lose the advantage of being steps ahead of your opponent. Unless there is a stoppage of play, you can’t afford to waste time with officials. Does this even work? Try talking to your wife that way. Ouch.

Does blowing up prove anything? It can. Don’t get me wrong, I think that in certain situations that over displaying emotion can serve a purpose. But it has to be used a tool, a specific, situational tool. You can’t scream, rant and throw things all the time, especially not during a contest. When it’s all you do, then it’s all people expect. Think of it like the boy who cried wolf. If you are constantly harping every call, or jerking kids around by the facemask (which I detest), there is no distinction of conduct. People write you off as angry and you don’t have a valid argument that you are not. Practice is the place to get it out. Tossing your playcall sheet when the offense isn’t executing shows your kids to get it together. Toss it during a game and your administration may be discussing conduct with you.

It’s hard on you. No coach wants to die from coaching, do they? Blood pressure spikes are for real. Some guys have to teach a class the next day, or play with their kids, and they need a voice to do it. It’s not worth it.

Here’s a scenario: Craig is your starting left tackle. He’s a kid with monster ability. You asked Craig to carry the football bag to the practice field. Instead, he gets someone else to do it. During practice, Craig sluffs through plays that are not called to his side. It’s time for team offense. You have two choices, A) scream at the guy, letting him know he isn’t doing his job and he better pick it up, or,  B) put someone else in. Both options are going teach Craig a lesson. Option A takes a great deal of effort on your part and then you hope he picks it up. Option B requires less of you, and shows him a consequence. Both teach. B is more effective because it teaches without you having to be a berating bad guy.

What effect does this have on your kids? This may not be something you have thought of, but kids, even the ones you aren’t blowing up on are, paying attention. If a kid is yelled at all of the time when he is at home, football may be all too familiar and uncomfortable. Aren’t we supposed to be role models? Don’t belittle kids. They don’t know as much as you. They aren’t as strong as you. They are not you. Find a way to relate before it’s too late. This is especially true in youth and junior high sports. An article by veteran coach and speaker Bruce Brown cites that “72 percent of athletes in America drop out of organized athletics by the age of 13.” 72 percent? That’s 7 out of 10 kids that play junior high ball that don’t make it to high school. Make them want to play football, not hate it. One of the greatest indicators of anger that we can perceive as humans is yelling. Don’t be angry. Be productive.

The bottom line is that if you want to get ahead, either on the field, or in relationships with your kids, coach smarter, not harder.