Mission and Philosophy...
My mission as a coach and member of my community is to
enrich the educational experience of young athletes by providing leadership and
support for the conduct of both recreational and competitive athletics. As a
coach and educator I commit to supporting and organizing healthy and
educational activities in order to build the supporters and teachers of
tomorrow’s community leaders. Above all
other definitions a coach is an educator and as such they should promote activities
that provide lifelong and quality learning experiences to young athletes while
enhancing their achievement of educational success. In my view, athletics does not simply refer
to sport competitions between teams or individuals. Athletics are much more than the competition
that takes place on the field of play. Athletics are an ancient and important
life activity that can provide teaching and learning experiences for all
involved. These experiences and lessons relate as much to life and education as
they do to the outcome on a scoreboard. If we maintain a proper perspective on
athletics we should constantly remind each other of what is truly important in
life. We win through sports if we help to develop athletically successful
individuals and teams. More importantly, we win through life if we help to
develop socially successful and responsible individuals and teams. We lose by
all accounts if we measure success by wins and losses, and not the life lessons
being learned along the way.
By fostering community-wide Positive Youth Development through sport coaches help to promote some of the most desirable competencies in young people such as becoming a caring and ethical individual, developing a general sense of self-worth, having a positive future orientation, and learning how to adapt to different educational and working environments. Furthermore, coaches and youth sports administrators can help young people develop positive psychological attributes such as a sense of optimism and hope. They can help teach specific abilities and skills such as the ability to set goals and manage stress. In the sports setting, Positive Youth Development also includes learning and enjoying positive health habits and becoming physically fit. By fostering and promoting Positive Youth Development through sport coaches and administrators can help teach and promote those behavioral, cognitive, and interpersonal life skills that will enable young people to succeed in their communities over the course of their lifetimes. Just as important as the promotion of the development of these life skill competencies through sport is the necessity that coaches help to teach and promote the transfer of these skills to the non-sports settings in which they are used successfully. As youth sports stakeholders it is our responsibility to understand what is known about Positive Youth Development through sport and work to maximize the benefits of positive youth development in sport.
By fostering community-wide Positive Youth Development through sport coaches help to promote some of the most desirable competencies in young people such as becoming a caring and ethical individual, developing a general sense of self-worth, having a positive future orientation, and learning how to adapt to different educational and working environments. Furthermore, coaches and youth sports administrators can help young people develop positive psychological attributes such as a sense of optimism and hope. They can help teach specific abilities and skills such as the ability to set goals and manage stress. In the sports setting, Positive Youth Development also includes learning and enjoying positive health habits and becoming physically fit. By fostering and promoting Positive Youth Development through sport coaches and administrators can help teach and promote those behavioral, cognitive, and interpersonal life skills that will enable young people to succeed in their communities over the course of their lifetimes. Just as important as the promotion of the development of these life skill competencies through sport is the necessity that coaches help to teach and promote the transfer of these skills to the non-sports settings in which they are used successfully. As youth sports stakeholders it is our responsibility to understand what is known about Positive Youth Development through sport and work to maximize the benefits of positive youth development in sport.
The Teacher and the Student...
The duality of the teacher and student is like the rainbow
and the iceberg. Its initiate is a perception and appreciation of both the
visible and the invisible countenance of each thing that resides in this world.
The unseen half of the circle of the rainbow invites the mind's eye to a
meeting place somewhere over the horizon to that place where its many other hidden colors
reside in welcome. It's hidden expression startles and awakens the minds eye of those who seek it. The frozen crystal lattices of
the floating iceberg disappear below the surface of an ocean underneath the
grey windy skies of a dark and stormy seascape. The immense submerged
structures come forth from an icy and timeless abyss. They come forth to provide but glimpses of some greater transitory and yet
bottomless understanding of the world.
The quest in our odyssey for knowledge lies in finding those unique and unseen aspects
of the universe while simultaneously exploring their depths and their beautiful
reflective surfaces. Each of their forms
empower and strengthen us. The mystery of their wholeness and their
individuality speaks to us. Their truth,
beauty, and complexity are our gifts and our rewards. They offer in homage a deep and endless diversity of
color and perspective. Our eye
perceives an infinite progression of their beauty that brings forth a profound
vision of order and a timeless and unbroken mystical strength. Their formless boundaries are prisms of
enlightenment. Yet each perspective offers a unique and transforming vantage
along the cresting tidal waves of light beams that travelled across the mystery of the
universe to illuminate all of the world’s invisible ranges. Although we may not always fathom those
shrouded and boundless expressions of our world we will always seek them out
and when our paths do cross we will welcome them and then share in the gift of
their secret potential together.
Right and Wrong...
Once when a great teacher came to speak in the community, students from many parts of the country came to attend. There was a great excitement. It was said that the great teacher could appear in many different forms. To some the teacher had appeared as the great and shimmering black dragon whose knowledge and memory were as old and profound as time itself. To others the great teacher had come to them as but a child innocent and playful--a teacher of men. The day arrived and the teacher sat down amongst throngs of willing and eager students. During one of these gatherings a pupil was caught stealing. The matter was reported to the teacher with the request that the culprit be expelled from the gathering. The teacher ignored the case. On the next day the pupil was caught in a similar act, and again the teacher disregarded the matter. This angered the other pupils, who drew up a petition asking for the dismissal of the thief, stating that otherwise they would leave in a body. When the teacher had read the petition he called everyone before him. "You are wise brothers," he told them. "You know what is right and what is not right. Please, you may seek somewhere else to study if you wish, but this poor brother does not even know right from wrong. Who will teach him if I do not? I am going to keep him here even if all the rest of you leave." A torrent of tears cleansed the face of the brother who had stolen. All desire to steal had vanished.
Listen to Yourself...
Little Bug was going to a race. He was small but big at
heart. He was very excited to get to race other bugs because he thought that he
was the fastest. Little Bug arrived just
as the race was about to begin. He took
his place at the starting line when someone shouted, "You cannot do it,
you are too small!" But as Little
Bug raced on he noticed that he was passing many others who stopped to
rest. Little Bug did not stop as the
others continued shouting, "You cannot make it, you are too
small!" Then Little Bug crossed the
finish line coming in first place. He
was very happy. The others wondered how
he did it, especially those with all of the discouraging shouts. They did not know that Little Bug was deaf,
he could not hear that he was being told that he could not make it. Be deaf, like Little Bug to those who tell
you that you cannot do something. Only
you can tell yourself such things.