PCA Connector

Issue #6, October 2002

Welcome to Positive Coaching Alliance's Connector, the electronic newsletter designed to share good ideas throughout the PCA community and create a "social epidemic" of Positive Coaching. We encourage you to pass Connector along to help spread the message of Positive Coaching.

In this issue:

o Help PCA Change the Way the Game is Played

o PCA Grants for Soccer and Lacrosse Organizations

o Know a Great Coach? Tell PCA! Nominations Due November 30th.

o Positive Coaching Tip: "Ending Practice with a Tank Filler"

o PCA Offers Sports Parent Workshops to Corporations

o Fall 2002 Momentum available on-line: "Smoking Gun" featured

o Signs the Positive Coaching Epidemic is Spreading

-- From Hawaii, Oregon and Oklahoma

Help PCA Change the Way the Game is Played: Become a Charter Member Today!

PCA's Charter Membership campaign launches this month to replace the "win-at-all-cost" mentality with a culture that Honors the Game and provides each athlete with a positive, character-building experience. By becoming a PCA Charter Member, you can show your support for the Positive Coaching movement and help create a "social epidemic" of Positive Coaching that will sweep the country. Our goal is to impact 1 million youth by 2005. To reach this goal we need your help today.

Charter Members receive a number of great benefits, including an exclusive Charter Member shirt, subscription to our Momentum newsletter and discounts on PCA merchandise. For more information or to join, visit: http://www.positivecoach.org/membership.html.

PCA Grants for Soccer and Lacrosse Organizations

Two PCA National Partners are offering grants to help local youth sports organizations cover the costs of bringing PCA to their communities.

U.S. Soccer Foundation recently announced a grant program for soccer organizations around the country. Grant applications will be reviewed as they are received, so don't wait to apply to bring PCA to your organization. Apply at http://www.ussoccerfoundation.org.

US Lacrosse recently announced its third year of a grant program that already has brought PCA workshops to lacrosse clubs throughout the U.S. US Lacrosse will fund PCA workshops for 10 US Lacrosse chapters and youth leagues this year. Apply now as the November 1st deadline is quickly approaching! To find out more, visit http://www.lacrosse.org/partners.html.

PCA National Awards for Coaches and YSOs

Do you know a great coach? Then nominate him or her for the 2003 Positive Coaching Award Program, but do it now because nominations close on November 30, 2002.

Last March Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson helped honor six coaches from around the country who embody the spirit of "Double-Goal Coaching." To learn about last year's winners, see http://www.positivecoach.org/awards/2002/index.html.

PCA also honors youth sports organizations with the "Honoring the Game" Award.

The "Honoring the Game" award is for YSOs that have

1. Developed a strong organizational culture with a defined set of standards for coaches, parents, and athletes to live up to,

2. Established procedures to deal with individuals who don't abide by the standards, and

3. Begun developing an infrastructure to reinforce the culture over the long term.

To nominate a coach or YSO, go to http://www.positivecoach.org/awards/index.html and download the nomination form, or contact Cece Waters at 650-736-1564 or cece@positivecoach.org.

Applications for both awards must be received by November 30, 2002.

The Positive Coach's Toolkit: Ending Practice with a Tank-Filler

PCA recommends developing distinct opening and closing practice rituals to signal to players that your team has its own culture, its own way of doing things. Here's a tip on how to end practices with an Emotional Tank-Filler to make kids eager for the next practice.

Many great teachers end the school day with a question for each child as he or she leaves the room. It might be as simple as "What's your favorite food?" or "What's one thing you learned today?" or even "What's your favorite song?" This is a way to let each child know the teacher cares about what is important to him or her.

A closing practice ritual might see players line up before leaving the field or gym for a quick individual conversation with the coach who has a question for the day. Some possible questions:

o "On a scale of 1 to 10, how to you think practice went today?"

o "Favorite part of practice today? Why?"

o "Something you got better at this week in practice?"

o "Favorite sports team?"

o "Favorite athlete?"

o "What are your plans for the weekend?"

o "What class are you looking forward to the most tomorrow?"

o "What can you do to fill your parents' Emotional Tank when you get home?"

o "What do you want to work on to improve next practice?"

You can also do a quick E-Tank tally with each player: "How is your Emotional Tank right now?" And, you can remind them to apply the tools they are learning on your team to the rest of their life: "Do you think the ELM Tree can help you with your homework tonight?"

Ending practice with a Tank-Filling ritual can give them a boost as they leave the relatively sheltered environment of the team to go out into what for many kids is a hard-edged world.

Every issue of Connector features a practical coaching tip. Send us tips that have worked for you so we can share them with others. Send to connector@positivecoach.org.

PCA Offers Sports Parenting Workshops to Corporations

Estimates are that half of all boys and one-third of all girls play youth sports in the U.S. This means that large companies typically have a lot of employees with children involved in youth sports. And many of them feel unprepared to help their children get most from youth sports, which is why PCA is now offering Sports Parenting Workshops to companies.

Portland General Electric in Portland, Oregon, recently became the first PCA Corporate Training Partner when it offered PCA's Parent Workshop to its employees. One PGE employee who attended said "It's the best two hours I've spent in a long time." PGE Executive Vice President Fred Miller said "I suspect we will see some spin-off benefits as our managers and employees use more positive coaching techniques with each other."

If your company might be interested in offering PCA workshops to its employees, contact Jan Merryweather (jan@positivecoach.org) or (650) 736-1365.

Fall 2002 Momentum Available On Line: "Smoking Gun" Featured

The latest issue of Momentum is now available and can be downloaded at http://www.positivecoach.org/momentum/index.html.

Don't miss the lead story on Dr. Joan Duda's research at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney which uncovered a "smoking gun" that shows that Positive Coaches win more than win-at-all-cost coaches!

SIGNS THAT THE EPIDEMIC IS SPREADING

Jimmy Yagi writes from Hawaii:

"It works! A coach who took a local team to the RBI world series (Reviving Baseball in the Inner City--check this to make sure the this is right--it should be on the Major League Baseball web site) last month said he is using what he learned in June at our (PCA) coaches' workshop... they all had a great time at the tournament, less stress, more smiles, more fun, and they won more games than they ever had in the past."

Erik Burros from Portland, Oregon writes:

"I am president of Sun Creek Little League, a local partner of PCA here in Portland. Our 11-12 Major Boys team and 13-14 Junior Girls Softball team won the District IV Oregon Little League Sportsmanship trophies. We thank you for giving us the tools to help make our season one of the best ever."

Sandy Fischer, head softball coach at Oklahoma State University, contacted us to say:

" I just today was directed to your web site by a coaching friend of mine. I truly applaud what you are doing and have high hopes it will eventually become the norm for young people to enjoy life through sports, as opposed to being measured by it. I would love to be able to convince parents that it is okay to play for the love of the game and not the want or need for a scholarship. Parents today drive their children to earn their own way to college via the scholarships....a pressure they don't deserve, a pressure that blinds the parent to their child's true abilities. I believe all people are inherently good, and if we can once again tap into the goodness in sport, we are one step closer to recreating good values in our youth and parents."

Have you seen evidence that the Positive Coaching Epidemic is spreading? Share it with us! Send it to connector@positivecoach.org.

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