This Guide was created in
conjunction with Liberty Mutual and their Responsible Sports Program to be used
as a Quick Reference to help Coaches make their Team’s sporting experiences
more meaningful. This was taken from the following website: www.responsiblesports.com.
The
Liberty Mutual Responsible Sports program is designed for coaches across ALL sports
and aims to provide helpful advice and useful resources that can be applied
universally among youth athletes. As a youth sports coach, you naturally want
to prepare your team to win as many games as possible, and as a Responsible
Coach, you want to prepare your players to win off the field, too.
This
website will help you achieve both goals, just like the elite coaches Liberty
Mutual honors through its Coach of the Year Award for embodying what
responsibility can achieve in sports and in society.
Now
you can apply many of the same principles to get the most out of the youth
athletes you coach while giving the most back to them as a Responsible Coach.
Liberty
Mutual and Positive Coaching Alliance see a world of good possible from youth
and high school sports. For children to get the most from the experience, they
need Responsible Coaches and Responsible Sport Parents who communicate with
each other and with the athletes themselves.
You
should be a Responsible Coach because coaches are among the most influential
adults in the lives of youth athletes. In conjunction with parents and schools,
coaches are key to developing character in our
children.
Children
who are coached responsibly in sports achieve better grades, are less likely to
engage in dangerous behavior, live longer and healthier lives due to improved
fitness they carry forward from youth sports. Sports provide the ideal ‘virtual
classroom’ for teaching life lessons, if coaches prepare themselves to become
Responsible Coaches.
“There isn’t any other youth institution that equals sports as a
setting in which to develop character. There just isn’t. Sports are the perfect
setting because character is tested all the time.”
-
John Gardner, Presidential Medal of Freedom Winner and Founding
Member of Positive Coaching Alliance’s National Advisory Board
By now you may be wondering what we mean by "Responsible
Coach."
Let's begin by explaining what a Responsible Coach is not. A Responsible Coach
is not:
· Soft
· A source of empty, unearned praise
· Satisfied with everyone just having fun
Responsible Coaching actually is more difficult, challenging and
rewarding than coaching with a win-at-all-cost approach. In addition to
learning all you can about your sport, honing your "x's
and o's," and competing fiercely for wins, you
also are committed to:
· Ensuring player safety
· Placing education and character development before wins
· Coaching beyond the "X's and O's"
· Coaching athletes to master their sports
· Filling "Emotional Tanks" to improve performance and
instill love of sport
· Living and coaching by a code of Honoring the Game
· Personal commitment to coaching excellence – on and off the
field
· Commitment to constant development of personal coaching skills
· Collaborates and partners with other coaches for personal and
game improvement
· Maintains paramount concern for the health and safety of the
athletes
· Focuses on mastery of skills over winning; effort over outcome
· Fosters success through positive feedback, valuing teamwork and
consistently providing support to players
· Concerned for the development of the athlete as a whole person –
emotional, physical and intellectual
· Understands and embraces their role as mentor and role model
· Respects the rights, dignity and worth of every athlete and
treats everyone equally regardless of background or ability
· Upholds the spirit as well as the letter of the rules of the
game
· Respects all opponents, officials and opposing players
· Instills a love of the game to players and parents alike
We are providing this service because as a leading global
insurer and one of the largest home and auto insurers in the United States,
Liberty Mutual believes in the power of personal responsibility. Along with Positive
Coaching Alliance -- a national non-profit focused on teaching life lessons
through sport -- we cannot stress enough the importance of safety.
Driving to and from games and practices, overexposure to sun,
dehydration, exhaustion, faulty equipment, overuse injuries and those that
result from accidents on the field all present potential hazards. That's why
the number one characteristic of a Responsible Coach is ensuring player safety.
Make sure your players check with their family doctors to assess
player fitness before they begin any sport programs.
As you may have seen in the news recently, hydration is a big
issue in sports. Teach your athletes the importance of hydration – ask parents
to send their children to practice with water bottles, and as a coach, remind
players they should drink water throughout the day.
We all know nutrition is important. It becomes even more
important for our youth athletes who are burning lots of calories during
practices and games. Do your best to ensure your players are eating a balanced
diet and touch base with parents to make sure they're aware of special
nutritional needs before practices and games.
Make
sure the equipment used in practices and games is safe. Make sure players wear
adequate protective gear and examine all training and field equipment. Also,
teach players to use equipment only for its intended purpose.
Partner with your players' parents to ensure greater safety. For
example, ask parents to keep a first aid kit in their cars to supplement your
own first aid kit. Encourage parents to get certified in first-aid and CPR. You
can never have enough qualified hands in case of an emergency. A first-aid kit
and at least one adult trained and certified in first-aid and CPR should be
present at all practices and games.
We take driving safety seriously – and we know you do, too!
Anyone responsible for driving youth athletes to and from practices or games
should be licensed and insured. Consider updating your own insurance policy to
reflect carpooling care of passengers.
You cannot be a Responsible Coach without deep knowledge of your
sport. Know your X's and O's, as well as age-appropriate drills.
Then, realize there is much more to being a Responsible Coach.
Understand that the life lessons you teach your athletes will carry far beyond
the playing field. Preparing your players for competition entails imparting
values and strategies that will impact them long beyond their playing days.
Liberty Mutual is proud to partner with leading youth sport
organizations that provide the opportunity for youth athletes to play the
sports they love in safe, empowering and rewarding environments.
Liberty Mutual is proud to partner with USA Football to provide
Responsible Coaches with the football resources and support they need to create
outstanding football experiences for youth athletes.
USA Football is an independent non-profit organization whose
purpose is to support and expand football at all amateur levels. The first
national advocacy group created for this purpose, USA Football was launched in
December 2002 and received initial funding from the National Football League
and the NFL Players Association, through the NFL Youth Football Fund.
USA Football believes that the well-being of the sport depends
on a broad appreciation of the game, excellence in coaching, an emphasis on
safety and health, high levels of youth participation, and collaboration with
the many partner organizations involved in amateur football.
USA Football's website, www.usafootball.com, contains a wealth of information for first
time coaches on the X's and O's of football. Whether you are new to coaching
football or a seasoned veteran football coach, USA Football's Responsible
Coaching section includes invaluable tools and resources.
Tom
· Designing Meaningful Practices
· Game Day Organization & Game Plan
o Throwing
o Catching
o Quarterback Footwork
o Offensive Line Blocking
o Pass Rushing
o Offensive Positions
o Offensive Formations
o Hole Assignments
o Passing Plays
o Designing An Offensive Series
o Designing Your Pass Offense
o Passing Trees
o Offensive Running Series
o Defensive Alignments
o Individual DL Stunts
o DL Pass Stunts
o Designing Your Pass Defense
o Combo Inside Backer DL Stunts
o Special Teams Alignments
o Special Teams Positioning
o Kicking Off Techniques
o Coverage & Return
o Punt Protection & Coverage
o PAT's and Field Goals
In addition, USA Football has launched a revolutionary new
interactive online coaching course that educates youth football coaches on how
to properly teach the basic fundamentals of the game by using innovative 2D and
3D technology. Learn More »
Coaching Schools
USA Football's Youth Coaching Schools are designed to prepare
local youth football coaches with the ability to teach the game of football and
create a positive experience for their players, parents and assistant coaches. Learn
more
The best coaches build opportunities for character education
into their program, creating, recognizing and capitalizing on teachable
moments. They think about the following questions when it comes to their
players:
· If they fail, will they try again?
· Do they have the character necessary to persist?
· Will they be committed to helping to make their teammates
better?
· How can I encourage them to have the confidence and curiosity to
ask for and welcome feedback?
· When they succeed, do they rest on their laurels?
· Do they seek help to refine their skills even further?
· Will they compete in a way that makes their coaches, families
and themselves proud?
In sports, character is constantly tested. Therefore,
Responsible Coaches are character educators, able to take advantage of the
endless procession of teachable moments that sports provide. Beyond the X's and
O's, Responsible Coaches teach athletes life lessons in persistence, teamwork,
sacrifice, effort, empathy, discipline, leadership and overcoming adversity.
Teaching our players to be better at their sport is rewarding,
but not nearly as rewarding as feeling that we've actually helped shape the
values they will carry with them for the rest of their lives.
Consider
the following scenario ... What
Would You Do?
"I would tell my players that as long as they try as hard
as they can against #54, I will be proud of them. Ultimately we cannot control
the final score of the game, but we can control how hard we try, and if they
give me all they've got, that's all I can really ask for."
- Ron, Youth Football Coach (U12), Sacramento, CA
"I would say: Some of you may know about that big number
54. He'll make his plays, but let's not focus on him. Let's stay focused on
executing what we've practiced all season."
- Rodney, Youth Football Coach (U14), New Castle, Delaware
"I think I'd tell my team that although we're playing a
tough team and a tough player, it is a great opportunity to prove things about
ourselves and to ourselves. Honestly, it may hurt when 54 hits, but it will
hurt more if we're tentative and afraid of making mistakes."
- Joe, Youth Football Coach (U10), Chicago, IL
"I'd start by asking my players if they were nervous. I'm
guessing most of them would be. Then I would tell them that it's OK to be
nervous. In fact, I would be wondering what was wrong if they were not nervous.
Everyone gets nervous before a big game, and if they were not nervous, I would
question if they really cared. Then I would tell them to use the adrenaline that
nervousness produces to our advantage. We have nothing to lose in this game, so
let's give everything we've got!"
- John, Youth Football Coach (U8), Honolulu, HI
"I'd do my homework on #54, so I could give my players a
special insight/trick when it comes to #54. I would have scouted him enough to
find one or two weaknesses that I could give to my players to make them feel
like they have an edge."
- Steve, High School Football Coach, San Mateo, CA
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"Did you win?"
Our society tends to put scoreboard results ahead of everything
else. Responsible Coaches care about the scoreboard, but they care even more
deeply about instilling a Mastery approach in their athletes, which will help
them win throughout their lives.
A simple way to remember the three keys to the Mastery approach
is the acronym, ELM, where ELM stands for Effort, Learning and Mistakes:
1. Effort -- always give 100%
2. Learning -- improve
constantly as you gain more knowledge
3. Mistakes are OK --
mistakes are how we learn.
Research shows that when coaches focus solely on the scoreboard,
players' anxiety increases. Athletes spend more of their precious emotional
energy worrying about whether they will lose. Higher anxiety causes them to
make more mistakes because they play tentatively and timidly.
Ultimately, anxiety undercuts self-confidence, which affects
performance and takes the joy out of sports.
Why does the focus on the scoreboard increase anxiety? Because
players can't control the outcome on the scoreboard! And players become anxious
about things that are important to them that they can't control. A win on the
scoreboard depends a great deal on the quality of the opponent, which is
outside of the control of the athlete or team.
Sports psychology research shows that teams and athletes who
take the ELM Mastery approach (giving 100% effort, constantly learning, and
bouncing back from mistakes) consistently win more contests. By moving your
team's focus off their scoreboard results and on to their effort, you'll have
happier, more self- confident players, and the wins will come.
At the start of the season, let your players know that:
1. You will always be proud of them as long as they give 100% effort
(regardless of the outcome on the scoreboard).
2. You want each one of them to constantly strive to learn and improve.
This involves them comparing their own performance to their own performance
(i.e. Are they better than they were two weeks ago?).
3. Mistakes are an inevitable part of the game. If they are giving
100% and trying new things (as they strive to improve), mistakes are bound to
occur, and your best players are those who find ways
to quickly bounce back
from mistakes.
4. Teams that focus on giving their full effort, constantly
learning and improving, and bouncing back from mistakes, actually win more than
teams who consistently focus on the scoreboard.
5. You want a team that focuses on the ELM Tree of Mastery (Effort,
Learning and Mistakes) because players who do this well are less anxious on the
field and have a greater
sense of confidence in themselves and their abilities.
Responsible Coaches conduct themselves by a code, which Positive
Coaching Alliance calls "Honoring the Game." To remember components
of this code, remind yourself and your players that Honoring
the Game means respecting the sport's ROOTS, where ROOTS stands for Rules,
Opponents, Officials, Teammates and Self.
This aspect of Responsible Coaching lets you lead by example.
When your players and their parents see you keep your temper in check, for
example, when an official misses a call, they are more likely to check their
own tempers.
It is important in stressful situations in a game for
Responsible Coaches to have-- and practice -- a self-control routine. For
example:
· take a deep breath,
· remind yourself of the discipline required NOT to react
· engage
in self-talk ("I need to be a role model. I can rise above this!")
· turn away from the action
· count
to 20 (or 50!),
· quickly refocus on the next play.
Later, you can use the experience as a teachable moment with
your players: "I was pretty upset with what happened, but I controlled
myself so I wouldn't do anything that would dishonor the game. And that's an
important lesson I want you to learn from sports -- how to develop your own
self-control so you will always Honor the Game no matter what."
Do you think there is an effective way to approach an official
after a bad call? Depending on your sport, you may be able to ask officials,
"Can you let me know what you saw on that last play?" By staying
calm, keeping your voice low, giving the official plenty of space and asking a
question about what they saw (rather than outright questioning the accuracy of
their call), you'll have the best chance of having a constructive interaction
with the official.
Because today's youth sports environment can so often be
volatile, and even violent, it is important to prevent any outraged coach,
player or parent from boiling over. The most distressing part of the pro,
college and youth sports incidents that make Positive Coaching Alliance's
annual Bottom 10 Moments in Sports is that too many
youth athletes, coaches and parents emulate those examples.
At the start of the season, let your players know you want to
coach a team that Honors the Game. Honoring the Game means that your team will
have respect for the ROOTS of the game:
· We refuse to bend/break the rules to win.
· We value and recognize that a worthy opponent brings out our
best, and we take a "fierce and friendly" attitude into competition.
· We respect officials even when we disagree with them.
· We never do anything to embarrass our team (on or off the
field).
· We live up to our standards of Honoring
the Game, even when others don't.
Here are some ideas to help you implement the ROOTS philosophy:
A pre-season parent meeting is a wise investment. People tend to
live up to expectations if they know them. A meeting can help mold the behavior
of your players' parents. Follow this general outline:
1. Welcome and Introductions
2. Your Coaching Philosophy
3. Goals for the Season (present yours and ask for theirs)
4. Logistics (practice/games schedules, phone/email lists, etc.)
5. Asking for Parent Volunteers
6. Time for Parent Questions.
Capitalize on the many instances during your practices and games
-- or in media coverage of college and professional sports -- when lessons
about Honoring the Game can be highlighted. These can
be either positive or negative moments, such as someone losing graciously
(positive), or an athlete taunting an opponent (negative). Engage your players
in a discussion about whether the behavior in question Honors the Game.
Just as we develop drills for improving physical skills, we must
create situations in practice where players learn how to Honor the Game. For
example, during a practice game, make a bad call on purpose and see how your
players react
If they react in a way that is consistent with Honoring the Game, praise them. If they don't, use that
moment to discuss how you want them to respond in a game situation (e. g., not
letting the questionable call throw them out of their rhythm). You might also
consider having your players to officiate during practice games to appreciate
the difficulty of being an official.