coachKidsSports.com

Confidence is contagious. So is lack of confidence. - Vince Lombardi

I spent the weekend talking to the people with the Positive Coaching Alliance.  I've written about this organization before in connection with the book Double Goal Coach.  The double goals are 1) Winning and 2) Using sports to teach kids life lessons. 

PCS's mission tracks closely with my belief that a coach's priorities are:

1. Teaching the kids
2. Creating a fun atmosphere
3. Winning games

And the kids priorities are:

1. Winning games
2. Having fun
3. Learning the game

The way PCA puts it:

PCA was created to transform the culture of youth sports to give all young athletes the opportunity for a positive, character-building experience.
We have three national goals:

1. To replace the "win-at-all-cost" model of coaching with the "Double-Goal Coach" who wants to win but has a second, more important, goal of using sports to teach life lessons
2. To teach youth sports organization leaders how to create an organizational culture in which Honoring the Game is the norm
3. To spark and fuel a "social epidemic" of Positive Coaching that will sweep this country

I'll write more about them in the coming days.  Today take some time and check out their site.  They have several tools to help you teach your kids in a positive way.  One of the best is Positive Charting.  You create a chart for each player along with the activity you want to track.  Have an assistant coach track the game and give each kid a mark when they do the activity you are tracking.  After the game or at the next practice you can use the charts to reinforce what the kids did in the game.

Positive Charting is only one of the tools PCA has to implement positive coaching.  Over the weekend we talked about several others that are all part of a PCA Double Goal Coach clinic.  Do yourself a favor and go to one of these clinics if you have the chance to attend.