Coach Education

Dr. Amanda Visek joined the podcast to discuss her well-known work on what kids want from sports and coaches.We discuss how she became interested in what kids want and delve into the methodology of how she interviewed kids to create the list and factors many of us have come to know.One of the highlights was discussing how all the items listed play some role in a kid having a fun experience. So while somethings were lower rated, they still play a role in fun. I liken the list to a stew where leaving out one ingredient will not ruin the stew, but it does not taste as good as it could with all the ingredients.We also get into a little of her research with Swedish youth basketball and hockey players.You can follow Amanda on Twitter at AJVisek.

On the podcast we discuss John’s new book, Every Moment Matters. This is not the usual how to run a practice book; it addresses the intrapersonal and interpersonal aspects of coaching.The book has four sections that discussWhy Do I Coach?How Do I Coach?How Does It Feel to Be Coached by Me?A New Definition of SuccessJohn discusses a moment as a coach that was an early step in his transformation as a coach that eventually led to him starting Changing the Game Project.John reminds us that we coach a person, not a sport and how such a philosophy is critical to making youth sports a positive experience.In the book, John shares many examples of high level coaches using principles that are applicable to coaches at all levels such as developing a coaching philosophy that is true to you.You can follow Changing the Game Project on Twitter @CTGProjectHQ

This month’s podcast features Doug Lemov, Erica Woolway and Katie Yezzi from Teach Like a Champion. They collaborated on a book, Practice Perfect, that promotes the concept of teachers practicing skills to make them better classroom managers and teachers.For years Teach Like a Champion conferences were heavy on traditional teaching, but it was missing a big piece: Checking for Understanding. Also, while attendees were exposed to great ideas and ways to teach, they often went back to their schools unable to put into practice what they had learned.Doug and crew decided to change how the workshops are run and give teachers a chance to practice the new skills and get feedback from their peers and the facilitators on what was effective and things to try next time.During the podcast, we discuss Doug’s journey to create Teach Like a Champion and the revelation concerning the “get it, do it” gap.We discuss checking for understanding, the role of forgetting, and how all this can apply to coaches and coach developers.For more information, please visit Teach Like a Champion.Doug is on Twitter @doug_lemov.Katie is @ktyezzi.Erica is @ericawoolwayTeach Like a Champion is @teachlikeachampion

In this episode I am joined by Ken Martel and Bill McCall (in separate inteviews). Ken is the Technical Director for the USA Hockey American Development Model (ADM) and involved in coach development. He has been a guest on the brother podcast to this one (SmartercoachingLLC) to talk about the ADM.Bill works “in the field” for USA Hockey putting on coaching clinics. Bill has also coached lacrosse and track and field and has been through the US Lacrosse and USATF coaching certification courses.With Ken I discuss some of the big picture changes coming from USAH. With Bill I discuss his experience in a recent workshop to train the USA Hockey coach developers in a new way to present educational clinics. My guess is that if you have attended most coaching clinics it involved a person standing on a stage or in the front of the room with a whole lot of Powerpoint slides pontificating about the “right” way to do whatever the topic is. Well, USA Hockey is working toward a different approach. Ken talks about some of the big changes, and Bill talks about how he has already taken some of the ideas and started implementing them in the coaching courses and in his day job.If you want to hear another perspective on very similar training, I talked with Kristen Wright in episode 024 about the training session that she and I attended.If you want to learn more about the USA Hockey ADM, check out episode 003 of this podcast with Kevin McLaughlin and/or episode 008 of the Smartercoaching podcast with Ken Martel.

As folks may remember from the earlier podcast (episode 013) for the US Center for Coaching Excellence, you were a multi-sport kid through high school and went on to be a punter for Purdue and in the NFL. I also know that you have completed several triathlonsOk, let’s delve into the survey. I think many of us know that survey results can be misinterpreted or misunderstood. Let’s get into the methods. While methods are boring to a lot of folks, I think they are kind of important in providing context to the survey and understanding its limitations. For instance, who was surveyed? How were they found? How representative of the population are they?The big message is that the average kid who is involved in sports stops playing at age 11. Project Play has created a campaign around #Dontretirekid.How do the results of this survey compare to previous surveys? (I had seen previous ages of kids quitting to be 13).Another number from the survey was that the average spending per year was just under $700 per child PER Sport with a HUGE range ($0-35,000). The question I have there is was the median around $700? Also, when I first saw this reported I saw it as $700 per child per year and I thought “well that seems really reasonable” but if that is per sport then a multi-sport kid means $2100 on average.Do we have average spending from previous years? If so, where does this fall when adjusted for inflation ( if it is older info)?Any data or anecdotal evidence on what is causing the early dropout? If not, any thoughts based on the survey data?https://www.aspenprojectplay.org/national-youth-sport-survey-1 (Link to Project Play tables)Utah State University Families in Sport LabTo find Travis on Twitter, @BigSkyBoiler

This episode with Claudia Reardon, MD is being hosted both on the USCCE podcast feed and the Smartercoaching feed because I think it is a really important topic. During the podcast we cover the following topics and then some. Mental health is pretty broad and future episodes will address many of the topics not addressed in this episode.What was the catalyst for forming this committee to create the consensus statement?Who were the people on the committee in terms of backgrounds and expertise?How does cultural/ethnicity impact the diagnosis or for coaches in recognizing symptoms?What are the mental health issues the paper addresses? What are the issues that may have greater prevalence in the athlete population than in the general population?What about the distribution of issues amongst sports types (combat, aesthetic, CGS, team, etc.)?What should coaches, trainers, et al., be on the look out for?What recommendations do you make for sport organizations from clubs, teams and NGBs, NOCs?How do we distinguish between overtraining/overreaching and depression since the symptoms can be similar?Let's focus on depression and suicide, what are the symptoms of depression?What makes depression different from just having a rough day or two or perhaps dealing with a life event (retirement, major competition loss or loss of a loved one)? What are signs of suicide?If I am in a person's life (athlete or not), what can I do if I suspect the person is considering suicide.LinksIOC Consensus StatementNCAA ResourcesAbout Dr. Reardon

For the June 2019 podcast, I talked with Troy Engle. Troy is an American track and field coach who is now working in Singapore. He has been involved with developing the Singapore coaching education and development system and has also recently moved into working with academies.We discuss his past coaching experience in the US from being a college track and field coach to a Paralympic coach.Troy attended the NSSU Coach Development program that he describes as a life changing experience. The USCCE/ICCE Coach Developer Academy is modeled on this program (albeit in a shortened format).We discuss the sporting culture in Singapore where a challenge is to change the view that sport is just something kids do (more my words than Troy’s). We also discuss the other challenges and opportunities in Singapore.Troy can be found on Twitter @CoachTroyEngle

In this excerpt from Episode 023, Kristen Wright and I (Sam Callan) discuss our experience at the Coach Developer Academy workshop put on for USA Hockey in April 2019.We discuss what we expected and what we got out of it. Kristen talked about how the active listening and review and feedback process were her takeaways. I shared that I had heard it was a long and draining few days. For me the micro-coaching was a great experience.To learn more about the Coach Developer Academy process, visit the USCCE website.

Kristen Wright, the ADM Manager for Female Hockey, joins the podcast to discuss her youth sports experience (multi-sport athlete) and playing hockey on all-girls and co-ed teams as a junior. She played in college at Connecticut College and later was an assistant coach at CU-Boulder. She shares her experience being the same age or younger than some of the women she was coaching at the time.We discuss how she became involved at USA Hockey and her role as the ADM Manager for Female Hockey. She provides a short description of the USA Hockey ADM program (for a deeper dive see the links below).Kristen talks about her experience as an assistant coach at a Colorado Springs high school for its boy’s hockey team and dealing with teenage boys (bless her!) and how she took to the philosophy that you have to show them you care first.We finish up with a discussion about the Teaching and Facilitation workshop that she and I attended (thanks USA Hockey for letting me crash your workshop). We both share our experiences and takeaways. She really took away the art of active listening and the feedback process. (This part of the interview is also available as a stand alone audio both in the podcast and on the USCCE website).LinksKristen Wright bioUSA Hockey American Development ModelLink to an interview with Ken Martel from USA Hockey on the ADM program.Link to an interview with Kevin McLaughlin from USA Hockey on the ADM implementationTeaching and Facilitation Workshop information

I talk with Jennifer Royer, the Director for TrueSport Programming and Olympic Education, about the mission of TrueSport.It takes all of my strength not to wander off and talk about US history.About 10 years ago, USADA did a research project on What Sports Means in America. The report pointed out why parents put their kids in sports is disconnected from the experience that the kids actually experience in sport.TrueSport’s mission is to alter the culture back to where it ought to be.TrueSport seeks to provide resources for coaches, parents and athletes. Subscribe to the TrueSport newsletter!The cornerstones are sportsmanship, clean and healthy performance, and life skills. Lessons are available in areas like teamwork, ethics and nutritional information. TrueSport provides the options of having someone come out to a camp or club for a deeper dive into the above topics. (This is a fee-for-service option).We discuss the TrueSport Ambassador program and how it focuses on character development. The Ambassadors are Olympians, Paralympians or hopefuls. They believe in the power of sport.TrueSport has online modules for coaches.You can find TrueSport on Facebook. Also on Twitter, @TrueSport.We talked about mental health as a growing concern among youth sports. The NCAA has some excellent resources.(Lastly I apologize for my sniffles and coughing—-I thought I had muted my mic).

Diane Culver, PhD, from the University of Ottawa, discusses communities of practice in coaching education.We discuss a history of social learning theory and how this was once a common way people learned including guilds and apprenticeships.We discussed the requirements to develop a community of practice including creating value and learning imperatives. Some of the key attributes for a successful community of practice include:People checking their egos at the doorPeople willing to shareThat it does not have to lead to complete agreement by everyoneIt needs to be a judgment free zoneDiane highly recommends a workshop from Wenger-Traynor to learn about communities of practice and facilitation.You can follow Diane on Twitter at di_culver.

Joe Eisenmann, PhD left academia to put what he had studied as a pediatric exercise physiologist into practice. Joe is currently working for Volt Athletics along with consulting for some companies and a guest lecturer at Leeds-Becket University.Joe is not one to hold back on his criticisms when it comes to a lack of implementation of long-term athlete development.We discuss:His sports, academic, and professional backgroundThe bases for LTAD from the old Soviet Union through Bompa and BalyiThe science, such as it is, behind LTAD.The limitations and potential pitfalls in the LTAD modelWhat we are missing out on when it comes to LTAD (hint: system alignment and integration)The LTAD Playgrounds that Joe, Rick Howard and Tony Moreno are hosting around the country

Daniel Pink, the author of "Drive", "When" and "To Sell Is Human" is this month's guest.We discuss the new ABCs of sales: Attunement, Buoyancy, and Clarity. Attunement is the ability to look at something from another person's perspective and involves what Pink calls the curse of knowledge. Buoyancy is accepting rejection. Clarity is finding the right problem to solve.Daniel shares his findings from Drive about motivation. Human motivation is pretty complex and involves biological motivations (e.g., eating), Rewards and Punishment, and also we do things because we intrinsically like to do them. So how can rewarding someone for something he/she likes to do backfire? We also discuss autonomy, mastery and purpose as it relates to coaching and athletes.We finish up talking about the subject of "When" (out in paperback on January 9, 2019) about learning your best time to do different tasks. A key here is that how you end a task, like practice, has an important effect on how people view the entire practice. Hint: end on a positive note.You can learn more about Daniel Pink at www.danielpink.com and follow him on Twitter @danielpinkwww.danielpink.comWhy You Should Always Skip Your Kids' Baseball GamesYouTube Video Version

Kristi Erdal, PhD is a professor at Colorado College. We speak about her recently published book, The Adulteration of Children's Sports. The book is published by Lexington Books and can be found at https://rowman.com/lexington. Use the discount code LEXAUTH18 to receive a 30% discount!!!!!We discuss:What led her to write the book?What are the key takeaways?How did we get to where we are where youth sports are worth in excess of $10 billion and are adult led?What happens to kids when adults get it wrong in youth sports? What can we do to "turn the ship"?LinksProject Play talksUS Center for Coaching Excellence Summit InformationKristi Erdal Bio

Sergio Lara-Bercial, PhD is a reader at Leeds Beckett University and also involved with the International Council for Coaching Excellence (ICCE) and the iCoachKids program. Sergio is a retired professional basketball player and former Team GB women’s basketball coach. He earned his PhD in Positive Youth Development in 2018.During our conversation Sergio talks about the etymology of “coach” and says about coaching that it is “the vehicle for someone else’s journey”.We discuss:His background as a player and transition to a coachHis interviews with coaches who are “serial winners” from across sports. Human Kinetics has a webinar with Sergio on his work.How he became focused on youth sports after a career in high performance sport and the gap that he saw in working with 5 to 12 year oldsThe iCoachKids project and the upcoming MOOCs with the first one set to launch in late 2018.MOOC #1 Developing Effective Environments for Youth SportMOOC #2 Child & Youth Centred CoachingMOOC #3 Coaching Children: Planning, Doing and ReviewingThe iCoachKids literature review is also available with a practical guide.Sergio tweets from @DrSergioLaraUKYou might also be interested in following @iCoachKidsEU on twitter as well.Another website of interest might be www.coachlearn.eu.

Kristen Dieffenbach, PhD, the President of the US Center for Coaching Excellence (USCCE), joined me to discuss the state of the USCCE, good things happening in coaching education, and what we as coach developers can do going forward.The USCCE is partnering with many organizations including the International Council for Coaching Excellence (ICCE) to offer the ICCE Coach Developers Academy here in the U.S. The USCCE is working with a publisher on a book series on coaching; if you are interested in writing a book, please visit the USCCE website for more information. Kristen talked about the free Raise the Bar program that allows organizations to commit to provide quality coaching.We moved into some of the good things happening in coaching education amid all the not so good news about bad coaching behavior. We discuss Project Play and the Knight Commission as well.We wrapped up with what we can be doing better moving forward.Of course, all are invited to attend the USCCE Coach Developer Summit in Colorado Springs, CO June 17-19, 2019. If you are interested in being part of the ICCE Academy you can apply for that as well. The ICCE/USCCE Academy will be held June 14-16, 2019 in Colorado Springs.Links of interestUSCCE Coach Developer SummitProject Play 8 PlaysThe ICCE/USCCE Coach Developer AcademyTo reach Kristen at the USCCE, her email is info@uscoachexcellence.org

Lori Gano-Overway, PhD has been involved in developing national coaching standards.Lori discusses the origins, history and purpose of the national coaching standards starting with their development under AAHPERD, now SHAPE America and its progression to NCACE under the USCCE. (She also explains the alphabet soup).The national standards are currently under revision and will be open to review until the end of October 2018. They can be found at the SHAPE America website. The revised standards are scheduled to be unveiled in April 2019 at the SHAPE America.

On this special episode recorded in March 2018, I speak with three professors who head up coaching education programs at Xavier University, University of Denver and Michigan State University.We discuss their programs, how they came to be and what they hope to gain.All three have a masters in coaching program that are largely online.If you are interested in pursuing a masters degree in coaching, this interview might offer some insights into what to expect even if you are interested in a program at another university.The guests are Brian Gearity from University of Denver, Ron Quinn from Xavier University, and Andy Driska from Michigan State University.

Travis Dorsch, PhD, is the founder of the Families in Sport Lab at Utah State University. Travis was a consensus All-American punter at Purdue University and former NFL player. Current research includes a complementary focus on: (a) the role of youth sport participation on family relationships and family interaction (i.e., sport socialization); (b) Evidence-based parent education in competitive sport, in youth, adolescent, and early adult settings; and (c) the role of internal factors (e.g., motivation) and external factors (e.g., families and social contexts) on sport, physical activity, and recreational behavior. What was your sports life like as a kid and how does that compare to what you are finding now? How have you seen youth sports change since you were a kid both from your research and observations? In your TEDx Talk from March 2018, you reference Dan Arielly’s work on motivation. Please share that snippet on how play became a job. Now that you research this, what are you finding in terms of parent engagement. What does the drive for the scholarship or to become a pro from the parents potentially do to a kid’s sports experience? What is the connection, if any, between parental involvement (more spent) and kids’ attitudes toward sports? What tips can you offer those of us seeking to engage parents to get them on board with being supportive but not sucking the fun out of sports?

Jessica Lahey discusses her book "The Gift of Failure" and how it changed her as a parent and a teacher.We explore how failure makes children better learners and touch on the works of Carol Dweck and Daniel Pink.The gist is that parents and coaches should allow children more time to learn on their own versus jumping in and solving the problems.For coaches this might mean asking questions more than just telling them what to do. The latter will be useful in the short run, but it stunts learning in the long run.

I interview Dan Coyle about his recent book The Culture Code. During this discussion we talk about how he came up with the idea and some of the things that he learned about culture that changed how he thought about culture.We discuss the Navy SEALS, San Antonio Spurs and the US Air Force Missileers.Dan shares that building good culture requires intent and patience.

TJ Buchanan the Senior Manager for ADM-Technical Director discusses the history of lacrosse (it is THE original American sport), American Development Model (ADM) and some of the programs US Lacrosse is pursuing with athletes, coaches and parents.TJ also summarizes a meeting of representatives from several NGBs (and one sports parent representative) to discuss how to engage parents. A key point here is that we are (pretty much) all dealing with parents of youth athletes so let's have a common message. Also a goal is to get as many kids as possible in sports for as long as possible and to have the best possible experience.USA Swimming's Flex Membership with a great video promoting multi-sport developmentUS Lacrosse ADM site (with lots of available information) isLink to Amanda Visek's paper about what kids want out of sports (winning is not #1) Fun Integration TheoryTJ Buchanan email

At the Winter Olympic Games in South Korea in 2018, Norway earned 39 total medals setting a record for the Winter Games. Many stories were written in the US press about how Norway became so successful.In this podcast I discuss Norwegian sports culture with Stephen Seiler, PhD. Stephen is an American sport scientist who has lived in Norway for over 20 years. He offers his perspective on how Norway goes about developing athletes, the truth about keeping score in youth sports, funding and team culture. Since Stephen is very knowledgeable about sports in the US and Norway, he can offer a great perspective on the differences.You can follow Dr. Seiler on Twitter: @stephenseiler

John Kessel is the Director of Sport Development for USA Volleyball. He also consults with many sports around the world including Major League Baseball teams.John is knowledgeable in motor learning and the neuroscience of learning. In this episode he will challenge your views on how to run a practice. He says to minimize drills (if not completely do away with them) and to keep people active, no more lining up people to wait their turn. He talks about how to make learning more efficient.Some notes:How we learn faster: it is not about being the right way or wrong way, but about being more efficient.Say what you mean, mean what you say, but do not be mean in saying it.Principles first, methods secondTrain game-likeEliminate the words "try", "don't" and "but".Put the player's name last when giving feedbackBelow are some links mentioned in the talk.John Kessel's Growing the Game blogGabriele Wulf OPTIMAL Learning work (full download available as of May 3, 2018)Atul Gawande is a physician who has written several books and been on the Freakonomics podcast several times.Train Ugly websiteBackwards Bicycle TED Talk

In this episode Cathy discusses some of the challenges and rewards in coaching a parasport athlete. She goes over the stages of growth of a coach, gives some history of the Paralympics, how to adapt to coaching an Paralympian, etc.

Ryan Graff is the Vice President for Program Development for First Tee. First Tee's mission (from its site): "... is to impact the lives of young people by providing educational programs that build character, instill life-enhancing values and promote healthy choices through the game of golf".Ryan explains a little of the history of the First Tee program and how it integrates building character into its curriculum while also teaches kids about golf in a fun and accessible manner.First Tee Golf

Wayne Goldsmith is an Australian who has been involved in high performance sport for many years across several sports.In this podcast, Wayne gives his unfettered take on how many NGBs approach coaching education all wrong.Be prepared to be challenged.Wayne can be reached through his website.

In this podcast Jean discusses his findings on being a transformational coach. A transformational coach is one who goes beyond the "transactional" actions of coaching that are limited to the technical and tactical aspects of the sport. Jean will share his 4 Cs of being a transformational coach.

Kevin McLaughlin is the USA Hockey Senior Director for Hockey Development.In this episode he discusses the development and implementation of USA Hockey's American Development Model (ADM). He discusses how they thought they needed to change how they approached developing hockey in the US and the early reluctance of stakeholders buying in.

Dr. Dieffenbach is the executive director of the US Center for Coaching Excellence (USCCE). The USCCE is a new organization that seeks to improve coaching education and development in the United States.In this episode Kristen tells a little about how the USCCE came to be from it being part of other organizations into its own stand alone entity.The USCCE can be found at www.coachexcellence.org

Chris is a ski coach and also was a teacher for many years. In his role with USSA Coaching Education he creates a successful learning environment for adult learners.