Peninsula Juniors Volleyball Club
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Positive Coaching Alliance

The following is an issue of a publication created by the Positive Coaching Alliance. This article will be of interest to both coaches and parents.

Connector
Issue #9, April 2003

Welcome to Positive Coaching Alliance's Connector, designed to share good ideas throughout the PCA community and create a "social epidemic" of Positive Coaching. Feel free to pass Connector along to others interested in Positive Coaching.

In this issue:

WHAT DOES A POSITIVE COACH LOOK LIKE?

The stereotype of a coach snarling on the sidelines is ingrained in many people's minds. But what does a Positive Coach look like? PCA's national youth sports awards honored six youth coaches and three organizations last month. The San Jose Mercury News profiled one of the PCA winners, Joe Straton, on April 15, 2003.

"Joe Straton doesn't grimace, and he doesn't get mad. Not when his players give up four runs on three errors. Not when a batter swings at a ball sailing over her head. Not even when an umpire's bonehead call nearly costs his team the game," the article begins.

The profile goes on to note: "All members of his teams get equal playing time; all try different positions. Players are supportive – 'We don't rag on each other,' says one – and parents are under control. If they slip up – razzing the ump or yelling at their kid – they can expect an e-mail from Straton with tips on how to be a good spectator and a winning parent."

The article also addresses the scoreboard: "...Straton's teams usually win more than they lose. They're consistently 'over-acheivers.' Joe enables his teams to win as well as to learn while they are winning."

The entire article can be read online at http://www.positivecoach.org/news/2003.html. This article describes the kind of coach every child debserves!

THE POWER OF CULTURE–PART 1: Road Map to Excellence

PCA believes that culture is the key to transforming youth sports. We define "culture" as "The way WE do things HERE." When youth sports organization leaders take care to create a Positive Coaching culture in which Honoring the Game is central, great things happen.

To give YSO leaders an assist, PCA developed the "Road Map to Excellence" which contains everything you need to create a Positive Coaching culture in your organization. The Road Map is a tool kit that includes a graphic map of actions appropriate for each stage of the year along with the multimedia and paper tools necessary to make it happen. A User's Guide offers direction at each step on the road to creating an "educational-athletic organization."

The Tool Kit can be purchased online at http://www.positivecoach.org/store/roadmap.html for $249.95. PCA Partners and Charter Members can purchase at a $100 discount by calling (650) 725-0024.

THE POWER OF CULTURE–PART 2: A Positive Culture at PCA

In addition to training YSO leaders about the power of organizational culture, PCA staff try to "walk the talk" in our own organization. The journal OD Practitioner (for organizational development) recently featured PCA in an article entitled "Creating a Positive Culture at Positive Coaching Alliance."

Some excerpts: "Culture, in fact, is at the very heart of the PCA message, and PCA has imbued its own culture with the tenets found in its workshops and literature."

"By providing a positive coaching culture, PCA enables employees to feel a level of psychological safety that allows them to move beyond their comfort zone."

"PCA developed a positive culture by 1) hiring talented people with congruent values, 2) practicing praise and mistake rituals, 3) encouraging improvisation and learning, and 4) building an environment where caring and relationships are as important as high performance expectations."

To read the entire article, visit http://www.positivecoach.org/news/2003.html.

BE LIKE BARRY

Last year's American League Cy Young Award winner Barry Zito of the Oakland A's is a PCA Charter Member and wants others to join him. Barry understands that PCA can not charge youth sports organizations enough to cover the costs of creating a national network of trainers and is dependent on financial contributions from people who support the mission.

Barry has made one of his autographed Oakland A's jerseys available for a drawing open to anyone who becomes a PCA Charter member between April 1, and Friday, April 18, 2003 (Only two days left!)

Become a Charter Member of Positive Coaching Alliance by the end of this Friday, April 18, 2003 and you will be entered in the drawing for Barry Zito's jersey. To join, visit http://www.positivecoach.org/membership.html.

If you are already a member, you can help the PCA cause and be entered in the drawing by purchasing a gift membership for one or more coaches that you know who should be part of the PCA community.

Because PCA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, your gift is tax deductible and will help lower the amount of taxes you pay next year. Be like Barry! Support PCA with a gift of membership, for yourself or someone you care about.

POSITIVE COACHING TOOL KIT

Rewarding Unsuccessful Effort

When an athlete tries really hard and makes the play, it's natural for a coach to reward that effort. A basketball player drives the lane and makes the shot! The coach yells "Way to go, John!" What does John think the coach is happy about? It's pretty obvious to John that the coach is happy that John made the play and that's what he's complimenting him about.

Now let's take a situation in which a player gives it his all but doesn't make the play. John drives hard to the basket using his weak hand (as the coach has taught him to do) and puts up a shot that just rims out. The coach yells, "Good drive, John! Good drive! Way to be aggressive!"

Now what is John's understanding of what his coach is saying? It's totally clear that the coach is happy about John's effort. It couldn't be that he is rewarding the outcome because the outcome wasn't good-he missed the shot. The coach has said that he wants to see effort, he saw it and recognized the player for it. This is likely to cause the player to make continued and greater efforts in the future. (Incidentally, this is not a hypothetical example. PCA's "Double-Goal Coach" Workshop CD-ROM has video of PCA trainer Mike Legarza saying this very thing to John, one of his Cañada College players, in a game.)

If we want players who will try hard, we have to give them clear, unambiguous feedback to that effect. Most kids who start out playing a sport don't understand just how hard top athletes work to achieve excellence. Most kids get tired and think they are working hard. They don't understand that you can give more after you get tired. One of the great benefits of sports for kids is that they come face to face, often for the first time in their lives, with what hard work looks and feels like.

So we want to reward them for trying hard, especially when they don't succeed. That means we need to look for times of great effort when the player fails.

(This comes from PCA founder Jim Thompson's forth-coming book, The Double-Goal Coach, to be published by HarperCollins in August 2003. Loads of other Positive Coaching tips are in Jim's previous two books: Positive Coaching: Building Character and Self-Esteem Through Sports and Shooting in the Dark: Tales of Coaching and Leadership. Both are available from PCA's online store at http://www.positivecoach.org/store/index.html.)

If you know of other ways to encourage athletes to give their best on the playing field, e-mail us at connector@positivecoach.org.

Team-Building Revisited

In the last Connector we invited readers to suggest ways they build a strong team culture. Ned Diamond and Susan Beaton both suggested the following tool - this is Susan's version of it from when she was the field hockey coach at Davis High School in Davis, California:

"At the last training session of the season I would give each player a large index card. Already written on the top was the athletes name and the statement: 'The things I liked most about playing with you this season are: . . .' Players then rotated slowly around the circle filling in every other players' cards with a line or two of positive feedback. The coaching/support staff were included in this as they are also part of the team. These positive affirmation cards reinforced how each individual player was valued by her team mates and I know for a fact that players kept them for years and probably got a positive buzz every time they read over the card. These cards serve as a virtual injection of positive self-esteem and are incredibly empowering."

SIGNS THAT THE EPIDEMIC IS SPREADING

New Record for PCA Workshops

PCA certified trainers delivered 81 workshops in March 2003, a new record eclipsing February's record of 65 (up from 50 in January). PCA trainers ranged from Brunswick, Maine to Honolulu, from Atlanta to Helena, Montana, and included stops in Marietta, Ohio, Mandeville, Louisiana, and Eagle, Colorado. Thanks to the 42 PCA trainers who are spreading the Positive Coaching epidemic!

Closer to Perfection

Since we announced in the last issue of Connector that we needed only 5 more states to have a PCA Charter Member in every state in the U.S., we have added members in Montana and New Mexico (as well as many other locations).

Now we need only to add members in Wyoming, West Virginia and Arkansas to have one in every state. Can you help us reach our goal?

To become a Charter Member visit http://www.positivecoach.org/membership.html.