The pebble you dropped in the pond of life so many years ago will be making ripples for generations.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Saturday, October 9, 2010
How's this for a BALL story...
New Buena Park High School football coach Anthony White didn't know what to expect when he showed up for his spring football workouts. After all, the only league game the team had "won" since 2002 was a forfeit - and they lost that game on the field 45-7.
What he found wasn't encouraging. Not only were there just 23 players in the entire program...13 were academically-ineligible.
What would you do in this "situation"?
Here's what he did...
http://www.ocvarsity.com/sports/-22003--.html
Thanks to OC Register writer Jeff Miller for an intense and moving real-life story.
What he found wasn't encouraging. Not only were there just 23 players in the entire program...13 were academically-ineligible.
What would you do in this "situation"?
Here's what he did...
http://www.ocvarsity.com/sports/-22003--.html
Thanks to OC Register writer Jeff Miller for an intense and moving real-life story.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Thanks Coach Jen!
We just got an awesome account of a story about sportsmanship and the "right" way to play the game (or any game). Thanks to BALL StoryTeller Coach Jen Solano for a tear jerker of a story about a home run, a torn ACL, and redemption...
Thursday, September 23, 2010
The Role of the Parent in Sports
Sports tend to die down in the dog days of summer for our family, so when the leaves start to turn and the air gets crisp, I feel the rush of football anticipation grow. To appease my appetite for competition, I recently visited a friend's kid's local school on it's first game day of the new school year.
When I arrived in the stands, I was surprised but entertained to hear a small murmur from the crowd when all of the coaches from each school decided to run onto the field wearing the same T-shirts over their normal coaching attire. On the back of the bright yellow shirts, in big, black letters were these words:
Players Play.
Coaches Coach.
Parents Cheer.
And it got better...
Before the start of the game, each coach gave a short talk to the team's fans about cheering for the kids and not bagging on the referees. It seemed to work. The teams played hard, and the parents were cheering for their kids.
I recently ran across an article dealing with this very issue. The link to a pertinent part of it is here.
As the new school year starts, remember...it's the kids that play, and the coaches that coach. We simply cheer the kids on. After the game, we tell them how proud we are of them regardless of the outcome. Let's leave reviewing the game's mistakes and the constructive criticism to the coaches.
Make each day your masterpiece!
Ted Browne
Chief Storyteller
When I arrived in the stands, I was surprised but entertained to hear a small murmur from the crowd when all of the coaches from each school decided to run onto the field wearing the same T-shirts over their normal coaching attire. On the back of the bright yellow shirts, in big, black letters were these words:
Players Play.
Coaches Coach.
Parents Cheer.
And it got better...
Before the start of the game, each coach gave a short talk to the team's fans about cheering for the kids and not bagging on the referees. It seemed to work. The teams played hard, and the parents were cheering for their kids.
I recently ran across an article dealing with this very issue. The link to a pertinent part of it is here.
As the new school year starts, remember...it's the kids that play, and the coaches that coach. We simply cheer the kids on. After the game, we tell them how proud we are of them regardless of the outcome. Let's leave reviewing the game's mistakes and the constructive criticism to the coaches.
Make each day your masterpiece!
Ted Browne
Chief Storyteller
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Tips from the coach...PARENTS
The following is an edited excerpt from someone who has coached youth baseball for over 30 years and had two sons play professional and/or college ball. He has a very gruff writing style, but I have found much wisdom in his writings...
Ted Browne
-----------
TIPS FROM THE COACH
Last year I went to a Fall league game for incoming HS freshmen. The parents in the stands were brutal. They second guessed every managerial move or nonmove. They opined about the abilities of other players on the team. The mommies were the worst.
I was recently talking to some HS coaches and they told me that parents are completely out of control, particularly mommies. One coach told me of a mommy that barged into his office and announced that in her opinion, the team wasn’t doing too well and that they needed to discuss some changes!
I guess that this is a product of kids playing 100+ games a year and the entire life of the family revolving around the kid’s baseball activities. Parents become way too invested in their son’s baseball experience. It is the kid’s baseball experience, NOT theirs!
Parents that second guess the coach and critique players are called “A CANCER”. It takes only one in the stands to infect the entire crowd. What should be a wonderful and joyous shared TEAM experience becomes a morass of backbiting and self aggrandizement. Parents need to learn to sit back and enjoy watching the TEAM play and SHUT UP. If you just can’t control yourself go down the outfield fence and mutter your rants, away from the crowd.
Coaches, you need to understand you are not just teaching 12 boys to play ball but shepherding families through the baseball experience. You must spend time teaching parents THEIR roles and how to comport themselves at the ballpark. They will enjoy themselves so much more when they are cured from being cancers. In my book, A PARENTS GUIDE TO BASEBALL-Surviving And Thriving Youth League To College, there is a chapter, ”Loose Lips Sink Ships”. In this chapter I chronicle the potential for harm from parents unsolicited opinions at the ballpark.
In a post in a youth baseball board, a mommy laments the lack of communication skills of her son’s HS coach. Her son just couldn’t get the coach to communicate why he wasn’t playing. This reminded me of a kid that went to his college coach’s office and inquired why he wasn’t playing. The coach responded, “if you were my 3rd baseman, I wouldn’t consider us to be a very good baseball team.” Ouch! If you ask a question, you might not like the answer you get.
Yours In Baseball
Bruce Lambin
THE COACH
www.tipsfromthecoach.com
Ted Browne
-----------
TIPS FROM THE COACH
Last year I went to a Fall league game for incoming HS freshmen. The parents in the stands were brutal. They second guessed every managerial move or nonmove. They opined about the abilities of other players on the team. The mommies were the worst.
I was recently talking to some HS coaches and they told me that parents are completely out of control, particularly mommies. One coach told me of a mommy that barged into his office and announced that in her opinion, the team wasn’t doing too well and that they needed to discuss some changes!
I guess that this is a product of kids playing 100+ games a year and the entire life of the family revolving around the kid’s baseball activities. Parents become way too invested in their son’s baseball experience. It is the kid’s baseball experience, NOT theirs!
Parents that second guess the coach and critique players are called “A CANCER”. It takes only one in the stands to infect the entire crowd. What should be a wonderful and joyous shared TEAM experience becomes a morass of backbiting and self aggrandizement. Parents need to learn to sit back and enjoy watching the TEAM play and SHUT UP. If you just can’t control yourself go down the outfield fence and mutter your rants, away from the crowd.
Coaches, you need to understand you are not just teaching 12 boys to play ball but shepherding families through the baseball experience. You must spend time teaching parents THEIR roles and how to comport themselves at the ballpark. They will enjoy themselves so much more when they are cured from being cancers. In my book, A PARENTS GUIDE TO BASEBALL-Surviving And Thriving Youth League To College, there is a chapter, ”Loose Lips Sink Ships”. In this chapter I chronicle the potential for harm from parents unsolicited opinions at the ballpark.
In a post in a youth baseball board, a mommy laments the lack of communication skills of her son’s HS coach. Her son just couldn’t get the coach to communicate why he wasn’t playing. This reminded me of a kid that went to his college coach’s office and inquired why he wasn’t playing. The coach responded, “if you were my 3rd baseman, I wouldn’t consider us to be a very good baseball team.” Ouch! If you ask a question, you might not like the answer you get.
Yours In Baseball
Bruce Lambin
THE COACH
www.tipsfromthecoach.com
Friday, July 9, 2010
SPORTS AUTHORITY ROCKS.
Many of you know that Beyond Athletic Life Lessons (“BALL”) is a corporate/private-sponsored educational nonprofit, and that Sports Authority's local stores have been a HUGE early supporter of BALL.
GREAT news…
Due to our growing presence in the youth sports arena, Sports Authority surprised me this morning with thousands of dollars’ worth of gift certificates for all participating Beyond Athletic Life Lessons Summer Baseball teams. This works out to $120 per Summer BALL team. The certificates are in booklets that have 24 certificates in $5 denominations. They are good for anything in the store. My son likes the Quench gum, gourmet sunflower seeds and king sized Snickers bars. I like the whiffle ball 6-pack or the whiffle golf ball 12-pack so we can practice his swing. Let your dentist be your guide.
COACHES: You can award these to your players for anything you like, but please consider using these as incentives for completing a BALL lesson or for being named a “BALL Practice MVP”.
In addition to the certificates, the booklets contain several coach and player coupons (such as “get $10 off a $25 purchase”). These are the same “Coaches Club” coupon booklets normally limited to one book per each manager who brings in his/her current roster and sign up for the Sports Authority Coaches Club.
If you visit the location closest to BALL's headquarters (in Fountain Valley, CA), be sure to thank Sports Authority's store 632 manager Shawn Ghalikar. He laid the groundwork for the gift and has been an enthusiastic BALL supporter from the start.
Regardless of which store you visit, please make sure to have your kids thank the store manager the B.A.L.L. way:
1) Look at him/her straight in the eyes
2) Shake his hand with a firm grip, and
3) say "THANKS for supporting our community!"
Make each day your masterpiece!
Ted Browne
Chief Storyteller
Beyond Athletic Life Lessons, Inc.
Success@GoToBALL.org
714-334-4023
Beyond Athletic Life Lessons, Inc. (“BALL”) cross trains kids for life…
GREAT news…
Due to our growing presence in the youth sports arena, Sports Authority surprised me this morning with thousands of dollars’ worth of gift certificates for all participating Beyond Athletic Life Lessons Summer Baseball teams. This works out to $120 per Summer BALL team. The certificates are in booklets that have 24 certificates in $5 denominations. They are good for anything in the store. My son likes the Quench gum, gourmet sunflower seeds and king sized Snickers bars. I like the whiffle ball 6-pack or the whiffle golf ball 12-pack so we can practice his swing. Let your dentist be your guide.
COACHES: You can award these to your players for anything you like, but please consider using these as incentives for completing a BALL lesson or for being named a “BALL Practice MVP”.
In addition to the certificates, the booklets contain several coach and player coupons (such as “get $10 off a $25 purchase”). These are the same “Coaches Club” coupon booklets normally limited to one book per each manager who brings in his/her current roster and sign up for the Sports Authority Coaches Club.
If you visit the location closest to BALL's headquarters (in Fountain Valley, CA), be sure to thank Sports Authority's store 632 manager Shawn Ghalikar. He laid the groundwork for the gift and has been an enthusiastic BALL supporter from the start.
Regardless of which store you visit, please make sure to have your kids thank the store manager the B.A.L.L. way:
1) Look at him/her straight in the eyes
2) Shake his hand with a firm grip, and
3) say "THANKS for supporting our community!"
Make each day your masterpiece!
Ted Browne
Chief Storyteller
Beyond Athletic Life Lessons, Inc.
Success@GoToBALL.org
714-334-4023
Beyond Athletic Life Lessons, Inc. (“BALL”) cross trains kids for life…
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Summer Baseball - Lesson 2 sent out soon...
Roberto Clemente will be in your mailbox by tomorrow morning...
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