Professional Development

Evolution of a Successful Coach This article was provided by Coaches Network To be successful, coaches must evolve and grow over time. Not only do sports change, but there are also countless lessons to learn from athletes, other coaches, and experiences that you have. As you add new pieces to your coaching philosophy and develop your own style, you will graduate ...

4 Reminders to Increase Your Mental Toughness By Dr. Rob Bell Dr. Bell is a Mental Toughness Coach and Certified Consultant of the Association for Applied Sport Psychology.  He consults with hundreds of athletes, coaches, and teams and has served as the mental coach for PGA tour winners, USTA Champion, and Olympic Medalists.  He is also the author of several mental toughness books. ...

Great Coaches Embrace Change Change is inevitable in coaching. Great coaches must be willing to embrace it. This article was provided by Changing the Game Project Have you ever heard of Blockbuster Video? Have you seen one lately? There is a reason only one Blockbuster store remains today. Let me explain. In 1992 I was a senior in High School playing for ...

Communication is a Key Coaching Skill This article was provided by Coaches Network By Alan Hargreaves and Richard Bate There is nothing worse than a player who won’t or can’t listen. Because successful communication with your players is crucial, it pays to have some insight into the field of knowledge called communication. This field of knowledge has much to teach us, including the ...

Stop Working on Dumb Stuff This article was provided by Busy.Coach By Mandy Green, University of South Dakota. The Pareto principle states that 20% of a person’s effort generates 80% of the person’s results. The corollary to this is that 20% of one’s results absorb 80% of one’s resources or efforts. For the effective use of resources, the coach’s challenge is to ...

“I See You”: Three Words Athletes Need To Hear This article was provided by Changing the Game Project Remember this…As coaches and parents we judge ourselves by our intentions, however 0ur athletes and children judge us by our actions By James Leath “STOP LOOKING AT YOUR PHONE!” yells Tasha, a point guard on the 6th grade YMCA basketball team I was coaching. Immediately, I smile and start to explain to ...

3 Questions That Turn Losing into Learning This post was provided by Changing the Game Project By John O’Sullivan “Do you want to win every game you play for the rest of your life?” That was a question that Olympic gold medalist and current USA Women’s Volleyball team head coach Karch Kiraly asked his team as they prepared for the 2014 World Championships. “Because we can,” ...

10 Habits of Highly Successful Coaches This article provided by Coaches Network By Wayne Goldsmith, Also known as the “Sports Coaching Brain,” has 25 years of experience coaching and providing advice to others. With a nod toward Stephen Covey, he offers “The Ten Habits of Highly Effective Coaches.” Train beyond the target: Goldsmith urges coaches to train athletes for challenges greater than the ...

How to Make Coaching a True Profession Professionals seek a standard of excellence, constantly improving and incorporating the best knowledge and research in your field in order to get better at what you do every single day. By John O’Sullivan, founder of Change the Game Project. “What makes you a professional?” That was the question Dr. Richard Bailey, Head of Research at the International Council ...

What Does Good Communication Look Like? This post is provided by Coaches Network Communication is a two-way street. Not only do coaches need to be able to send clear messages that are interpreted as intended, they also need to receive messages from their athletes and staff. In a book published by Human Kinetics, Sports psychologists Damon Burton and Thomas Raedeke, describe what good ...

13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do   Mentally strong people have healthy habits. They manage their emotions, thoughts, and behaviors in ways that set them up for success in life. Check out these things that mentally strong people don’t do so that you too can become more mentally strong. By Amy Morin, LCSW, author of “13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do” 1. They Don’t ...

Can Advice from Your Athletes Help Your Team? How can coaches best draw out and utilize the knowledge and insights of their athletes? This article was provided by Coaches Network It’s no secret that many coaches seek advice and input from others, whether it be assistants, coaches that they had in the past, or even coaches of other teams. What they might not realize is ...

Everybody Wants to be Somebody Everybody wants to be somebody.  Once this becomes a fundamental way of viewing your teammates, classmates, and everyone you meet, you will become a person of influence. Dr. Cory Dobbs The Academy for Sport Leadership www.sportleadership.com Homelessness is a complex problem. Not just because a person without a home needs money and other essential resources—but because the psychological consequences ...

Being a Coach of Positive Significance Are you a leader who has reached a point in your coaching career where you no longer measure success in wins and losses, and in trophies and medals? If so, you are a coach of positive significance.  Coaches of positive significance realize that when you invest in people off the field, success on the field ...

Simplify Complex Ideas This article was provided by Coaches Network Coaches often find themselves trying to explain complex, multi-layered ideas to their athletes, and this is inherently challenging. From practice drills to in-game strategy, the mental side of sports can easily become overwhelming. Fortunately, there are a number of ways that you can simplify complex concepts and make your ...

Walking the Talk: How Self-Reflection Can Make You a Better Coach The following seven questions require you to turn off the noise for fifteen minutes daily and sink your mind into your walk and your talk for the day. This article may be found at Coaches Toolbox, a collection of free resources for coaches of all sports By Cory Dobbs, Ed.D., The Academy for Sport Leadership In 1953 New ...

Performance is a Behavior, NOT an Outcome! Great coaches and elite athletes understand that performance is a behavior, not an outcome. It is doing the little things correctly, moment to moment, day after day. But how do we do this in our teams? By John O’Sullivan, founder of Change the Game Project. Last week I received the following email (edited for anonymity). We get calls ...

The One Question All Coaches Should Ask Their Athletes By John O’Sullivan, founder of Change the Game Project Coaches, imagine if there was a way to gain insight, understanding, and connection with your athletes by asking a simple question? There is. let me explain how. A few years back, I coached a talented, yet underperforming sixteen-year-old girl I will call Maddy. She was incredibly inconsistent in her ...

National Team Game a Must for Coaches By Matt Settles Coach Settles  is entering his 12th season as a high school coach in Indiana. The former collegiate player at the University of Southern Indiana is also a regular contributor to the Soccer Toolbox I have played in tons of soccer games since starting when I was a little kid and playing club, high school, ...

Specialization Increases the Risk of Injury Do you want your players to play soccer year around? Do you want them playing soccer in their offseason?  Well then, you might want to check out this data first. This article was provided by Training-Conditioning A study conducted by the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and funded by the National Federation of State ...

8 Coaching Mistakes Have you ever done something as a coach and later realized your were wrong? Most of have. Here are coaching mistakes and 8 coaching corrections. By John O’Sullivan, founder of Changing the Game Project In 2002, I received a phone call from Patrick, a former high school player I had coached. He had graduated college and was applying ...

Player Development vs Player Selection Too many coaches are worried about selecting talent rather than developing players. Coach John O’Sullivan shares his thoughts as well as six ideas to help develop players. By John  O’Sullivan, Founder of Changing the Game Project In 2004, FC Midtjylland in Denmark set out to establish Scandinavia’s first youth soccer academy. As a new club, it did not ...

3 Stats for Soccer Coaches to Rely On   When linked to video, these statistics can provide game-changing insights. The best way to improve is to look back on what has already taken place. Through careful study and analysis, one can find once-overlooked issues or uncover some insights previously missed. It’s now easier than ever to find the exact moments in the game you want to ...

Heat Illness With practices set to begin soon for many of you, I thought I would post some information regarding heat illness. Being prepared to treat heat illness is essential, but it’s even better to follow smart prevention steps that keep athletes from needing treatment at all. This article was provided by Training and Conditioning By J. Allen Hardin J. Allen ...

Focus on What Matters Most By Mandy Green Mandy is the  Head Soccer Coach at The University of South Dakota. She is also an Author, Speaker, Trainer and Consultant. She has posted many useful tools for coaches on her site Busy.Coach All of us fall sports are less than a month away from starting our seasons.  AAAAHHH! So exciting! I’m sure you have either ...

Two Critical Time Management Mistakes Coaches Make By Mandy Green, Mandy is the  Head Soccer Coach at The University of South Dakota. She is also an Author, Speaker, Trainer and Consultant. She has posted many useful tools for coaches on her site Busy.Coach Coach, have you ever come back from lunch, checked your email, fiddled around on the web, and realized that two or ...

Know Your Coaching Personality Type   This article and other helpful coaching tools can be found at Coach Dawn Writes By Dawn Redd-Kelly I think personality assessment should be a must for every team.  Why?  Because I think the cause of most conflict is expecting others to act like you do.  I’d written before about the DiSC assessment I use, focusing on your ...

Plan Your Day Like You Plan Your Practice By Mandy Green, Mandy is the  Head Soccer Coach at The University of South Dakota. She is also an Author, Speaker, Trainer and Consultant. She has posted many useful tools for coaches on her site Busy.Coach I am speaking in a few weeks to all of the amazing coaches who will be at Camp Elevate.  As I ...