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Graduation of Multi-Sport Athletes
December 8, 2014
By David Smith
Boyne City athletic director
Editor’s Note: This is reprinted with permission from the Petoskey News-Review, which is publishing semi-regular columns written by athletic directors for the northwest region of the Lower Peninsula. Click for more sports coverage from the News-Review.
There are many important topics today that relate to high school sports. I was honored when asked to write a brief column about a current topic of my choice in the high sports world. This particular topic, student-athletes specializing in one sport, is something that is happening more and more.
It’s hard to pinpoint exactly why this is, but it often times seems to boil down to unrealistic expectations from several parties that an athlete is capable of being a legitimate college or higher-level athlete.
Don’t get me wrong, we have a plethora of outstanding athletes in Northern Michigan. The facts are, however, that about 98 out of 100 high school athletes never play collegiate sports of any kind at any level. Also, less than one percent of high school athletes receive a scholarship of any kind to a Division I school.
I don’t want to tell someone not to have that dream. In fact, I think that is an awesome dream to have. I had that goal growing up and was fortunate to be able to play a few different sports at a small Division III college. It helped me grow immensely as a person, and I’m very thankful for that experience. I just can’t emphasize enough how we need to all have realistic expectations for our student athletes, whether it’s the athletes themselves, or parents, coaches, administrators, etc.
I think one thing we can all do to help this is to emphasize the process more than the outcome. The funny thing is getting the process right and enjoying it almost always leads to positive outcomes. The process is where all the hard work is put in. The process is where good character is developed, and that’s one of the most important traits we can help young individuals develop.
Many high school athletes are also too busy and compete too much. The amount of young athletes competing year-round for sports is getting out of control. Sure, sometimes it works out and an athlete will really improve by doing this, but more often than not, they get burned out and when it’s actually that sport in-season, they are toast and go through the motions. I know from a coaching standpoint I want athletes hungry to compete every time out.
Being that busy also means very little time for athletes to improve their overall athleticism (stronger, faster, quicker, more explosive, better endurance, etc.). Skills take a back seat too because most athletes are just playing games and not focusing on skill work. I’d rather take an athlete who trains to become more athletic and works on skills for several months than one who plays AAU or something of that nature. I know that has its place for a very few individuals, but most young athletes need way more work on their athleticism and skills before being ready for something like AAU.
I get specializing in one sport if you are undoubtedly a Division I athlete that will likely play professionally. Or maybe it’s someone who goes to a big high school and they aren’t very talented so the only way they can play is to focus really hard on one sport. I get those occurrences.
I would argue, however, that even the Division I-type individuals will nine times out of 10 benefit more from playing another sport because they aren’t going to work hard enough by themselves to make the gains. They would then also be refreshed and ready to get after it once the season arrives. With that, our schools up here will always have a hard time competing at the regional and state level if we don’t have all of our best athletes playing two or three sports. It blows me away how good some of our teams in the area could fare if this happened.
This column is not meant to be negative. It’s just some food for thought. I haven’t been at this very long, but it’s something I’ve seen happen more and more in the last 10 years. I’ve just always been a big fan of the multiple sport athlete and experienced first-hand how much a school can benefit when a group of talented athletes go through and they all play a minimum of two sports.
At the end of the day, we cannot forget what I’d consider the main purpose of athletics at this level. That is, to help young individuals leave our schools with experiences and life lessons that will help them as they pursue careers and go on with other facets of their lives.
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Leadership: A Skill that can be Taught
January 30, 2013
By Jed Blanton
MSU Institute for the Study of Youth Sports
At the MHSAA and the ISYS, in the milieu of work we conduct centered on understanding and developing leadership in young athletes, there is one definition that seems to govern our approach and serve as a foundation for the research questions and training clinics that follow it.
Penned by Peter Northouse, that definition states “leadership is a process, whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal.”
Choosing to frame ‘leadership’ as a process, rather than as some personality characteristic destined only for those naturally-born leaders, allows the concept of leadership to be utilized and taught as a skill, or set of skills. If a coach can agree with the philosophy that leadership can be learned, we can begin to design a series of strategies to enhance leadership in our young athletes.
First, I’m going to discuss what most coaches already know about teaching skills. Teaching skills is essentially an effort of behavior modification. A coach sometimes is able to choose athletes who already possess a certain level of competency within the skills necessary for their sport; sometimes coaches must work with whoever shows up on the first day of practice.
In either case, coaches tend to conduct a subconscious assessment of skills that must be learned (that they must teach), whether complex strategies or mere fundamentals. When teaching athletic skills to young people, coaches must break down the multitude of steps involved.
Think about a lay-up in basketball or the high jump in track & field. Either skill itself is actually a combination of several skills, and the ability to pay attention to very specific cues in the environment. Coaches teach the approach, the proper hand/arm placement, the essential cues to focus on, and the follow-through. Coaches can devote segments or entire practices to particular skills – breaking down all the steps, creating drills to practice the steps, and offering the full practice of the skill in a competition-like environment.
During this episode of developing a skill in our athletes, to get them to perform in a very specific way, our interactions often mirror what behavioral psychology has known for decades: People respond to reinforcements and punishments. Coaches positively reinforce their athletes with compliments, clapping hands, and congratulations. Our words and actions shape how the individual learning the skill makes adjustments to receive more praise.
These shifts of their body and miniscule changes in their actions to get to the desired behavior of their instructor are “learning.” Similarly, coaches often threaten punishment of extra sprints or difficult drills to give athletes a clue as to what behaviors they should avoid. Often, something as simple as a disapproving glance can be reinforcing enough to change whatever behavior the athlete shouldn’t be practicing. The simple “good job” or the threat of sprints essentially shapes how our athletes behave athletically.
This same approach can work toward leadership development.
What would it look like for a coach to reinforce and punish athletes toward leadership development in the same vein they develop athletic skills? If coaches could determine what three or four behaviors they’d like their athlete leaders to showcase, and then positively reinforce those skills with compliments and thanks, and potentially punish athletes with disapproving glances or even lectures after practice, leadership can be learned like any other athletic skill.
Phil Jackson, the multiple championship-winning NBA coach, has been quoted saying he would try to give two compliments for every criticism with his professional teams. The Positive Coaching Alliance – a national nonprofit organization that strives to educate coaches on ways to enhance the youth sport experience – suggests a ratio of five positive comments to every negative criticism. Research has consistently shown that people respond better and more rapidly to positive reinforcement than to punishment.
All too often, coaches wait for leaders to emerge, rather than teach the leadership they desire. Imagine if coaches waited for players to figure out the offensive plays and strategies instead of teaching players where to move, how to move, and why they are moving there. Adopting a similar approach with your athlete has the potential to expedite the behaviors you’d most ideally want them to possess. Using tactics of positive reinforcement can help these young players to become excellent leaders in a shorter period of time than merely hoping someone steps up.
I’ll leave you with a simple list of suggestions of how coaches can teach leadership, just like they teach any other necessary athletic skill.
- Develop goals with your athletes regarding leadership. What kinds of things do your athletes value or feel would help the team? How can they practice leading their teammates in that way?
- Develop your own goals toward teaching leadership. What would it look like if a coach made it a goal to compliment three players on specific leadership behaviors each practice? Think about the ultimate team captain for your team, and develop strategies to teach your players how to be that captain.
- Break down leadership skills into smaller and easier to practice chunks, just like an athletic skill. Then create an environment where the athletes can practice these skills. By organizing your team into smaller groups, or even partners, you can assign leadership roles within each group. Asking certain players to lead various parts of practice (stretches, lay-ups, circuit training), you are giving them a sense of ownership over their athletic experiences and responsibility over their teammates.
- Positively reinforce the desired behaviors. How would it make a player feel if their coach pulled them aside and thanked them for their specific leadership behavior after a practice or game? A “job well done” or an approving thank you can go a long way in making a young athlete feel they are developing into the leader you desire them to be.
Blanton is a doctoral candidate at Michigan State University in the department of Kinesiology, specializing in the PsychoSocial Aspects of Sport and Physical Activity, and a research assistant for MSU's Institute for the Study of Youth Sports. He has served as a facilitator at MHSAA Captains Clinics the last three years and currently is assisting the association with its student leadership programs.