September 8, 2019 We hear it all the time, “Sports are supposed to be fun.” However, in more than 30 years of sport, my involvement with Special Olympics events have been the only consistent platform in sport where I have seen this statement lived and expressed with sheer joy. As a ten-year professional baseball player…
August 2, 2018 For those of you that know me well, you have probably heard me talk about my mom. Along with my wife, my mom (who passed away when I was only twelve-years-old) continues to be one of the most influential people in my life. She, like all moms, was the ultimate role model…
July 15, 2018 Youth athletics are about training our children to be winners in life. Undeniably, a big part is teaching our youth how to play to win in the athletic arena, and let’s be clear that the scoreboard and the stopwatch do matter. However, winning only matters if it is done the right way.…
June 15, 2018 Undeniably, all parents and coaches want the best for their own children and players. So then, why are we seeing such a drastic fallout in youth sport participation? Why are our kids walking away from sports never to return because of negative experiences? Studies show that over the past six years, 6%…
I was deeply honored to be a contributor to the 2017 edition of Dr. Angela Lumpkin’s Modern Sport Ethics, which is one of the nation’s leading textbooks for higher learning in the field of Sport Management. I co-authored the following scholarly article with Dr. Michael Sagas (Professor and Chair of the Department of Tourism, Recreation and…
In preparation for Thanksgiving, I wanted to focus this week’s blog on Gratitude and Appreciation. The ability to express genuine gratitude and appreciation for others has been proven to enhance one’s contentment and outlook on life. But how can we as coaches help to “coach up” these character values in our youth through the vehicle…
I See You Working, Coach! A local Bradenton, Florida youth coach recently made the most of a “teachable moment.” In my community talks around the county, I have been asking parents and coaches in attendance to write me in order to share stories of “the good, the bad, and the ugly” of youth and amateur…
My former Dodgers’ teammate, David Ross, just won his second World Series Championship this past week. He and his band of brothers with the Chicago Cubs shocked the world and overcame the 108-year long curse in doing so. How did this finally happen for the Cubs? Well, as a long-time sports executive of over 40…
October 15, 2016 (Excerpt from Chapter One of My Book) Allow me to take you inside the current world of youth sports. If you are new to recreational and amateur athletics in America, the picture I am going to paint for you will be unsettling. However, if you have spent much time around the playing…
Character Loves Company
DEFINING THE “TEACHABLE MOMENTS” IN SPORTS
This guidebook is designed for facilitating a building block approach for promoting and assessing character growth through athletics. The content provides a unique blend of the theoretical studies on youth and amateur sport, my own University of Florida research projects and surveys, and 25 powerful contributions from the likes of Olympic Gold Medalists, World and National Champions, and 40+ year veteran youth coaches.