Dr. Melissa Streno Caregivers often face difficult decisions when navigating youth sports: How can a family balance chores, time together, homework, or other hobbies with multiple sports, teams, camps, and extra coaching without negatively affecting the family unit? For families with more than one child, coordinating schedules, costs, and transportation can [...]
Dr. Melissa Streno As a coach, you have to make a lot of decisions that shape athletes’ experiences, team culture and well-being. Who gets to start each game, how to resolve player disputes, when to make team culture adjustments, and the smaller everyday decisions made during practice carry consequences. Over time, [...]
Dr. Melissa Streno Shortcuts are everywhere, and it’s easier than ever to take advantage of them. Whether you’re looking for a shortcut to finish a research paper or get ahead in your sport, social media likely has a suggestion that claims to make you better, faster, smarter, or stronger. But are [...]
TrueSport Expert, Voleyball Coach and Recruiter Establishing an effective, positive relationship with your young athlete’s coach can be easy, and at other times, it can feel like a complicated struggle. Here, TrueSport Expert Keith Barnett, a longtime volleyball coach and recruiter, former player, and father to a current high school athlete, [...]
TrueSport Expert, Voleyball Coach and Recruiter As a coach, it can feel as though you are solely responsible for your team. But whether you lead a large program with a full staff or coach after school while relying on shared resources and caregiver volunteers, you can build a coaching team [...]
TrueSport Expert, Voleyball Coach and Recruiter If you've been playing the same sport since you were young, you may have settled into a specific position and focused entirely on honing the skills it requires. This could mean always playing left field in baseball, striker in soccer, or setter in volleyball. But [...]
TrueSport Expert Roberta Kraus, PhD The word “culture” is a buzz word we hear or read about all the time. With regards to the youth sport arena, it is about the everyday behaviors and interactions of the performers who show up to the competition. For TrueSport Expert Roberta Kraus, PhD, the [...]
As a coach, one of the most challenging skills in the youth sport world today is to learn how to evaluate the effectiveness of your team culture. How do you objectively diagnosis the culture of the team and connect that to an action plan that gives you clarity around what you want to [...]
TrueSport Expert Roberta Kraus, PhD Picking team captain(s) is a daunting and challenging task for athletic teams, especially given how their role can impact team culture over time. Sometimes selections are made strictly by coaches, sometimes it’s done by players voting, and sometimes it’s a combination of both. Regardless of the [...]
Deborah Gilboa, MD Caregivers often think their job is shielding athletes from all stress. But board-certified family physician and TrueSport Expert, Deborah Gilboa, MD, says stress is a vital tool for building resilience. Instead of avoiding it, help athletes embrace stress strategically to grow mentally, emotionally, and physically. Here, Gilboa is sharing [...]
Deborah Gilboa, MD Coaches juggle stress on two levels: managing athletes’ stress so they don’t burn out or underperform and managing their own stress so they can lead well and avoid burnout themselves. To do both, coaches need to understand how stress works, as well as how to make it work [...]
Deborah Gilboa, MD You may have been taught that stress is always bad and should be avoided. But in reality, stress is critical for growth, performance, and being a happy, healthy human. Too much stress can absolutely be a problem, but no stress at all usually means you’re not being challenged [...]
Deborah Gilboa, MD Taking risks is part of sport, and part of life: You won’t excel as an athlete if you don’t take shots that you know may not go into the goal, push harder in a run knowing you may not be able to hold the pace, or opt to [...]
Deborah Gilboa, MD As a coach, you may assume that your role is to protect athletes from failure, make the decisions that you feel are in the best interest of the team, and generally keep the team’s results steady. But viewing your role in this way may be holding your athletes [...]
Ian Goldberg, Founder and CEO iSport360 As a coach, you witness a lot of sport-related decisions and coaching strategies: You may see other coaches in your area encouraging athletes to specialize in one sport or to train year-round with no breaks. You may also experience parents who are dreaming of college [...]
Dr. Charron Sumler, PhD, LPCC Family units are the first teams that children engage with, and the skills that they learn from being part of a family are the skills they will bring to their sports team. But how do you model good teamwork for your athlete at home? Here, Dr. [...]
Dr. Charron Sumler, PhD, LPCC Being a culture chameleon, or being able to adapt to different environments and social groups, is a skill that often benefits student-athletes who find themselves in a wide range of sport environments. And while the ability to be flexible is important, staying true to your core [...]
Dr. Charron Sumler, PhD, LPCC Are you wondering about the concept of 'psychological safety'? Coaches can help build psychological safety on their teams by creating a supportive environment based in trust and respect, which benefits both the athletes and the performance of the team. Here, Dr. Charron Sumler, TrueSport Expert and Assistant Director [...]