10 Seconds, Or 10 Years – Keep Planting

When working with young people, there will be times when you see results in 10 seconds – and there are times you won’t see it for 10 years. Either way, keep planting those seeds of character, eventually they bloom.‬ We need as many flowers as possible. #DailyMight

Coaching youth sports looked a lot different 15 years ago. We were roughly 15 years into the internet age and it had yet to impact the training and mentoring of sports coaches. Times have changed though, we’ve leveraged the internet and there is a bevy of knowledge about the games we coach at our fingertips. Practice plans, team building ideas, season schedules. You name it, it’s all out there. Some basic, some incredibly complex and intricate. How we learn about the games we teach have gotten more easier and more available. The reason why we coach, has not.

It used to be that the smartest guy in the room made the best coach. Not because they knew how to teach the game, but because they knew the most about the game. They’d pick the best kids, and as long as their kids were better than the other kids – they’d win. Then it started to turn. We had more information than ever, but kids where getting burned out by coaches who only thought of them as a cog in the wheel. A piece in their transaction coaching philosophy.

Players started to demand more as they were being demanded more. They craved the connection to coaches – and not for the reason you’d think. They wanted more than skill. They wanted their life to be transformed, in addition to their skill (although that is still priority #1). Players demanded care. They demand connection. They wanted to know about character.

The easiest thing to spot from the stands from the beginning of the season to the end is skill growth. Have they gotten better on the stage, or not? It used to be that is all that mattered. Not anymore. Great players, great teams have more than just great skill. They have great character – and they contain coaches who put a premium on developing that character. Coaches who connect with their kids. Coaches like you.

This word of encouragement is delivered different than usual. There aren’t 5 phrases to google about developing a connection with the kids. I wish there was. That would make it real easy – like it was 15 years ago – just be the smartest. But that’s not enough. Now, you need to connect. You should want to connect. Often, and for as long as you can.

Connection, like a planted flower, takes time and effort. It needs to be nurtured and watered daily. Connection looks different for each player. It takes trust, and empathy. It takes care over time. When working with young people, there will be times when you see results in 10 seconds – and there are times you won’t see it for 10 years. Either way, keep planting those seeds of character, eventually they bloom.‬ We need as many flowers as possible.

Give everything your everything, and then some.