Rams Basketball: Play Like A Champion
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“A life of frustration is inevitable for any coach whose main enjoyment is winning."
~ Chuck Noll
PLC Coach
Note: WINNING
How important is winning to you?
How important is winning to your players?
Make a short list of the reasons you coach.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Is
winning on this list?
If so, which number is it?
If winning is the most important thing to you, your players will surely feel
it. When you address your team, convey to them why you coach. If you coach
because you truly enjoy it and you want to develop the character of your
players, let them know it. Tell them that you want what is best for them beyond
the playing field. Also think about telling your team that they will not be
defined by their wins and losses, but rather by the character they display.
Recall that you don’t have to win to be a champion.
Being a champion means:
- putting forth your best effort
- having a positive attitude
- playing with integrity
- being a good teammate
Winning comes from every team member putting forth everything they have and working together, communicating effectively and competing to the best of their team collective ability. Rather than reinforcing winning by congratulations or words of affirmation, try to reinforce your players’ work ethic and effort. Share encouraging words with them when they display character in practices or competition. By reinforcing that your players focus should be on the process of competing (mechanics, strategy, character and sportsmanship), rather than the outcome of the contest, your team will “win."
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“Every game is an opportunity to measure yourself against your own potential.”
~ Bud Wilkinson
PLC Champion Parent
Focus: The GROW approach to
Athlete Development
Today we continue our two part
series on PLC’s GROW approach to creating Champions in sport and in life. GROW stands for:
Goals +
Relationships + Ownership = Winning
GROW is based upon
Self-Determination Theory which is a psychological theory of human motivation
that shows when people feel competent (set and achieve Goals),
connected (form positive Relationships with those around them),
connected (have some Ownership over their sport), then they
will be in the best place to achieve success (Win in sport and
in life).
Today we focus
on:
OWNERSHIP creates Leaders in
Life
Champions take ownership of their games and lead responsibly.
Parents must give their athletes ownership in their sport. This allows them to
develop decision making skills and confidence. In order for virtue to be gained
through sport, the game needs to belong to the athletes, not to the parents or
coaches.
Parental Tips:
•Assure your children choose the sports they
play;
• Help your children to recognize consequences to their decisions and
guide them in making positive choices; and
• Connect the Path to Leadership
for your children:
Ownership→Care→ Responsibility→
Leadership.
SUGGESTION:As parents, help your athletes
to understand that acting autonomously and accepting responsibility for their
actions will increase their investment in their sport and lead to future chances
for meaningful civic engagement in the Church and wider
society.
Is
WINNING
everything?
Champions always play to win, but understand that both
winning and losing are important parts of the game they love.
Parental
Tips:
•Always support your children, whether they win or lose;
• Emphasize
good play over winning; and
• Focus on athlete performance, rather than
game
outcome.
SUGGESTION:As parents, remind your
athlete (and yourself) that every sporting event has a victor. Some of the time
your children will be on the winning side, many times, they will not. It is
important to accept both sides of the spectrum with grace. Help your children
realize the process of the game – how the game was played – is more important in
the overall scheme of their whole sport career than simply the final
score.
If sport parents follow the GROW approach (Goals + Relationships +
Ownership = Winning) to whole athlete development, we help our children to
develop into true CHAMPIONS.
