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In this Stillwater Area Sports Association video, I explain what coaching values are, why they are important, provide some examples, and offer some suggestions on how to create your own coaching values.
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I'm assisting the USA Wrestling's National Coaches Education Program by providing some feedback on their coaching certification content. Parents and athletes, here's a good take home statistic I learned during this process. There are 2,500,000 volunteer coaches in the United States alone, and less than 250,000 receive any formal training. Put another way, there is more than a 90% chance your coach hasn't even taken a first aid or CPR class, let alone been taught how to coach! Read that last sentence again. It's frightening! It's fantastic that organizations like USA wrestling are implementing required education for their certified coaches. But for those of you not in wrestling, maybe you shouldn't be relying solely on your coach to become your best... I encourage you to contact me to see how my education and experience can help in your specific situation. 
Yesterday I had the opportunity to share some of my knowledge as a keynote speaker at the 8th Annual More Than X's and O's Coaching Symposium. Hosted at Emporia State University, over 130 athletic directors, coaches, and coaching students attended from across the state of Kansas.
Speaking as a keynote can be a high pressure situation: you are the one expected to razzle and dazzle the audience, and sometimes that can be hard if it is a difficult topic. Such was the case for my first presentation, Making Sound Ethical Decisions. Not many coaches want to hear about the potential problems that might arise as they progress through their career. However, if they are unprepared to handle them, sometimes things go array. Just google "coaching scandal" and you'll see what I mean. I used some of my time to provide them with a step-by-step guide to resolving such situations. The presentation was well-received and I spent much of my time explaining how to use cognitive interviewing, a technique used by law enforcement to acquire accurate data from witnesses. It is a useful method for finding out the truth in a situation that is not clear cut. My second presentation, Using Goal Setting to Improve Sports Performance Over a Season, was much more practical, and focused on the do's and do nots of goal setting. We did a practical example, and explored the differences between task orientation and goal orientation. Finally, I discussed tanking, when an athlete deliberately slacks off when losing is imminent, and why it might happen. One never knows how well a presentation went, but I was pleasantly surprised to receive multiple thank you emails today. "Dr. Baghurst, I am both a coach and athletic director and the information you covered is very important to my coaches, players, and students. Thank you, for speaking at the workshop." It is messages like these that motivate me to continue doing what I do! |
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