Motivation

Coaches and athletes working together to eliminate the stigma of mental health afflictions This post is a summary of our key takeaways from Volume 2 Episode #85 of The Educational AD Podcast, hosted by retired high school Athletic Director Jake Von Scherrer.  This summary of the podcast episode is posted with permission of Coach Von Scherrer. You can ...

This article was provided by The Junior Volleyball Association By Kevin Brylski Most coaches will tell you a high percentage of sports, and life for that matter, is played between your ears. If you have played or coached sports long enough you know that not every win is notated in the win column, and not every loss ...

Failure is not something to be ashamed of, it’s something to be powered by. By John O’Sullivan, Founder of Change the Game Project In May 2018, retired US Women’s National Soccer team star Abby Wambach gave the commencement address to 600 women from Barnard College in New York City. Wambach, the all-time leading scorer for Team USA, an ...

These two articles were writtin by Frank Lenti, Mt. Carmel High School. I found these articles on Steve Smiley’s website: SNSBasketball.com Article 1 Motivating Young Athletes One of the hardest parts of coaching is motivating young athletes to practice. To do this effectively, the coach has to foster an understanding of the relationship between training, practice and peak performance. He ...

Everybody wants to be somebody. Once this becomes a fundamental way of viewing your teammates, classmates, and everyone you meet, you will become a person of influence. Dr. Cory Dobbs Homelessness is a complex problem. Not just because a person without a home needs money and other essential resources—but because the psychological consequences are crippling. A homeless ...

By John O’Sullivan, founder of Changing the Game Project A few nights ago I went to a graduation. Not a high school or a college graduation, but one far smaller, and far more personal. In fact, there were only seven kids, one of which was my 9-year-old son TJ. He and six others were being recognized ...

This article was provided by Changing the Game Project By James Leath “STOP LOOKING AT YOUR PHONE!” yells Tasha, a point guard on the 6th grade YMCA basketball team I was coaching. Immediately, I smile and start to explain to her that I forgot my watch and I needed to make sure we were on schedule. Tasha rolled her ...

These were written long enough again that they are framed in the masculine gender, but I hope there are good messages for ALL athletes and coaches. Little Eyes Author Unknown There are little eyes upon you And they’re watching night and day; There are little ears that quickly Take in every word you say; There are little hands all eager To do anything ...

This post was syndicated from the Inner Drive blog. Editor’s Note from Brian: I believe that these 7 lessons apply in athletics when athletes are working to acquire new skills or improve existing ones as well as in academics. How well do your students fail? Poet Samuel Beckett once said, “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try ...

This article is courtesy of Coaches Network Coaches can often walk a fine line when trying to motivate their young athletes. Choosing the right words to get the most out of your players can be challenging when also trying to instill lessons that go beyond winning and losing. Janis Meredith of CouchUp.com outlines various ways that ...

This article was provided by Coaches Network As a coach, you strive to find the words that will help your athletes reach their full potential—not only as athletes, but as young adults.  In an article in Psychology Today, Meg Selig—author of Changepower! 37 Secrets to Habit Change Success—provides a few brief motivational messages that coaches have used in ...

Joe Tauer, Head Men’s Basketball Coach at the University of St. Thomas, has a doctorate in psychology and teaches the subject as a tenured professor at the school. So it’s not surprising that he’s regularly asked how he uses that to motivates his players. What is unexpected, however, is his response. “The short answer is, I ...

Here are three more inspirational pieces that you might consider using when you are looking for something to share with your players. The poem at the end of the post is written in the male gender, but I believe that the message can be used for ladies as well. I Am a Winner by William Arthur Ward . ...

Personality Traits of Successful Athletes You probably don’t agree with all of these and would change the wording on some of them, but my hope is that this stimulates your thinking on how you can more clearly define and list for your athletes what you feel leads to success. We all have our own definition of success. ...

Imagine there is a bank account that credits your account each morning with $86,400. It carries over no balance from day to day. Every evening the bank deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to use during the day. What would you do? Draw out every cent, of course? Each of us has such a bank. ...

These are some of my favorite personal development success aphorisms.  I have given credit where I was able to.  If you have any to add, or know who I should attribute any of these to, feel free to comment below. I am far from perfect, but I work to have these thoughts guide my actions. There ...

Edgar A. Guest I’d rather see a sermon than to hear one any day; I’d rather one should walk with me than merely show the way. The eye’s a better pupil and more willing than the ear; Fine counsel is confusing, but examples are always clear. And, best of all the preachers are the men who live their creeds; For to ...

Winning is giving your best self away Winning is serving with grace every day You’ll know that you’ve won when your friends say it’s true. “I like who I am when I’m around you. You look for the best in the others you see And you help us become who we’re trying to be.” Winning is helping someone who’s down It’s sharing ...

Here are a couple of inspirational poems that you might consider using in your team notebooks. They are obviously written in the masculine gender, but in my opinion, apply to all athletes! Ambition You are the fellow who has to decide Whether you’ll do it or toss it aside. You are the fellow who makes up your mind Whether you’ll ...

Living with a 99% Effort I got this list from entrepreneur and business author Harvey Mackay’s book “Dig Your Well Before You’re Thirsty.” (If you click on the name of the book, you can see a portion of the book from Amazon) In the book, he gives credit to Armond Bouchie for using this list in ...

Today’s post contains two resources that I hope you can use with your team. The first is a list of what we would have to put up with if we settled for a 99% effort. The second is a short motivational video about how that extra effort can make a huge difference. I got this list from author ...

Here are some inspirational thoughts that I have used with our teams from time to time. WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM A MULE In 1885 the world champion mule team competition was held in Chicago. The winning team managed to pull a load of 9,000 pounds. The second place team pulled slightly less. After the competition, someone ...

I found this on Lynne Terry’s ClickNewz blog. She had seen it several places before posting it. Starting today… 1. Give up trying to be perfect. – The real world doesn’t reward perfectionists, it rewards people who get things done. 2. Give up comparing yourself to others. – The only person you are competing against is yourself. 3. ...

This post was written by Eric Musselman. IMO, it is a great reminder that our words as coaches can last a lifetime with the athletes that we coach, so it is imperative that we choose them wisely and intentionally. I hope there are a few thoughts contained herein that you can edit so that they are meaningful ...

Some thoughts to share with your team on what it takes to succeed in all areas of life, including athletics… Successful athletes earnestly want to succeed, and they do something about it. They set goals for themselves. Successful athletes realize that everything worth having in athletics has a price-tag in terms of training and competitive effort. They understand ...

Some good questions for coaches to ask their athletes and to use as an accountability list to their teammates. To check your value to our team, ask yourself these questions: Am I mature enough to work at things seriously? Do I observe the rules of our sport? Do I expect and respect authority? Do I conform to all training rules? Am ...

See how your team does on this quiz… 1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world. 2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners. 3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America contest. 4. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer prize. 5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winners for Best Actor ...

Written by Chris Widener (www.chriswidener.com) Of course by now we are all becoming aware of DNA. It is the source code that determines who we are. When we look at DNA we can see what a person will look like, what diseases they may come down with, etc. This has been a tremendous breakthrough for scientists ...

I found this list to share with your players on Mayville State University Women’s Basketball Coach Dennis Hutter’s site www.coachhutter.com. My hope is that you can make some adaptations to the document that fit your team’s standards and ideals and share it with your players, no matter what your sport. The ABC’s of Comets Basketball Attitude – An ...

These are 37 of the 366 daily motivational thoughts for coaches to share with their players that we have compiled. If you are interested in the entire list of 366 thoughts, you can download it at the bottom of the page. I hope that there are several thoughts here that you can either use or give some ...