Ep. 131: Coaching for the Love of the Game

<p><a href= "https://sunshine-parenting.com/ep-131-coaching-for-the-love-of-the-game" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Show notes & links available here</a>.</p> <p>In this podcast episode, I interview college professor and author Dr. Jennifer Etnier about the importance of having a positive impact on kids when coaching youth sports. Her book, <a href= "https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07XH9FPK2/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Coaching for the Love of the Game: a Practical Guide for Working with Young Athletes</a>, outlines simple strategies that coaches can use to be sure that a kid's experience is positive, while also promoting sports and continued physical activity. As a sport and exercise psychologist, Jenny works in youth sports alongside athletes, other coaches and is a coaching educator. She is also a parent of two 13-year-old sons and one 15-year-old daughter.</p> <h2>Big Ideas</h2> <p><strong>Youth sports are huge!</strong></p> <ul> <li>More than 20 million children in the U.S. are involved. Their coaches range from professional coaches to casual, part-time coaching volunteers, like parents or former players.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Kids need good coaches.</strong></p> <ul> <li>Training to be a coach is typically not required or provided and so unfortunately for many kids, their experience in sports can be negative and even harmful.</li> <li>We need to ensure that the people who are volunteering to coach have the necessary education to create a positive sports experience for our youth.</li> <li>Coaches need to create a climate where it's about each player's personal improvement and not about the outcome. Players should always be treated with respect, compassion, and empathy.</li> <li>When coaches aren't positive, kids quit. Statistics show that 70% of kids will drop out of sports before the age of 13. If the experience is bad, they don't want to go back to that sport.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Kids need to be physically active.</strong></p> <ul> <li>In