This week on the Way of Champions Podcast, we welcome Chris Snyder and Nadine Dubina from the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee. We dive into how to put fun back into coaching, how to handle push-back from coaches about coach development, and early sport specialization.    Be sure to check out the Quality Coaching Framework on the Team USA website.    Chris Snyder is the director of coaching education for the United States Olympic Committee. In his current role, Snyder focuses on supporting the USOC sport performance department and Team USA coaches His responsibilities include discovering and providing resources to enhance sport culture and the National Governing Bodies that service sport in the United States. Previously, Snyder served as the manager of coaching education and training for U.S. Lacrosse in Baltimore. He has coached competitive sports for more than 12 years.   Nadine Dubina is the Manager of Coach Development for the United States Olympic Committee. Passionate about people, learning and sport, Nadine blends these values with an experiential learning facilitation style to create coach development workshops, courses, and presentations that are unique, practical and purposeful. Nadine believes in and collaborated on creating the 6 guiding principles of the USOC’s Quality Coaching Framework and uses this as the basis for all of her coaching work. She has an ongoing role in the USOC’s National Team Coach Leadership Education Program (NTCLEP), Coach Accelerator Program (CAP) and International Coaching Enrichment Certificate Program (ICECP). Nadine earned an M.A. in Sport Psychology and is currently pursuing her Ed.D in Coaching and Teaching Studies. She was a competitive gymnast and has coached and judged gymnastics at various levels for 10 years.   Listen on, iTunes, Spotify, and Stitcher   Highlights from the Podcast:

• What does a day at the USOPC look like for Nadine and Chris?
• How do we out the fun back into coaching?
• What is the push-back in the coach development community?
• How can a coach can build on the experiences of previous sessions?
• High-performing vs High-performance coaching
• Chris and Nadine talk about the coaching education programs free on https://howtocoachkids.org
• “If you want to be a good coach, you better be a good teacher!” 
• When is a good time for an athlete to start specializing?
• What if a kid doesn't want to specialize in one sport?
• Why shouldn’t we (with kids under the age of 12) put all the best kids on one team and beat other teams?
• "The worst thing a club can do: pus a bad coach with the lowest level athletes." 
• How does setting an age-date disadvantage certain kids?
• What is it like at the USOPC leading up to the next olympics?

Resources Mentioned

• Quality Coaching Framework
• How to Coach Kids Website https://howtocoachkids.org
• Every Moment Matters: How the World's Best Coaches Inspire Their Athletes and Build Championship Teams
• Coaching Better Every Season: A year-round system for athlete development and program success

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