Raising Competitors | A Show for Parents of Youth Athletes

Intentionality is the key to deep relationships and deep relationships are what make a strong and cohesive team. This week on the Raising Competitors podcast, leadership and team development facilitator Bobby Audley shares ideas for team-building that will last. It doesn’t matter if your team is a group of young athletes, seasoned pros, or employees who work with one another in an office, finding a way to bring them together as individuals and as people will help foster a bond that will make the whole group stronger.

Some of the most successful teams aren’t the ones who win the most games, Audley says, but the ones who have good camaraderie and a shared vision. That comes from building trust between teammates, allowing yourself to be vulnerable as a person, and not getting defensive when someone challenges you — but instead using a challenge as a learning opportunity. It comes down to opening up the doors to good communication and a willingness to share with those around you.

What You’ll Learn:

• Be intentional about relationships
• Allow yourself to be vulnerable
• Make time for one-on-one conversations
• Lean into fear and discomfort
• Work to build trust with your team

Support the show by using code PODCAST for 15% off at CompeteEveryDay.com!

It’s a serious commitment to be a youth sports parent and it can be challenging, at times, to find the best way to support your child through their journey. It takes time, money, and emotional energy to stand on the sidelines and provide healthy motivation at home, while leaving room for your child to grow and learn on their own. This week, author, motivational speaker, and performance coach Alan Stein Jr. talks about parenting a young athlete.

It comes down to modeling the behaviors you want to see them learn and use in everyday life, he says. “I think every parent needs to get great clarity on why you want your children to play sports. And that’s not for me to answer for anyone. That’s for each and every parent to articulate,” says Stein. Once you know why you want them to be there, you can develop the tools to help guide them. As parents, the unseen hours between games and practices, sometimes without our kids around, can be the most important for holistically improving ourselves and building the structures and frameworks to support our families.

Things You’ll Learn:

• Be realistic about the standards you’re setting
• Avoid coaching from the sidelines
• Practice meaningful repetition to improve
• Reinforce the behavior you want to see reflected
• Recognize the difference between preparation and performance

Every person has a body, a heart, and a mind. It’s where these three components come together that the magic happens, says this week’s guest, teacher and coach Lani Silversides.

Practicing mindfulness about how we speak with and act around kids can help us set a positive example for them. It can also help them build a strong skillset and work ethic that will serve them well as they grow and progress.

Things You’ll Learn:

• Be mindful of the language you use
• Pay attention to family routines
• Move away from quick judgment about performance
• Build mental muscles
• Keep the fun factor in youth sports

Kids are like sponges. They soak up whatever you say to them, as parents or coaches, and learn how to act and react from the behavior they see modeled for them. That’s why it’s important to be mindful of how you respond.

This week, coach Nicole Denes shares tips on supporting the process, rather than focusing on the outcomes, and helping kids build good habits for the long run.

It can be helpful to think about problems or mistakes before they happen. That way, you can practice how you might respond before you’re put on the spot. Especially for kids and adults who tend towards perfectionism, it can be useful to re-focus on the skills you need to improve, rather than whether or not a result was perfect.

After all, perfection may be unattainable, but improvement is always possible.

What You’ll Learn:

* Invest in the process* Prepare and plan for mistakes to happen* Be mindful of your reactions* Practice accountability for your actions* Support versatility and variety in sports

Quotes:

“Giving permission to fail is huge, especially coming from a parent. Kids will always listen to their parent more than anyone else, even though it may not feel like that sometimes.” -Nicole Denes

“The way the parent speaks to the child becomes the child’s own voice in the way they speak to themselves.” -Nicole Denes

“I wish parents would understand that you’re not going to hurt your child or that college scholarship by allowing them to play another sport. If anything, it’s helpful in their athletic ability and having confidence in that.” -Nicole Denes

“Be aware of how you as a parent react to mistakes in your everyday life. … Your kids are just soaking that in and they’re going to repeat the exact words in a different situation to themselves.” -Nicole Denes

“If we invest in the process — the little things — the outcomes tend to happen.” -Nicole Denes

Contact:

You can follow Nicole Denes’ work online at becompleteathletics.com and on Facebook and Instagram @becompleteathletics.

Kids are like sponges. They soak up whatever you say to them, as parents or coaches, and learn how to act and react from the behavior they see modeled for them. That’s why it’s important to be mindful of how you respond.

This week, coach Nicole Denes shares tips on supporting the process, rather than focusing on the outcomes, and helping kids build good habits for the long run.

It can be helpful to think about problems or mistakes before they happen. That way, you can practice how you might respond before you’re put on the spot. Especially for kids and adults who tend towards perfectionism, it can be useful to re-focus on the skills you need to improve, rather than whether or not a result was perfect.

After all, perfection may be unattainable, but improvement is always possible.

What You’ll Learn:

• Invest in the process
• Prepare and plan for mistakes to happen
• Be mindful of your reactions
• Practice accountability for your actions
• Support versatility and variety in sports

Enjoyment is a key part of sticking with sports. Especially for youth athletes, finding happiness and fulfillment in the game is central to wanting to come to practice every day and putting in their best work. This week, coach and blogger Erica Suter shares ideas for helping youth athletes take joy in the process because if they care about playing, they’ll keep coming back.

One of the ways to help kids have fun is letting them explore. More and more, kids are being tracked into playing a single sport in the hopes of going pro or getting a scholarship to college.

But, Suter says, kids are better athletes when they have the flexibility to try new things and grow themselves in different ways. As parents, that could mean letting kids play multiple sports or getting them involved in other routines and skills, like strength and conditioning. “Build the human first,” Suter says. Then, focus on the player.

What You’ll Learn:

* Practice having a growth mindset* Build healthy habits for long-term change* Take breaks to prevent burnout* Set short-term goals* Create a reflection journal

Quotes:

“Now, looking back, I realize I stuck with it and was so serious about every aspect of my training because I enjoyed it. I enjoyed working hard. I enjoyed the game. I enjoyed learning and taking feedback from my coaches. And that’s what I want to permeate onto the athletes I coach now. You have to enjoy it, otherwise you’re not going to stick with it.” -Erica Suter

“I think a lot of parents now think that there’s some magical fix and their kid’s going to be better overnight, or they’re going to get that scholarship without any real work, but it really is a process, like anything.” -Erica Suter

“Yes, we’re all competitive and we have a lot of fire, but we need to have fun while we’re doing it, too.” -Erica Suter

“I almost expect failure because then it’s not as much of a shock. Failure is inevitable, so as long as I expect that’s part of the process, I’m going to be fine. The worst thing that happens is I fail and I hit it and go in a new direction.” -Erica Suter

“Build the human first. Make sure the human is strong and can move. And then work on the player.” -Erica Suter

Contact:

You can follow Erica Suter on Twitter @fitsoccerqueen and on her blog at https://ericasuter.com/blog/. You can find out more about Total Youth Soccer Fitness online at https://ericasuter.com/total-youth-soccer-fitness/.

Enjoyment is a key part of sticking with sports. Especially for youth athletes, finding happiness and fulfillment in the game is central to wanting to come to practice every day and putting in their best work. This week, coach and blogger Erica Suter shares ideas for helping youth athletes take joy in the process because if they care about playing, they’ll keep coming back.

One of the ways to help kids have fun is by letting them explore. More and more, kids are being tracked into playing a single sport in the hopes of going pro or getting a scholarship to college.

But, Suter says, kids are better athletes when they have the flexibility to try new things and grow themselves in different ways. As parents, that could mean letting kids play multiple sports or getting them involved in other routines and skills, like strength and conditioning. “Build the human first,” Suter says. Then, focus on the player.

What You’ll Learn:

• Practice having a growth mindset
• Build healthy habits for long-term change
• Take breaks to prevent burnout
• Set short-term goals
• Create a reflection journal

Kids aren’t just mini-adults. They think differently, process stimuli differently, and fundamentally understand the world in a different way. That’s why it’s important, as adults, to be careful what you say when you want kids to understand you, and how you say it.

This week, James Leath talks about the challenges and rewards of working with young athletes and shares tips for connecting with them on their level for better communication and outcomes.

As the founder of Unleash The Athlete, he has years of experience working both with youth and with the people who support them, like parents and coaches. By working to understand how kids experience the world around them, you can better support them on their journey of growth.

What You’ll Learn:

• Encourage positive self-talk in young athletes
• Be mindful of how you speak to kids
• Let your kids fail and learn from it
• Work to understand how kids think
• Support healthy bonds between teammates

Resources

• The Resilient Athlete Course here
• Join James’ Coach Mentorship Program here
• Buy James’ Team Building Activities Course here

Being a successful team means being on the same page. That goes for athletes, parents and coaches. Everyone has to have a shared goal in mind and work to achieve it.

This week, The Colony High School Lady Cougars Coach & Vice President of the Texas High School Girls Coaches Association Colby Davis shares tips for managing the expectations and abilities of a young team and all of its supporters. It comes down to having good communication at all levels and making sure everyone is invested in the end game.

Young teams can comprise players of many skill levels. Each player brings their own strengths to the team, even if it’s being the loudest cheerleader on the bench at gametime. The key to keeping players in sync with one another is to play to those strengths and help kids understand the importance of recognizing others’ successes.

It also makes them tougher competitors, if they can see what the competition is doing right and adapt to improve their own game and ultimately, win.

What You’ll Learn:

• Seek out tough competition
• Be sure not to overwork a young athlete
• Let kids be role models for each other
• Help athletes acknowledge team members’ successes
• Practice and preach your ideal culture

 

You can follow Coach Colby Davis on Twitter @CoachDavis10. You can also follow The Colony Lady Cougars on Twitter @TheColonyBB.

 

Support Raising Competitors by using code PODCAST at CompeteEveryDay.com for 15% off any order!

It can be daunting to find support and resources you can trust as a player, coach, or parent.

This week, fellow podcaster and baseball aficionado Joe Ferraro talks about his Youth Baseball School endeavor, which seeks to bring together useful information in one place for ballplayers and their supporters. It’s a community where you can seek out likeminded people for advice and tips to get the most out of your experience with the sport.

For Compete Every Day podcast listeners, Ferraro may be a familiar voice. He’s the founder and host of the One Percent Better podcast and joined us in season 3 here. He brings the same commitment to education and relationship-building to his new project.

In this episode, he also shares stories of how lessons he learned in baseball have translated to life as a whole and the importance of staying true to the pursuit of lifelong learning, which makes finding curated and trusted resources all the more important.

What You’ll Learn:

• Ways to connect with experts in the field
• How to cope with the mental side of the game
• The importance of taking breaks as a player
• How to translate sports lessons into life lessons
• Where to seek out advice from people you can trust

 

Listen to Joe Ferraro's interview on the Compete Every Day Podcast here.

Support the show by using code PODCAST for 15% off any order at CompeteEveryDay.com.

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