Poor Safety Concern for Kids
Poor Coaching Techniques
A lot of standing around & downtime
Not a lot of fun

Let me set the scene. It’s the first practice of the season in helmets and pads for a town in Northern Westchester County, NY, with three youth teams on one high school football field. For one team of incoming third graders or 7 & 8 year olds it was their very first time in full helmets and pads.

Observations:
7 & 8 year old team – begins practice with static stretching on the ground, unless you’re 1960‘s or 1970‘s gym teacher, that technique of warming up went out long ago. It’s been proven that static stretching does more to increase injuries than it does to prevent. A dynamic, fun activity that gets their heart rate up and blood flowing to their big muscles is much more appropriate. But wait, next they line up and conduct up & downs (running in place, throwing themselves on their stomachs, getting up as fast as possible, all on a coach’s demand). A dynamic warm-up, yes I’ll give them that, a kid friendly way to break a child on their first day in pads & helmets on a 90 degree plus day, no!

Next up there’s an explanation & demonstration of form tackling – that’s a great thing, maybe these coaches know what they are doing! Wait, that lasted no more than 4 minutes, now were onto a nutcracker drill!!! A nutcracker drill involves two kids lining up at least 5 yards apart and charging full speed into each other, often resulting in a high impact collision with two bodies on the ground. A drill that has disappeared from many high school, college, & NFL programs due to safety concerns (more about safety in my next blog), now I’m observing it happen with 7 & 8 year olds, their first day ever in pads and helmets!!!

I turn 180 degrees, and I observe the entire high school team warming-up by going through a series of agility stations, working on their dynamic movement skills, everyone engaged, no one standing around. This is followed by a series of dynamic balance drills. Hmm…

That is followed by the high school team breaking up into small groups with an assigned coach. Now it’s time for blocking & tackling technique work. Interesting that they don’t line up five yards apart, but they’re on their hands and knees paired up several inches apart, with a slow progression over 20 minutes up onto their feet, never more than two yards apart.

I turn back 180 degrees and I watch the 5th grade or 10 year olds practicing. After a 10 minute warm-up they are now onto a full 60 minutes of special teams work. No open field or sideline tackling technique, it’s 60 minutes of kick-off strategy! Now let me put this into perspective. This team plays 8 games per season. If history repeats itself for this team, and the coaches don’t focus on tackling & blocking techniques, their total number of kick-offs for the season will hover in the single digits. Yet this team of coaches spend 60 minutes of practice time on kick-off strategy. Maybe it should occur to them to first work on the techniques and skills (i.e. blocking) of how to get your team into the end zone, before you jump the gun and begin working on what occurs after you score – kicking-off.

Oh it gets better! While 11 kids line-up on the field to kick-off with one coach kicking to a group of 3 to 4 dads (they like to be referred to as coaches), 20 other kids sit and watch. Maybe you could be engaging the 20 other kids in a form tackling drill while they wait their turn? Rather than sitting, with their helmets on, in 90 degree heat, bored out of their minds. Now it gets even better, the kick-off is taken each time, by a coach, who is at least 6’2” tall and no lighter than 220 LBS, returning the kick-off at full speed with 11 kids chasing him! If the insurance company ever witnessed this you could kiss that policy good-bye. This coach is weaving and cutting through kids at full speed. Now if he makes one wrong turn into a kid – he could knock them out – real smart & safe! Not to mention there was not one instruction provided on breaking down and tackling. Sixty minutes, wasted on one of the unsafest aspects of the game, with no time spent on instruction or technique, in an unsafe practice environment, on a part of the game that will happen less than a dozen times all season!

Wow, let’s turn 180 degrees to watch the high school team. Can it be? They’re still working on tackling & blocking techniques, by position. And no one is on the ground, contact is minimal, but technique and engagement in drills are fast paced and intense.

As a matter of record, this high school coach has coached for over 40 years, has been named NY State Coach of the Year several times, & NFL High School Coach of the Year. Yet he never allows his players to take anyone to the ground in practice. His reasons, number one – safety, he believes rightfully so that you put players in danger every time they hit and fall to the ground, number two – instruction, you cannot teach correctly or effectively when there are bodies constantly on the ground, it ruins the flow of practice. As a result, his team allowed a total of 6 points ALL LAST SEASON. He works on technique, and gets results. The same now holds true for many college and NFL Teams.

Oh, by the way, this high school team are in helmets, shoulder pads & shorts only. Did you know that a majority of all NFL Teams in pre-season camps will be in full pads only an average of 6 days this year? Not this youth football town!

Bottom line, it’s time as parents to turn 180 degrees and learn there’s a better and safer way to play and learn the game of football. You owe your kids that security and safety. It only takes a 180 degree turn!!

Join this Revolution!
In all seriousness, you might find this article humorous but at the end of the day we need to change the manner in which our kids are involved in sports. In particular, youth contact sports must begin to require that all coaches receive legitimate and practical on-field training. Today’s training and certifications are weak at best. With all the safety concerns and studies we are receiving regarding brain and head injuries can we afford not to demand better for our kids. Please join me and demand better coaches training and legislation that protect our children when participating in sports.

All I have to say to all of you is, STOP! Rather than sugar coat and position this issue as if only a few “bad apples” ruin the experience for everyone involved in youth sports, I’m going to tell you the hard-cold fact; You’re all to Blame!

If you’re the over involved parent (the type that needs to coach every team, every season, or the league administrator/commissioner that needs to control all aspects of a youth sport, or the parent that continues to lobby for his/her kid to make and start on any and all teams), or you’re the parent that never volunteers but can be heard every weekend by hollering at kids, officials, coaches and other parents, no matter what group you fall into, you are the problem, not only for your own kid but for all kids involved in your community.

Even the nurturing parent that never says a thing and quietly attends every game, is respectful, and wants their child to have a great experience is to blame! Yes, the highly educated, well balanced, and often the adult with more athletic experience than anyone else involved in sports in your community is to blame. Why? Because they know there is something seriously wrong with youth sports yet they do nothing to enact change.

I also have an issue with Youth Sports Experts that establish foundations and organizations sometimes to attached to prestigious Universities, in order to heighten their importance have become a colossal joke. Enough talking about the issue and how it affects kids.

What we do need are solutions! I have spent most of my entire professional career developing solutions for youth/high school coaches and parents. And I used to be as much to blame as well, until I did something about it. and got penalized for it! Despite my better judgement I coached my son’s football team in a traditional league with traditional rules that are better suited for NFL Players than 10 year olds! Until I couldn’t look at myself in the mirror anymore. I was contributing to a flawed infrastructure that had no consideration for the safety of kids. As a matter of fact I’m currently banned from coaching youth football (which would never stand-up in any court of law) and my son’s team because I raised concerns about the safety of the league rules, and suggested we look to play in a better suited and safer league. So now I sit on the sidelines watching other fathers, with about as much football coaching knowledge as a high school girl’s cheerleading squad (no disrespect to cheerleaders), coach my son and others.

Now don’t misunderstand, I’m not going away and letting this issue go away. Me, unlike you and most parents are going to observe and freely bring to everyone’s attention the mistakes being made and the other options available for their children.

The problem with youth sports are parents. The parents that masquerade as coaches and adults that masquerade as parents. What I don’t understand are the number of parents that make such an effort to get their kids into the best schools & classes, but when it comes to sports, they make very little effort or keep any type of watchful eye. Yet a coach with limited experience and knowledge is given free reign to make decisions regarding your child.

I DON’T GET IT!!! Please step in and question those who run youth sports and hold them accountable!!! I did, and I can get up every morning and feel good that I stood up to the insanity, and will continue to do so until we fix it!!

Are you watching the NCAA Basketball Tournament? If you’re any type of sports fan this is the weekend you should cherish. Excitement packaged in upsets, buzzer beaters, and overtimes. It may be the best sports weekend of the year. But there’s one problem, it’s not good basketball.

I’ve listened and agree with many of the experts and sports talk radio show hosts that complain the talent in college basketball is down this year and has been so for as long as 15 years. ESPN’s Jay Bilas, & radio host of “The Herd”, Colin Cowherd, have voiced this opinion throughout the entire basketball season. Cowherd today on his show best described the NCAA Tournament when he warned listeners “Don’t confuse exciting with good.” He’s absolutely right. I can go to a youth basketball game, and watch an exciting game, despite the fact they cannot dribble, shoot, pass, and take three to four steps every time they touch the ball. Exciting by the way, can be the final few seconds of a 12-10 boys or girls barnburner.

It’s not March Madness; it’s just plain and simply maddening. This weekend, on sport’s largest stages, we are witnessing the results of poor youth coaching, with a rush and overemphasis on playing games rather than teaching the sport and developing the athlete and their fundamental skills first. I’ve discussed this with dozens of college and high school coaches nationwide, including Villanova Head Basketball Coach, Jay Wright on my Sirius/XM National Radio Show – “The ABC’s of Sports”,. They all agree; young players are no longer sufficiently trained in the fundamentals of dribbling and passing. We have an obsession in this country to start kids playing at earlier and earlier ages without ever properly spending the time and emphasizing skill development.

The largest culprit of this talent erosion in basketball is the AAU. Just as we approach the time of year when high school and youth basketball programs finish their seasons, immediately begins AAU basketball tournament play, The AAU provides little in the way of training and a lot in the way of numerous (weekend after weekend) games.

If college coaches want to see the quality of talent improve, and sports fans want to experience the best playing the best this time of year there several simple things we can all do to improve the next generation of basketball talent.

1. College coaches should encourage more high school programs, with their assistance, to conduct skill development camps throughout the summer de-emphasizing tournament play.
2. College coaches should strongly recommend that high school programs reach down to the youth grass root levels with their players to provide more hands-on fundamental skill training.
3. Parents can do their part by resisting the urge to register their kids in consecutive seasons of play, and instead place them in skill development programs (camps, clinics, etc.) that improve their fundamentals while encouraging kids to get their game fix by playing pick-up in their driveways & local playgrounds.

Otherwise, the product that we all cherish, on a weekend such as this, will eventually erode into a memory.

Bob: Hey Jim, how was your team’s game this morning?
Jim: Yeah, just got back, took our eighth victory in a row. Don’t see anyone touching us this year, we should run the table.
Bob: Wow – what was the score?
Jim: 22-18, we’re a powerful offensive squad.

Every time I hear a conversation similar to that I chuckle. The reality of the situation in most town little league programs is that not one earned run has been scored since the Eisenhower Administration. If you really want to put youth baseball into perspective go to a game where you know not one single player on either team, preferably in a town that is unfamiliar to you. Then come back and tell me that kids are ready to play this game at a level that resembles the adult version.

What Jim actually experienced that day with his baseball team is 6 horrifying innings that lasted an hour too long, with few strikes thrown, plenty of walks, wild pitches, passed balls, throwing errors, dozens of balls dropped & ground balls through the legs. Yet we as parents jump up and down and scream at the top of our lungs in glee every time their team scores. Giving kids the impression that they’re performing at a high level and as long as the final score reads in their favor it does not matter how it happens. That’s similar to being graded on a curve where you celebrate your son receiving an A for answering 4 out of 10 questions correctly out of a class of struggling students.

The means by which we’ve been conditioned to measure sport success has actually leads to poor coaching and athlete performance. When you coach to win at any expense, because you’re so focused on a final score, it creates a situation where you reward and celebrate the other teams’ mistakes, without little regard to how your team actually performed.

If we actually approached and scored games differently, and stayed away from the adult final result version of scoring, you might begin to witness better quality of play, with the focus placed on executing skills rather than manufacturing wins.

If an adult is not focused as a coach on developing every player on his or her team then they should immediately stop coaching. The youth coach when asked how his team did answers by saying:

We played well today.
I was pleased with everyone’s performance
Or
I saw some good things today but we need to improve upon X/Y/& Z

Is a coach that focuses on the details of where his team is developmentally, rather than who won or lost, and will ultimately produce better athletes, teams, and championships later in adolesance when victories and losses matter, and can be properly put into perspective.

This season I challenge youth baseball teams to use the following simple scoring system. The scores you record will become a blueprint of where you need to improve. That’s a much better final result of a youth game than a useless and sloppy win.

The following rewards contact made, the quality of the hit, the outcome of runner’s advancing, total bases, & driving in runs.

For every foul ball – 1 point (making contact)
For every infield fly ball out – 1 point
For every fly ball error – 1 point
For every ball ground ball out – 1 point
For every ground ball error – 1 point
For every line drive out – 4 points
For every ground ball hit – 4 points
For every fly ball hit – 4 points
For every line drive hit – 6 points
For every home run – 6 points + 4 total bases +( # of RBI’s x 4)
For every sacrifice = type of hit points + number of runners advanced + x 4 for each RBI

Add batters number of bases to points beyond first base (i.e. line drive double = 8 points, triple = 9 points)
Add number of runners x2 points for each base advanced into scoring position (i.e. ground ball single with runners on first and second that advance to second & third = 8 points)
Add number of RBI’s x 4 onto points (line drive 2-run double = 16 points)
Add 2 points for every run scored other than HR’s

On defense – 2 points for every ball played that results in an out
- (-2 points) for every ball played that results in a runner & -2 points for every base advanced (i.e. ground ball to third thrown over the 1st basemen’s head & runner advances to second = (-4 points)
- (-2 points for missing cut-off man)
- (-2 points for throwing to wrong base)
Pitching - + 2 points for every strike & ball in play
- (- 2 points for every ball)

In the final installment of this interview, Scott interviews snowboarder Shaun White about his mindset in the clutch, technique, and his new game Shaun White Snowboarding World Stage.

Part One available here, Part Two available here.

Subscribe to my Youtube channel for more sports videos.

Scott interviews world-renowned snowboarder Shaun White about training, technique, and his new game Shaun White Snowboarding World Stage.

Part One available here.

Subscribe to my Youtube channel and you’ll see part 3 of this interview, which will be posted in the coming days.