Canada’s Christine Sinclair sets an example of courage on the field

Medical specialists have quite rightly grown increasingly concerned in recent years about the rise in concussion-related injuries in sports, from the professional ranks on through to the youth sports arena.

We know more about injuries, concussions and proper precautions and treatment than we did in previous generations, thankfully. But many sports are played with such intensity (sometimes with bigger-than-ever-before athletes) and at such fast speeds that injuries are bound to occur.

Athletes—and coaches and trainers along with parents, at the youth level—have to be aware and be vigilant, for sure.

That said, people still seem to love the sports stories when an athlete fights through pain and returns to the field of play—whether it’s a baseball diamond, a basketball court or in hockey, the ice.

The recent exploits of Canadian national women’s team captain Christine Sinclair has set the bar pretty high for athletes fighting through physical adversity. After having her nose re-located by an opponents’ flying elbow in the opening game of the ongoing Women’s World Cup, the Canadian international returned to score a brilliant goal—the highlight of the early going in the event that is played out on the biggest stage there is for women’s soccer.

There are many great stories (true stories) of sporting legends who left their mark in part because of their courageous efforts, returning to battle after a serious injury. Examples?

Willis Reed played essentially on one leg in Game 7 of the 1970 NBA finals against the LA Lakers. (After being unable to even warm up, he limped onto the court just before game time). Then there was Kirk Gibson of the Dodgers hitting a game-winning pinch-hit home run in the 1988 World Series when he could barely stand up, much less run, because he was in so much pain.

I could cite many other examples, but Sinclair’s heroics in a losing cause will obviously be remembered for a long, long time to come and will rank right up there with the exploits of other great athletes before her. (It may also dispel the notion that women’s sports somehow don’t measure up to what “the men” can do…)

The message for young people is not to play when you are at medical risk. Rather, it is that, when things get tough (and that can mean a lot of things in life and in sports), how will you react?

Will you get back up after being knocked down and keep plugging, keep working, keeping believing in yourself?

Or will you walk away, let discouragement take over and maybe even quit—on an opportunity, on teammates or possibly even yourself.

Those that keep fighting and believing in themselves have a bright future. Sinclair’s on-field example should prove a bit of extra inspiration for many of us, young and old.

The youth sports lesson in the Mavs win over the Miami Heat

When LeBron James and Chris Bosh took advantage of their free agent status last summer and signed with their friend Dwayne Wade and the Miami Heat, most of us probably assumed it was the beginning of a ”dynasty”.

That may still come to pass, but for now, many sports fans are reveling in the fact that an industrious, hard-working, team-oriented group of players have just earned an NBA championship, rather than the star-studded Heat.

No doubt there is also an “anti-Miami” sentiment as well—fans, perhaps fairly, feeling that justice was done because the Mavericks won the title, not the team built on the perceived selfish whims of a few individual stars.

For me, the point of emphasis is more that players often want to go somewhere to “win”, which on the surface, sounds reasonable.

But in many cases, what it really says to the public, and to young fans is, “I don’t think enough of my current teammates to stay here and help them, and my current team/franchise, get better…”

I sometimes wonder what happened to the idea of leadership in professional sports. Oh, there are some tremendous leaders, for sure, and athletes who set a fine example for our young people. I’ve posted about some of those individuals here in the past.

But many seem to believe that the grass is greener elsewhere. That said, why not stay and help make your current organization better?

LeBron James, a remarkable talent to be sure, was just as close to a title in Cleveland as he is now, without all the other “superstars” around him. Had he stayed, who knows, Cleveland might have remained a fine team and contended in the same way the Heat did in the just-concluded season.

Now, he has to deal with everyone wanting the ball at the same time (always a challenge, it seems, in basketball) in a sea of “stars”.

It may be a long summer of discontent in Miami, despite the many millions each of the former free agents is earning, because they didn’t get what they claim they wanted most of all: a championship.

No, the grass is not always greener…

So from my perspective, the message for youth coaches and young athletes is: don’t look around and judge your teammates. Make the best of your situation. Be a good teammate. Think about what it means to be a team player. If you’re a “star”, help those around you to become better players, rather than criticize or belittle them to their face or behind their back. Accept the challenge of making your current team better. Show real character.

You may just find that that is one of the definitions of true leadership, and more than just attaining more “wins”, you will earn what most of us seek but have to truly earn: the respect of others.

And certain "pros" may just learn something from your example…

The challenges of being so good, so young, in sports

I’ve often written here about the values that many of us—as parents, coaches, adults and life skills advisors, or just those who are simply in a position to positively influence young people—believe are important.

Old-time values still matter: respect for teammates and coaches, being a true team player. Attitude and hard work can overcome a lot, even sometimes not having the most “talent”.

It’s also a challenge for the supremely talented, those whose skills are so exceptional that they are, essentially, way ahead of everybody else on the natural ability curve.

Sometimes talent seems to override everything, and those around you make it easy to forget that real humility (not the false kind) is actually an important part of character development. Why? They keep telling the young athlete how good they are, and soon, in some cases, it’s hard not to see yourself as better than, as above everyone else.

I just noticed an interesting piece this week by a long-time major league baseball General Manager, Jim Bowden, now an analyst with ESPN. He writes on the ups and downs of last year’s first overall (2010) selection in the annual summertime baseball amateur draft, Bryce Harper.

The articles raises some important issues for a lot of us involved in youth sports. Here is the link:

http://espn.go.com/blog/the-gms-office/post/_/id/281/immaturity-could-hold-bryce-harper-back

Lance Armstrong: so courageous, but…

It’s rarely, if ever, fair to judge something or someone when you don’t know “the facts”.

When it comes to Lance Armstrong, the public always knew about the heart-tugging and inspirational side of that story—an athlete who battled against cancer and along the way became an international superstar, a true legend in the world of cycling.

Nothing can diminish what he accomplished, in that it took incredible talent and dedication to become the athlete that he was and achieve what he did. Unfortunately though, it’s difficult to divorce oneself completely from what we continue to see, hear and read from many of Lance’s long time competitors, foes, friends and teammates.

We all recognize that athletes are under enormous pressure to succeed. Professional or amateur, from high school to the NFL, from young amateurs to the Olympics, there has been for decades now a seeming reality that since “others are doing it”—that is, taking performance enhancing substances of some description, if you want to stay competitive, you have to do it as well.

We see suspensions regularly in football, and you have to believe it’s only the tip of the iceberg. It seems illogical that only a small percentage of NFL’ers use substances, given the size, strength and speed of today’s players and the transformed bodies on display.

Baseball has been heavily impacted too, of course, over the past twenty years. We remember the admissions from the late Ken Caminiti, a one time MVP. We also well recall the hype around Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire and their marvelous Home Run record-chase, only to realize later that both have been accused (though “unproven”, still, technically) as having taken substances for years.

Many former track and field sprinters denied, denied, denied then finally admitted “using” or were finally caught. The story is almost always the same: allegations, denials—and then more denials against increasing evidence.

Finally: guilt.

Now, Armstrong faces the same music. There have been many allegations over the years, but they have always been swept away. Now, two recent reports may prove to be far more damning: This Associated Press story http://www.tsn.ca/cycling/story/?id=366282  tells a concerning tale—if one cares whether or not Armstrong was among those athletes that may have used banned substances. An even more recent story comes from another former teammate http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/cycling/news/story?id=6571826 and just adds to the snowballing story.

Does it matter to people if Armstrong is ever proven to have “used”? Does it, or perhaps it is best to say would it change how you view his accomplishments in the world of cycling—a sport riddled with “cheaters” over the past twenty years or so?

Does it change how young people who looked to him as a role model will feel about him, or what he has accomplished, or what he says he stands for?

As importantly, should it?

It’s easy to accuse, to make allegations. But recent history in sports tells us it’s also easy to deny. Barry Bonds. Roger Clemens.
Eventually, the “truth” often comes out.

When it does in the case of Lance Armstrong, will his defenders still be standing at the gates, defending their man?

Kevin Durant: A positive role model worth knowing about

Whether or not professional athletes should or should not be thought of as role-models for our youth, the reality is those high-profile individuals are often followed and emulated by our kids.

Parents remain the most important role models, of course, but professional athletes can make a difference for the better. One such athlete is NBA star Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The young 22 year-old star presents as a genuinely humble young man, appreciative of his position in life.

Check out the link below to read more:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/otl/columns/story?id=6530509

Once you have read the article, you may agree that some athletes are indeed worth following—because of the example they set.

Youth coaches: What a two-day ‘TRY-OUT” may not reveal

Too many times so-called “rep”’ or all-star teams are essentially pre-picked—decided upon by the coaches (or in some cases by a coach’s son or daughter) well before a new season even begins.

Almost as unfair and disappointing is the perfunctory “try-out”, a supposed opportunity for new or previously un-seen or unknown talent to find out if they can earn a spot on a particular hockey, baseball or soccer team, for example.

Either way, these competitive teams can be a “closed shop”, essentially a little “club” or clique that doesn’t make room for newcomers, or may even make them feel un-welcome.

If you are the coach, beyond the obvious lack of fair competition that the above approach suggests, there is something else you should be aware of:  by closing your mind to new players, you may well be missing something.

Oh sure, there may be situations where a young player may legitimately be in over his or her head, where their desire to make a really good select squad may not match up with their ability—at least at the current time.  And so they aren’t ready to play at that elite level.  Fair enough.   

               

But how often I’ve seen these one or two-day tryouts turn young people away who could well have brought something important to the table. And, as coach, we decided after one of two of these “practices” or “try-outs” that they can’t cut it.

It is always frustrating to witness this.  Some good young athletes are “cut” and more importantly, some good young people are sent home too soon, without really having been given a good, long and thoughtful look.

BEFORE your next tryout, try to keep some things in mind as you begin to assess new players:

1. Have you really given them time to show what they can do?
2. Have you actually spoken with them, to see how passionate they are or why they love the game?
3. Have you put that new player in a position to succeed, or have you almost guaranteed they won’t stand out?
4. After one or two sessions, what, if anything, do you know about their heart, their desire?
5. Do you have any idea what kind of teammate they are and would be?
6. Have you spoken with any of their previous coaches, to see what you might be missing?
7. Have you considered what attributes they might bring to your squad?
8. Are you “protecting” players you already have even though they may not have the right attitude?
9. Are you really being objective, or are you being swayed by the need to do “favours” for friends?
10. Have you already promised positions to certain players?

There are many other questions that could be posed, but the idea is straightforward:  “open” tryouts, if they are promoted as such, should indeed be open.

And that includes those making the selections—they need to be truly “open-minded”…

Teaching the values of sportsmanship to young people is still important

Most parents get their children involved in youth sports for a variety of reasons – perhaps because of the health benefits of being active, learning to socialize well, or learning to play as a member of a team.

But maybe as important is the opportunity to help their child learn to become a “good sport”.

Being a good sport does not mean that a young athlete doesn't try to win. There will always be so-called “winners” and “losers” whenever keeping score. It’s natural to want to win.

Sportsmanship, though, has to do with how one competes on the field of play, and how a young athlete—any athlete—handles winning and losing and the ups and downs of being involved in sport.

Youth sports can be highly competitive—some would argue far too competitive and not always healthy. Unfortunately, adults are often times the ones who behave as “poor sports” and as their children become accustomed to the sports world around them they may well take on those negative traits as well.

The “good sports” are those who compete hard, support their own teammates in good times and bad on the field and off, and show respect for the opposition. While the aim is generally is to “beat" the other person or the other team, the objective should not be to embarrass, harass or diminish.

 Good Role Models Lead the Way

Parents are—or should be—the most important role model for youngsters in terms of day-to-day behaviour, and that can include on the field of play.

Youth coaches may not realize it, but their influence on those they coach is significant. A coach who yells at and berates players, screams at game officials and loses his or her cool when things don’t go their way sets a poor example for their impressionable young  players.

On the other hand, coaches who demonstrate patience and don’t have an attitude of “blame” set a positive example for their young charges.

Professional athletes are part of the picture as well. For better or worse, youngsters still tend to look up to and emulate the behaviour that they see and read about.

Many modern-day, high-profile professional athletes have insisted that they aren’t—and do not wish to be—role models. On the one hand this is simply an acknowledgement that they should not be put up on a pedestal by young people, because those athletes are only human and prone to fail and disappoint those who look up to them.

At the same time, while professional athletes can’t (and shouldn’t) replace good parents as positive influences, some athletes can be a positive role model. In those instances, good role models typically are excellent teammates who genuinely support other players, have a positive attitude toward the media and the fans, are involved in their community, and are respected on the field of play because of their commitment to excellence and fair play.

How to Set the Example of Good Sportsmanship

Indeed, parents, youth coaches and professional athletes each has a role to play in setting an example of good sportsmanship for young people.

Parents should be vigilant in how they speak and act in front of their youngsters.  Constant negative talk about their child’s teammates, coaches, the opposition or game officials can affect how their youngsters see the world and create in those young people some very harsh and negative attitudes towards others.

Youth coaches should regularly look in the mirror and self-reflect to ensure their behaviour is consistent with the positive values they are trying to instil. They should respect opponents both publicly and in private. They should teach skills, demonstrate patience and be consistent in how they administer discipline. They can be tough when it’s time to be tough, but should always be approachable and available when their players need to speak with them.

Professional athletes, if they care about being a constructive influence, should ask themselves how they want to be remembered by the youngsters who watch them play. Do they want to be remembered as a self-absorbed “prima donna” or as a well-rounded, thoughtful person with class?

Being a “good sport” can be awfully difficult for adults, let alone youngsters.  But that shouldn’t stop us from at least trying to set a good example.