Category: Coaching

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Preventing ACL Injuries: A Practical Program for Educators

With the rise in obesity and sedentary rates, and subsequent chronic conditions, it seems imperative, now, perhaps more than ever before, that we encourage children and adolescents to be physically active.  But, what if a lack of interest stems from fear of injury?

While ACL injuries disproportionately affect female athletes, accounting for 69% of serious knee injuries when compared to their male counterparts (Gomez, DeLee, & Farney, 1996), the latter is certainly not excluded from this injury pathology.  As practitioners, our role is not limited to performance improvement, we must also be able to identify, provide, and prevent potential injuries.  Running faster and jumping higher should no longer be the hub of engagement in physical activity.  Alternatively, in order to cultivate lifelong movers, we should be training proper movement strategies. Thus, reducing the risk of injury, the associated fear, and consequently increasing the longevity of a physically active lifestyle.

This article was originally published on January 3, 2020.

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I Raised My Hand: Slaymaker Reflects on a 64-Year Career Teaching Basketball

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The Peabody Gazette-Herald bobbed high above the boy’s head as he shouted, “The Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor! The Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor!” Five-year-old Ron Slaymaker watched the paper boy, uncertain about all the commotion on December 7, 1941. “I remember that day,” recalled Slaymaker. “For the next four years, we were involved in World War II. Everything changed. We had to sacrifice. All the news was about the war.” Slaymaker enjoys telling stories and at 86 years old he has a lot to share. His tales entertain and often he adds flavor, and exaggerations to key details for a greater effect. But regardless of the story, the listener leaves with a lesson to apply in their lives.

One story Slaymaker likes to share when speaking at athletic banquets, coaching clinics, or community functions describes a moment during the 1960s when as a young coach he raised his hand. The moment changed his life. To Slaymaker that action set in motion a course of events that opened doors to new opportunities and experiences, keeping him in basketball for 64 years and counting. But before Slaymaker raised his hand, he grew up during one of the most significant time periods in U.S. history.

Read the full article on Sport Coach America: https://sportcoachamerica.org/i-raised-my-hand-slaymaker-reflects-on-64-year-career-in-basketball/

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Protecting Athlete Wellness in the Hyper-Competitive World of Sports

Sport is captivating. Engaging in it elicits strong emotions for many people, like passion, excitement, and love. Sport is so central to many people’s lives that it impacts choices participants and spectators make about how they live. For example, practice and game schedules often determine how one’s days, weeks, and even vacations are planned. In addition, great value is placed on the role of sport in our lives. Sport is argued to be a place where people can learn and practice socially valued behaviors like teamwork, perseverance, and hard work; all characteristics also used to describe valued employees and community members. However, sport can also encourage behaviors that can be negative and damaging. For example, the culture of power and performance sports encourages athletes to play through pain and injury. Those who make that choice are often rewarded through adulation which reinforces their decision. Certain behaviors, including playing through injury, striving for distinction, accepting no obstacles in the pursuit of success, and always putting the game first, combine to create the Sport Ethic, a phenomenon that supports and reaffirms one’s identity as an athlete (Coakley, 2021).

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The elements of the Sport Ethic may read to some like a roadmap to building the perfect athlete. Subscribers to the phenomenon may well be aggressive, obedient, and fiercely committed to the team and sport, perhaps to a fault. “They will have to drag me off the field.” “All I want is all you got.” “Softball is life.” “Leave it all on the field.” These and similar statements are common affirmations of the Sport Ethic with each communicating that we, as coaches and parents, expect student-athletes to place the game before their well-being, relationships with others, and their future. That is really the core of the Sport Ethic; interrelated behaviors and ways of thinking exhibited in our actions and communications that encourage one to put the sport first. However, overuse injuries and dysfunctional work and personal relationships are potential consequences to the adoption of and over-conformity to the Sport Ethic, where the risk of serious injury is predictable in those who ignore minor injuries (Coakley, 2021).

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Educational Athletics: A Playbook for Success

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Education and especially scholastic sports have undergone significant shifts over the last twenty years. The last few years of the pandemic have sped up this process and shown us the great value sports can have on a student’s entire life as well as on an entire school community. At its core, education should be dynamic, progressive and at the forefront of today’s changing landscape and school athletic programs should be no exception. Today there are more schools, more leagues, more programs, more changes to personnel, and of course more options on how people spend their time. My hope is that when schools focus on educational athletic programs they will also improve their school culture and make their entire school communities a better place. Athletics can do things that other areas of schools cannot, and in many cases, athletics is the fundamental fabric that holds schools together – that needs to be realized and strengthened by all community members. As someone who understands the purpose of athletics, I have been working towards the goal of widening the outreach and understanding of athletic programs for some time now and hope that my new book “A Global Playbook” is a helpful step in doing just that.

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This simple way we call our programs can have a big impact on how they are viewed by community members. “Educational athletics” embodies the idea that athletics is an extension of the classroom and that playing sports is an educational activity that provides outstanding opportunities to teach life lessons at the same time.  Using this term benefits a program in two ways. First, it should be that it is not solely about wins and losses. Second, it shows that a school, or club for that matter, is also interested in educating its athletes in areas other than Xs and Os. One of the major benefits of athletics for young men and women all around the world is that they have a higher chance of succeeding in all aspects of life because of the skills that they can acquire while playing sports. There are incredible correlations between successful people and the skills they learned while participating in athletics such as the ability to put in the work to hone their skills over a long period of time, the ability to show up on game day, and the ability to be prepared to compete. But the fun part is that this list can go on and on.

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The Case for Coaches Attending Their Student-Athlete IEPs

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High school governing associations have academic success rules or guidelines for athlete participation. Some schools design even tougher academic rules for participation beyond what state organizations suggest. When I was a head football coach, our school’s eligibility rules were steeper compared to the state high school association guidelines. The rules did not affect a lot of our players at the time, but for one learning and emotionally disabled special education student, it was always a barrier for him to play. This was a sad situation because football was the sport he loved even though he was not a very good player; he just wanted to play in any position and at any time during practices or games.

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One year, prior to our first contest, the weekly eligibility list came out and “Casey” was failing multiple classes (even with accommodations). My hunch was that a “cause and effect” was the real culprit for “Casey” losing participation. For example, when he knew he earned some failing grades on assignments and understood it would affect his participation, he’d simply give up trying in that course and think “football is over for me.” Being a young head coach and teacher unfamiliar with special education, IEPs (Individual Education Plans), and specific disabilities, I did not know what to do for this student-athlete. I decided to meet with his special education teacher and learn more about IEPs, LD (learning disability), and ED (emotional disability) designations.

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