Parents should wait 24 hours before discussing a game, a play or a strategy with a coach for at least 24 after the event. This approach moves the discussion away from the players and gives parents and coaches a chance to quell their emotions and resolve a disagreement rationally. The beneficiary of the 24-Hour Rule? The players.
Parents, we use the Sports Engine app that integrates with our website that gives you an easy interface into game schedules and communications.
The SportsEngine mobile app is available for iOS and Android devices and is available on the Apple App Store and on Google Play.
On the Settings tab, tap Account and tap the Sign In button to sign into your SportsEngine account.
For more information a help articles you can follow the below links:
We’re on the fence. It’s time for my family to start making some decisions – big, life-changing decisions. We’ve done our research, read what the experts say and measured the risks and benefits. I’ve talked, argued, debated and struggled with my wife over the issue, and now, I think we’ve finally come to a conclusion.
We want our son to play youth football.
Chances are (you’re reading this, after all), you’re sitting on the fence as well. Parents don’t have to look very hard to find that football has been in the news a lot lately. The studies linking football and concussions (although biking actually results in more head trauma each year) have caused parents to debate the safety of the game. Players are getting bigger, stronger and faster than ever before, and the game is changing as a result – rules are being adjusted, safety equipment is being improved and fundamentals are being rethought.
You have questions – so did we.
Should we let our kid play?
Are the benefits really worth the risk?
What is being done to make the game safer?
Take a deep breath – we have some answers. USA Football is using the knowledge acquired from years of research to revolutionize tackling techniques through its Heads Up FootballSM program. This new approach (through cooperation with the NFL) changes the culture of America's favorite sport. It's the comprehensive solution to player safety: concussion awareness and management, coaching education, proper equipment fitting and Heads Up TacklingSM(as well as a set of recommended standards for parents, coaches and leagues).
On top of that, consider the benefits your child receives when playing football – beyond the fact he or she isn’t playing video games. Football doesn't just teach you how to become a better athlete – the valuable life lessons are everywhere within the game (and no video games are allowed on the field). It doesn't matter if you have a personality big enough to be “Broadway” Joe Namath or if you are from the backwoods of Kiln, Miss., like Brett Favre. You could be as big as Ole Miss walk-on Terrell Brown (6-11, 390) or as small as Saints running back Darren Sproles (5-6, 190). Parents, coaches, schools, communities and kids of all different shapes, sizes, colors, backgrounds and ability levels play and work together to achieve a common goal. Sounds a lot like life, doesn't it?
You want to know the singular reason why football is the No. 1 game in America (and no, it's not the big hits, million dollar contracts or the cheerleaders)?
Football unites everyone.
But I can’t throw! Can you run?
When I try to kick the ball I look like Charlie Brown. I bet you can tackle.
I can’t catch – my hands are rocks with fingers. Let me see you block.
Everyone can play. And that’s what makes the game great, isn't it? Like most parents, I want to give my kids everything they need to be successful in life. Football is where I learned about leadership, teamwork and dedication. It's where I developed self-confidence and the drive to succeed. Heck, it's where I used to let out some of my frustration (hey, it was a lot healthier than some other alternatives). Aren't those the things we want to teach our kids?
America's favorite sport and USA Football teaming up gives parents exactly what they want – kids learn all the valuable life lessons from the game, and mom and dad have some peace of mind. This, as we would say on the field, is a game-changer.
So, come on down from off that fence. It’s safer down here – really.
Nick Ragsdale is a football-loving, blog-writing contributor to USA Football, an Indianapolis Colts season ticket holder and parent. He likes tacos, movies and short walks on the beach (the sand can get hot). You can get more of Nick (140 characters at a time) on Twitter at @USAFootballBlog.
A 12-year old quarterback and his dad came to my office to work with me to improve his performance. The boy was barely holding back tears, and I could hear in his voice a sense of giving up.
He told me his goal as a football player was to play quarterback for the University of Washington. It was his dream since he met Jake Locker, who was the Huskies quarterback at the time and went on to the NFL. He showed me his cap signed by Locker. He was a football player through and through.
I managed to gain his trust and then he finally opened the floodgates that were holding back his frustrations.
“My coach hates me,” he told me, and his eyes started getting watery.
“Everybody on the team knows that I’m the best quarterback on the team, and I’m not getting as much playing time as the other guy.”
I asked him how he knows his coach hates him.
“He yells at me more. He makes me run more laps. I can just tell how he looks at me with that mean look he gives me. He hates me. …”
He offered more examples of how he thought his coach hated him and how he felt like nothing he ever did was good on the field. He thought his dream of playing college football was slipping away.
We must have spent 40 minutes on this before he ran out of problems to tell me about with his coach and team. I listened intently the entire time. When he finished, I switched from serious to excitement when I said him:
“That’s so great! That is awesome that you have this coach!”
He thought I had lost my mind and was in disbelief at my reaction to his problem. My excitement did not match his mood at all. This was by design in order to shock him out of his disempowered state.
I continued on that having a difficult coach right now is the best thing that could ever happen to him if he really wanted to be a Division I college player.
I explained: “What if you never had this tough coach? What if you went the next five years of having nothing but wonderful and inspiring coaches ... and then your senior year, you got this kind of difficult coach and right before a big game with scouts in the stands, your difficult coach yells at you for something and you have the kind of meltdown then that you’re having now. Your play suffers because of it, and your big opportunity goes down the drain.
“Thanks to this coach, it’s brought you here to learn mental toughness skills. By the time you are a senior in high school, you are going to be the most mentally tough quarterback in the state – and all thanks to this difficult coach.”
He then said my favorite words: “I never thought of it that way.”
I explained to him how sometimes the greatest difficulties you face in football can turn out to be blessings in disguise. Football is a difficult sport to play – mentally and physically. In order to get all the benefits of the sport, you want to appreciate the difficulties. The more you can embrace the hard work, the conditioning, the discipline and drills, the better player and person you will be.
Craig Sigl’s work with youth athletes has been featured on NBC and ESPN. Get his free ebook: “The 10 Commandments for a Great Sports Parent” and also a free training and mp3-guided visualization to help young athletes perform under pressure by visiting: http://MentalToughnessTrainer.com