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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (July 28, 2010)
S pecial td itio n • M orrow C ounty I-air and K odeo • H ep p n er G azette-1 im es, W ed nesday. July 2 9 , 2 0 1 0 - P ag e 1 / Conceiving a new view of youth activities By Brian Meehan of “The Oregonian What is the most daunt ing challenge in sports? Coaching an NBA team in this age of enormous contracts and bigger egos might get a few votes. Chasing Lance Armstrong through the Alps certainly is in timidating. But my ballot goes to the challenge taken on by Jim Thompson, founder and executive director o f the Positive Coaching Alliance at Stanford University. T h o m pson has c o n ceived a mountain o f a task: he wants to change the culture o f youth sports. Perhaps when he fin ishes he will turn to solving the federal budget deficit or teaching Shaquille O ’Neal to convert free throws. “Youth sports is really about teaching life lessons, but too often adults behave like they would at professional events,” Thompson said. “It’s this win- at-all-costs mentality that is the enemy.” Thompson was a mid dling athlete growing up in North Dakota. His love o f sports re- emerged when he began coaching his son, Gabriel, 20 years ago in Northern California. He read books on coaching but couldn't find one that broke down the intangible aspects, such as mo tivation. So he began work on what would become his first book, “Positive Coaching.” “There were too many parents and coaches overly fo cused on winning,” he said. “They had good intentions but were do ing exactly the wrong thing.” Thompson thinks coach es who motivate by fear stifle their players’ performance, chase away kids and lose opportunities to use sports as a teaching tool. “ How do you teach character in a classroom?” said Thompson, 56, who once taught leadership seminars at the Stan ford Graduate School of Business. “It becomes too abstract. But youth sports is a totally underuti lized classroom for teaching kids about life.” Thompson developed a new coaching model. He calls it the “double-goal coach,” a men tor who wants to win but is more focused on developing character n kids. “What is the best thing a coach can do?” Thompson asks. “A coach can make it OK for a kid to make a mistake.” In 1998, T hom pson sounded the alliance at Stanford and began giving seminars to high schools and youth sports groups. The alliance now has more than 400 partnerships nationwide and presents workshops to coaches, athletes and parents. Nike thinks enough of the alliance to provide $240,000 in grants so Thompson can take his message to urban neighborhoods in Los Angeles, New York and Chicago. The nonprofit alliance has drawn support from coaches such as Phil Jackson, the alli ance’s national spokesman; Dean Smith, the former North Caro lina men’s basketball coach; and Herman Edwards, coach of the New York Jets. Detroit Pistons coach Larry Brown also is on the advisory board. Thompson said Brown offered to help after his ThtinbfeA, FahntorN -M o**, 14th AN N U A L BEER & W IN E TASTING Extensive CoU fccO n o f Fabrics • Western • Patriotics • Muslin • Fleece • Upholstery » Camo T H U R S D A Y , A U G U S T 5 th 6 :0 0 p . m . - 9 :3 0 p . m . M O R R O W C O U N T Y F A IR G R O U N D S • Broad Cloths 108" tenders Heat N Bond Flannels Quihiny Supplies & Natural of Battings ( t o M E ENJOY OUR GREAT ENTERTAINMENT) 6:00-6:30 J oe L indsay 6:30 C at M artin and the C ommon T hread 7:30 T aryn C ross • Quilting Classes • Sewing Classes • Crocheting Classes iDinttex pie^enled b y Oiudknum’t Catexiny M MlMMUJ'i D/UU) 217 North Main St., Heppner • Phone 676-9158 • Floral 676-9426 Serving Morrow, Wheeler & Gilliam counties Since 1959 TRimBfes Ju6ric-.rN-:More S 4 I - Î 7 8 - 7 9 I O • 1849 W e s t g a t e Place. P e n d l e t o n ' th im b lp \ t i i q w p t fo fl u * ' net young son had a bad experience with a baseball coach. A key to Thom pson’s double-goal coaching model is positive reinforcement. Thomp son encourages coaches to follow the “magic formula,” which is five positive comments for every negative one. “John Robinson, the for mer USC (football) coach, once said something that stuck with me,” Thompson said. “Robinson said, ‘ I never criticize a player un til I am totally convinced that they believe that I believe in them.’” Before you conclude Thompson’s approach is the prod uct of too much new-age thinking, consider the evidence that shows his strategies lead to victory. He cites studies by sports psychologist Joan Duda. In one study, Duda tracked 62 athletes at the 2000 Olympic Games in Aus tralia. She found that athletes who were coached to master their skills and compete to the best of their ability won more medals than athletes whose coaches focused solely on winning gold. It makes sense: Athletes perform best when relaxed and confident, not when looking over their shoulder at a slightly apo plectic coach. T h o m p so n t hi nks a coach can free his or her athletes by erasing fear of failure. In its place, confidence and joy take root. The kid continues to play and bump into the life lessons sports offer. That’s Thompson’s view of a new youth sports culture, and a grand one it is. As we approach fair time let’s all try to keep in perspective what we are trying to accomplish with the 4-H program and proj ects. “Winning” should not be the goal. Doing the very best we can should be the goal. If 4-H members have worked hard on their projects all year, doing well in their classes will come. Have a great fair and good luck to all.
