Issues & Advice

We need to let our kids learn from their sport, especially from their successes and mistakes. Sometimes it’s best to listen and not talk, except to say, “I love to watch you swim.” There are limitless lessons to learn from being a swim parent. I’ve learned new things each and every year of my 23 years […]

Focus on how good it feels to be strong, engaged, powerful, confident, empowered and self-aware. What is it that makes you a nightmare to compete against? What is it about your swimming skill set that makes the biggest difference in your performance? What would it look and feel like if you strategized ways in which […]

I hope they create memories of lifting each other up, supporting each other, pushing each other and inspiring each other. I have a confession to make. My confession is that I’m a pure land mammal. I was never a swimmer like you are. Growing up, I was a soccer player. Played it my entire life. […]

“If you look at all the youth programs, and how many girls teams are now involved in the sport, it’s pretty impressive,”

Make the most of practice. Put in some extra time stickhandling and shooting off the ice if you can. Get outside for some unstructured pond hockey with friends. Confidence is built on successes, big and small. Scoring a goal, posting a shutout, or even just completing a few simple passes can help a player’s confidence. […]

Long-term success in anything comes from individuals who have learned accountability for their actions and do not seek to blame others for their shortcomings. Once upon a time, a student was assigned a research paper by his professor. This was a good student who took great pride in his studies and worked very hard to […]

Cultural change involves parents, coaches, administrators, directors and leaders all being willing to change and rethink our youth soccer behaviors, norms and environment. Can we talk about Pay-to-Play for a moment? Can we be rational and realistic about the financial model youth sports is based upon and stop calling for an end to Pay-to-Play? Can […]