Some weeks I struggle to find five articles or blog posts I really enjoyed and some weeks I could post 10 articles. This is one of those big weeks. There seemed to be a lot of stuff that resonated with me.
My favorite, though, was Vern Gambetta's post Letter To A Coach Beginning Their Career -- Functional Path Training. There were some many things in this piece that I liked I do not know where to start. The post contains great advice for all coaches, though. My favorite quote in Vern's piece is "90% of coaching is grunt work." As I age in sports, I cannot over emphasize that point. The folks who are really good can line their field, can set up their nets, know where all their balls are, find meaning in keeping a scorebook well, and keep endless records of what their teams did every day. I also appreciate Vern's words on communication. There is no more important coaching skill. There is much more in the post so read this Vern Gambetta post. It's great and so true.
Parents: Let Go of Harvard is my second must read. This blogpost was from earlier in the month but was forwarded to me this week by one of my Athletic Director friends. I feel somewhat disingenous posting it because I feel we send our kids such double messages on the topic of college admissions. There is no question that our institution looks better when we get our students admitted to the most prestigious universities in the country. However, we all know that percentages now of a student getting in are so low that even encouraging that kinds of thinking might lead to disappointment. It is especially worrisome when students seem to base their value on where they get in to college. The reality is different as to what true success is and this post has some interesting thoughts on that topic.
US Considering Outside Help to Close the Development Gap -- NYT Apparently many people think the way we develop soccer players in this country is not very good because we have yet to develop a world wide star. I have to say I am a little worried about US Soccer Developmental Plans. Soccer at the national level seems to always look at development as a pyramid scheme. Lots of kids start at the bottom. They are told to spend lots of time on soccer and gradually they are weeded out until the few strong ones survive. I hope US Soccer is critically looking at their development plan. I would start with keeping their best kids involved in multiple sports for as long as possible instead of insisting on year round soccer at often too young an age.
From the heart, Doha wins for 2019 -- Alan Abrahamson For me the big story this week was the USA trying to win the bid to host the World Championships in track and field. The city of Eugene Oregon put together a bold bid proposal and lost to Doha, Qatar. There were drawbacks to both cities. Eugene does not have a lot of hotel rooms and has a stadium that currently barely fits 20,000 spectators. Doha, though, is HOT and there are not a lot of track fans there. However, it was cool to watch the battle between the two cities. The turning point was an emotional speech by Mutaz Essa Barshim who was an Olympic silver medalist in the High Jump.
Baseball's New Pastime: Job Title Inflation I think this is not just Baseball. But it is interesting to look at baseball and the layers of administration now involved in the sport. Fascinating piece.
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