We got back to typical spring weather in northern Illinois this week. That led to lots of cancellations and some disappointment as we juggled practices and changed plans for future weeks. This being my 21st spring as Athletic Director at North Shore I have found we are going to have weeks like this. I think it is a reminder to us that we should enjoy the moments. If we look down on what is going on athletically from 30,000 feet it is filled with great experiences for our students.
Here are my five reads for Friday. I hope you find them as meaningful as I do.
The Moneyball Revolution Hits Middle School -- WSJ - April 21st
Our kids are looking at sports through a whole different perspective than we did growing up. The Sloan Sports Analytics Conference at MIT this year attracted Middle Schoolers from New York and a group of math students from LA Independent School Harvard Westlake. Not only are these kids looking at sports differently, they are also looking at subjects like math and statistics differently because of how relevant the applications of these subjects are to sports.
Out of The Shadows -- Depression and Anxiety in Professional Sports
So lets do the math here. Athletics and sports is supposed to be a release an escape from the stress and anxiety of regular life. Millions of young men and young women aspire to be professional athletes. The money for the best alone will make the rest of your life easy. But even if you do not make the big dollars, a professional athletes lifestyle is supposed to be so much more less stress and anxiety producing than a regular 9 to 5 job. So why are mental health issues increasing in professional athletics? Important read. Maybe what so many of us values isn't what it seems to be.
School Sport Variety is the Key to Future Success -- The Telegraph
With a title like this, I had to post this article. Sadly at most of our local monster high schools, you have to specialize year round to make the team. Not at North Shore. I think this is an important read and validation of why we do things right.
The 15 Diseases of Leadership According to Pope Francis -- HBR
If you are a leader or hope to be one one day, read this. I bet there is something that will strike close to home if you really examine your leadership style. None of us are perfect. But Pope Francis's warnings are inspiring.
The Journey So Far -- Scottish Athletics -- Coaching Ed -- Kelvin Giles
I am attracted to big thinkers and Kelvin Giles is one of them. There are lots of things about this post which addresses Scottish Athletic Coaching Ed, that are worth noting. The most important I feel for many in our community is that coaching is so much more than the technical and the tactical. Technical and tactical is only one of the three pillars of coaching. The other two are Physical (movement efficiency, resilience) and Behavioral (attitude, perseverance, discipline, commitment). I have done lots of coaching ed in my time, but few get beyond the technical and the tactical. Giles does as do others I hang out with at GAIN in June. This is a great summary of the progression towards better coaching education.
No comments:
Post a Comment