Preparing Student Athletes For Life (Not the NBA)
Coach, you have the perfect conditions to influence the lives of your student athletes. They are voluntarily giving you their time and undivided attention to be part of your team. You hold the keys as to whether they are chosen to be on your team and who will start in your games of competition. I’m hopeful that The Marketing of You could be a welcome resource to your coaching/mentoring arsenal, with its Core Principles of:
- Living In The Moment-in practice and in games
- Failing Well-setting goals to overcome the latest loss
- Fighting For Others-having your teammates back
- Earning Everything-your position on the team, your grades to remain on the team
- Thinking For Yourself - not stuck in groupthink
And Coach, as much as your sport requires physical grit, you could also be an advocate for Intellectual grit (so they remain on your team) and Emotional grit (so they are not show offs or hot dogs). Financial grit could also be in play should your star student athlete be offered college scholarships or professional opportunities, particularly if their parents are not equipped to deal with that particular circumstance.
And finally, The Marketing of You will introduce you to the “soft skills” required for your student athlete to grow and become a solid citizen on and off the field. You can be involved in fostering this growth that will enable your student athlete to prosper in a purposeful life beyond the fields of competitive sports as well as providing you the opportunity to develop a lifelong friend.
Hey, team captains – leading is more than facilitating!
I played sports throughout high school and college, and I was fortunate to be named team captain. As I matured, I have realized it was not my leadership skills that earned my title on these teams, but a simple reflection of my athletic ability as a good hitter and first baseman…and perhaps a level of popularity.
Through many baseball seasons, I led the team in calisthenics during practice sessions and attended the home plate pregame meetings with umpires and opposing teams’ captains to review the ground rules of the particular venue - a mostly ceremonious task. Not so much team leadership.
Fast-forward many years to the 2016 Little League World Series. While not directly involved, I was intrigued with the outcome in which a team from two small towns in upstate New York (Maine and Endwell; combined population of 16,400 people) beat Seoul, Korea (population 9,776,000) to win the Little League World Series.
How does a team from 2 small towns in a state where baseball is played only seasonally, not to mention a roster of only 11 players versus the typical 15-player roster, outplay teams that play year round with players selected among communities/countries with populations numbering well over 1,000,000 people…and actually win the 2016 Little League World Championship?
As luck would have it, I got a bird’s-eye-view of the events as they unfolded. My son, Jordyn, was part of a film crew capturing the entire 2-week World Series event in Williamsport. Assigned to follow the Maine-Endwell team, Jordyn’s cameras captured huddles for each pregame pep talk from the coaching staff. Prior to each game, the head coach’s final reminder to all 11 players “Play and leave everything you’ve got on the field. Play like it’s the last baseball game you’re going to play…dive for every ball if necessary…swing for the fences. Your teammates have your back if you fail.” And there you have it…talent, commitment, and “having your teammate’s back” wins championships.” True in baseball; true in life! It’s emotional intelligence.
I firmly believe “Have each other's back!” is the central theme that needs to be promoted in every leadership role - athletic team captain or coach, workplace project team leader, parent, sibling, spouse. Leaders exemplify and promote the concept of “having your back.”
We’ve all heard the cliché’ there is no “I” in TEAM. This emotional intelligence is fundamental among captains and can instill unity and support in each team member through modeling the emotional behavior to inspire confidence, trust, and “have each others’ backs.”
The Marketing of You, is a guide to help establish leadership and develop the soft skills within student athletes so next-generation team captains can do a bit more than lead calisthenics or choose heads & tails in pregame coin flips. The program is designed to introduce core concepts of leadership and develop abilities for assisting the coaching staff with team management and positive behavior on and off the field of play.
By helping to ensure negative emotional behavior remains in the locker room and is addressed by the team emphasizing “we have each other's back,” a team captain will experience the results of emotional intelligence and leadership skills gained through The Marketing of You.
– Lou Gatti, author & founder of The Marketing of You
