Growing Up Well

  • Teach Your Kids Sportsmanship

    If more parents focused on character over performance, then we would not need signs like this.

  • The Distance Run

    I coach middle school cross country, which is not a glamorous job, but it is uniquely rewarding. For young distance runners, the hardest part is embracing the pain that creates stronger legs and faster times. I try to make practices and meets fun, but there is no way of getting around the fact that running…

  • Good Sports

    Football is just a sport. However, it is a platform for parents and coaches to teach some of life’s most valuable lessons and create some of its most powerful experiences.

  • Failure’s Top Ten List

    1.  Not Everybody Gets A Trophy Somewhere along the line we became a society that preached instant gratification. Like a giant carnival, our slogan became “everybody wins all the time.” We know it’s not true. It’s also a terrible example to set. Losing is every bit as important in human growth as winning. Rewarding your…

  • Avoiding a Mid-Life Crisis

    If you are growing old well, then you are likely to help a child grow up well. 40 is not old, but it’s certainly not young either.  It’s the start of mid-life, and it has a well-earned, dangerous reputation.  It’s when so many people have an inner crisis, even if life is sailing along smoothly…

  • Kindness Matters

    Now and then, the tables are turned, and an everyday kid doing a good deed gets some attention. Let’s all remember that there are plenty of kids out there growing up and making a difference now. ——————————————————————————————— Sportsmanship is alive By Robert Cohen St. Louis Post-Dispatch It’s such an easy gesture yet it’s rarely seen…the…

  • Loyalty and Love Personified

    John Wooden, the most-successful and most-revered basketball coach of all time, is a role model for so many men — and rightfully so.  To this day, as he approaches 100 years old, his character is so strong that the people around him want to be better because of his example.  Watch this, and you’ll get…

  • The Teacher’s Challenge

    I recently read this piece about teaching on a colleague’s blog called Second Drafts.  Unfortunately, I see myself in this.  For there are some times when I am a really good teacher, and there are some times when I am just doing the minimum.  I wish I would bring my “A-game” everyday all day, but…

  • Poor Sport Dad

    My sister has two kids (10 and 13), both of whom are very athletic, and their family truly enjoys participating in and watching youth sports.  We like to swap stories about our kids, and inevitably many of them are about something crazy that has happened in sports.  Here is the latest… “Last night at Hailey’s…

  • Liars, Cheaters, and Role Models

    This week on the car radio, I overheard the most obnoxious sports radio talk show host furiously ranting and raving about how corrupt professional and big college sports have become.  It went something like this: “Don’t let your kids idolize anyone in sports today!  It’s an ugly business, full of greediness, lying, cheating, and everything…

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