18 SONS...

Coaching 18 boys this fall has an added dynamic from the prior years.  These boys, now 12, and in Middle School are at the age where it is tough!  Bodies are growing and changing and they trying to find their niche in the world and who they are.  Their brains are changing too, their thoughts are different, their emotions are different.

They aren’t little boys anymore without a care in the world.

They aren’t adults yet and process things differently.

The challenge this fall as the boys are changing is learning how to coach each one to get the best out of them and to improve them as soccer players. 

I have 2 boyz and since they were born you could tell that they have totally different personalities.  How Alex deals with failure is totally opposite of how Anthony does.  What drives Anthony, Alex could care less about and vice-versa.

I am their father and have been with them everyday since they were born and I’m still learning how to parent/coach/teach them to be most effective.  It is an ongoing process and learning experience for Susan and I, as parents. 

If you have kids… you understand.

Now imagine coaching 18 boys.  All in middle school.  All of their bodies and minds changing.  All have different temperaments, and all respond to coaching differently.

Coach Chris and I are learning, and it is an ongoing process.  What one boy can take and implement immediately, it takes pulling another boy to the side and explaining to him 3 times in a 1-on-1 environment.  Some boys you can be stern with on instructions in a demanding tone.  Some boys will recoil into a shell when you are stern.

Each boy.  Each personality is different.

I see the same thing in my organization.  What motivates one person, the next could care less about that.  Same thing with learning.  Some learn visually.  Some learn by trial and error.

What we really are, are teachers.  If you can convey your message to your sons/daughters, to your team, to your employees in different ways that get your point across in a positive manner, just as teachers do on a daily basis, then you can make a positive difference!

In your daily interactions what do you struggle with most?  Are their tricks that you have learned to coach/parent and effectively convey your message to different people?  I’d love to hear.

Coaching 18 12-year-old boys is like having 18 sons.