How to be a Better Teammate for Youth Sports

I come across press releases from time to time concerning sports and products related to sports. This time I found one concerning how to be a better teammate.

The press release is designed to push the website mentalstrength.com. They describe themselves as:

Since 1998 the Mental Strength Training Center has helped nearly 10,000 athletes, coaches and parents of competitive athletes, worldwide. Becoming more mentally tough and a better competitor through mastery of basic strategies including nutrition, mental training and fitness. The Mental Strength Training Center offers libraries of resources containing tools and techniques through a subscription website to help athletes and coaches become stronger both mentally and physically.

They talk about four ways to be a better teammate. Here's their list:

There descriptions of this are very generic, so I thought it'd be fun to frame them in terms of coaching youth sports.

  1. Have a mission for everyone on the team - This was important especially when coaching young boys. Regardless of the sport it's important to find a job for everyone. For instance, when coaching 4th grade boy's baseball there was one kid that was great at throwing. His fielding needed work, but it was his mission to play the outfield and ensure the ball was thrown to the right base.
  2. Everyone is a member of the team - This almost goes without saying, but the important thing is when you work with very talented kids. If you've coached youth sports you quickly realize that one or two kids will always be more skilled than the others. Many coaches make the mistake of making those kids the center of the team. You have to make sure everyone is a team member. An example is ensuring the most talented kids aren't exempt from grabbing the cones, getting the balls or bagging the equipment.
  3. Create an open communication line - Another generic term. You have to love this. In the context of youth sports you have to be approachable. Instead of just barking orders talk to the kids. During warm ups for soccer walk around and ask how their day went; check and see how school is going.
  4. Minimize setbacks - This is probably the most valuable point in the list for youth sports. When you're coaching kids, you're coaching little people. People whose self esteem, self identity and mental state are still forming. They play sports to have fun and learn. One of the ways to minimize setbacks is to ensure that you try to find situations that the player can excel in and then celebrate it. There was a girl I coached who couldn't dribble a basketball for anything, yet she was very good at shooting. We designed plays in the post for her to get off quick shots.

Maybe this list wasn't so bad, it was just the press release.