Dear Mr. Smith, I am a College Professor and a youth football coach in Ontario and I was reading on the TSN report that you are planning on “renting three billboards near the Eagles’ stadium blasting the signing of Vick” in protest to his recent signing with the Philadelphia Eagles Football club. As a life-time pet owner, the father of a young, impressionable football player, and also as a College Professor who works regularly with “At-Risk” youth, I would just like to ask that you please reconsider your perspective on this matter. Many people in this life make mistakes....

The only words that I can think of that would best describe the conflicted and distressed feelings that I was experiencing leading all the way into Mondays practice, would have to be “lost” and “confused”. Our team had just won three straight games and we were really starting to build on our momentum. Then, without reason, we collapsed (such is the beauty of football). Our timing suddenly fell apart and our blocking ceased to exist. The challenge then became; how do we fix a problem of this magnitude so late in the season without truly understanding ‘why’ it was...

This was given to me on Father’s Day (2009) by two great friends. I’ve kept it on my refrigerator at home and thought that I would post it on the site. Thanks Matt and Laila. Love ya! James

As the season was slowly coming to an end, I decided that it would be a good idea to sit down with all of my players prior to the start of the playoffs in order to remind them all of the significant effect that a positive attitude and upbeat enthusiasm can have on a football team (and in life). In the week previous, everyone started off feeling really good about themselves and their chances for victory, however, it was quite apparent after only moments into the game that many of the players had become quite despondent after the opposing team had immediately scored two touchdowns. By the end...

The world is full of harsh realities for children who are not prepared for the future. The very first thing that I ask myself when I think about setting priorities in youth football is: what will be best for my players in helping them to set the tone for the rest of their lives? Football season only lasts a few months and when I prioritize the needs of my players, I have to consider that I only have a very short time to either make a major, positive influence on their lives, or no impact at all. Or worse yet, a negative impact. If you ask some players, “Why do you want to play football?”...

Success can sometimes be measured in a variety of ways. ‘Coach A’ may look at his season and only think that it has been successful if he has won every single game – including the Championships. ‘Coach B’ might not care about the wins and losses as much, so long as his team has made the playoffs and competed hard in each game. ‘Coach C’ on the other hand, might not care much about winning at all, so long as all of his players had fun and improved their athletic skills. And ‘Coach D’ might just want his team to win ONE game, so that his players too, can know the excitement...

Whether you are selling a product, an idea, or even yourself; you must always prioritize the needs of the person that you are dealing with in order to make that other person feel more comfortable with you. It is important that they feel comfortable with you so that they can trust you. As a Coach, you can have all of the technical knowledge in the world about football, but if you are not able to communicate effectively, than all of your knowledge and expertise will be lost. Albert Einstein once said, “if you can’t explain it simply, than you don’t understand it well enough”. This...

Very insightful book with a ton of great quotes by the great master himself – Bruce Lee. On Raising Children: “I will play with my [children] and joke with my [children], but business is business. When the subject is a serious one, you don’t go around trying to keep from hurting [their] feelings. You say what must be said and set the rules which must be set without worrying about whether [they] like it or not.” On Teaching: “Teaching requires a sensitive mind with great flexibility. Above all, a teacher does not depend on a method and drill systematic routines;...

I really like this book. Early one sunny Saturday morning while my son Jacob and I were walking along the street, we came across a collective series of yard sales (approximately 15 of them within a two-block radius of each other). Normally, I don’t bother to stop at yard sales, but I was feeling particularly curious and decided that snooping around other people’s ‘unwantables’ would be a good way to pass a bit of time. As it happened, I managed to pick up two small gems – the first was a small-sized colour television for one dollar. The next was this book – also for one dollar....

Welcome to my very first blog post. Special thanks to my good friend, Paul Dalton for starting this blog for me, thus helping me to begin my dream of becoming a professional writer. Getting involved in coaching is easy.  Anyone can do it. Being a good coach however, is a completely different (and much more complicated) story. Some may say that I take coaching too seriously. Coaching is teaching and yes, I take teaching very seriously. Combined with the responsibility that we all have to set good examples with our youth, I might ask, why don’t more coaches and take their position as a...