Coaching girls' softball led me to a spectacular resource for all youth sports
I was coaching girls' softball while writing an earlier edition of the brand new kids’ book,
“Girls Love Softball”
(non-fiction for girls 8 to 12) when I came across someone named Fred Engh. This father of seven has been involved in coaching youth sports, directing athletics and educating on sports for more than 35 years. The author of "Why Johnny Hates Sports," he noticed sports activities for kids were deteriorating. Both boys and girls were less interested and weren’t succeeding.(See also our main girls' softball coaching site: Girls Softball Info) Make this your best coaching year ever He founded The National Alliance for Youth Sports (NAYS) which has grown by leaps and bounds over the last three decades. It's mission statement reads: “seeks to make the sports experience safe, fun and healthy for ALL children. In addition, NAYS promotes the value and importance of sports and physical activities in the emotional, physical, social and mental development of youth.” Is the hand that coaches kids the hand that rules the world? While coaching girls' softball, I couldn’t help see how the children who played developed the ability to recognize loyalty to something larger than themselves, developed personal self-esteem, value for others, improved physical health and dare I say even improved intelligence and ability to think on their feet.
However, I also saw them pick up negative traits: worship of a (often bullying) central figure, the nice guy loses, fits of rage over a mere game demonstrated by adults, and the desire to quit or at least stay in the background to avoid the shame of disappointing the coach or parents. As its mission statement further explains, “NAYS believes that the lives of youngsters can be positively impacted by participation in sports and physical activities if the adults involved have proper training and information.” For many kids, sports are a training ground for the future world they will build. See what NAYS has to offer. And, thank you for your dedication to one of the most entrenched group activities in humankind’s history: sports -- from our most distant primitive tribes to televised professional sports. We can make sports a group activity all can gain benefit.  Custom Search |
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