Take the Lead: Make Youth Sports What They Were Meant to Be

By Kathy Hogan

Take the Lead: Make Youth Sports What They Were Meant to Be is filled with inspirational stories that will encourage athletes, coaches, and parents to take a fresh look at youth sports. Sports have the potential to teach powerful lessons. Youth athletic programs need to focus on the lessons we want our children to learn. Long after their jump shots have faded and their sprints have slowed down, athletes should be promising, contributing members of our society. How do we make that happen? We focus on teaching not only athletic skills, but also life lessons. Hogan fully supports highly competitive athletic programs. She simply focuses on creating healthy competition. Each chapter of Take the Lead emphasizes a different life lesson that young athletes need to learn: be competitive, motivate yourself, learn from adversity, be a good sport, play as a team, respect the officials, and focus on opportunities. Using inspirational stories from all levels of athletic competition, Hogan shows how coaches and parents can create life-changing experiences for athletes.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Write Away, Inc.
• Release date: Dec 12, 2012
• ISBN: 9780989004015

Kathy Hogan

Kathy Hogan, a former Division 1 athlete, has coached soccer and basketball for years. She helped organize an Upward basketball ministry, which serves over 450 young athletes at Herndon United Methodist Church. Kathy and her four children live in Virgnia.

Book preview

Chapter One

Throw Heat

Be Competitive

You are never really playing an opponent. You are playing yourself, your own highest standards.

Arthur Ashe

Competition is not a dirty word. Unfortunately, backlash from the win-at-any-cost mindset has made non-competitive a selling point for youth sports. Now we have sports programs where every child is a winner. Obviously, every athlete is important. Nonetheless, sometimes you win, and sometimes you lose. That’s okay. In the right environment, both experiences can teach valuable lessons. At any age, whether you keep score or not, the players know who won or lost a game. Keeping score isn’t really the issue. Using the scoreboard as your only measure of success is the problem. As Jackie Joyner-Kersee noted, . . . playing sports is not about winning gold medals. It’s about . . . learning to compete and learning how hard you have to work in order to achieve your goals. Competition can generate excellence both on and off the field.

As a coach and parent, teach your athlete to compete without apology. Competition can help athletes excel. As Jim Thompson noted, If we can win without our best effort, we probably will never find out what our best effort can produce. However, coaches and parents also need to teach their athletes that competition takes place on many levels.  Most of the time athletes compete against another team. Other times athletes compete against themselves, a record, or a personal goal. You name it. Dave Scott, a tri-athlete, says it best, If you set a goal for yourself and are able to achieve it, you have won your race. Your goal can be to come in first, to improve your performance, or just finish the race. It’s up to you. At its best, competition encourages athletes to raise the bar, challenge themselves, and achieve their dreams.

Instead of eliminating competition altogether, sports programs should focus on creating healthy competition. Being competitive is not an excuse for being obnoxious. As Lily Tomlin commented, The trouble with the rat race is, even if you win, you’re still a rat. Think about it. Is that what we want for our children? I often have overheard parents say, My son gets red cards because he’s really competitive. No, he gets red cards because he breaks the rules. Teach children to be athletes, not gladiators. The same measure holds true for coaches and parents. Lead by example; set standards of conduct for yourself that go beyond what your team or league expects. In other words, play hard, but play fair.

As a coach or parent, you define the competition. It’s part of your job. For some teams, winning a championship title may be an appropriate goal. For others, developing basic skills should be the focus. For example, in one youth basketball program, the coach focused on improving each player’s ball-handling skills. When all of the players had successfully played point guard, the team celebrated. Did they win all of their games? No, but they still beat their competition—fear of playing point guard. In the long run, those players went on to be strong ball handlers who loved playing basketball. That’s a victory.

The athletes and coaches featured in this chapter demonstrate the value of healthy competition. They understand that being competitive means far more than simply winning games. It’s a mindset that generates excellence both on and off the field.

Bonnie Richardson

Difficulties in life are intended to make us better, not bitter.

Dan Reeves

Winning a state title in track is quite an accomplishment. Winning the state team title in Texas is a whole different story. However, that is exactly what Bonnie Richardson did—by herself. According to league officials, in May 2008 Richardson became the first female to win a state title singlehandedly. Then in 2009, she did it again.

In 2008, Bonnie Richardson, the only member of the New Rochelle track team, earned a spot in the state championship competition. The year before, as a sophomore, Richardson won the state long jump competition, but she did not medal in any other events. As a result, Richardson’s coach, Jym Dennis refused to make any predictions for his determined athlete. Apparently, Coach Dennis was concerned about putting too much pressure on Richardson. Clearly, he had nothing to worry about.

In the first day of competition, Richardson won the high jump and placed in both the long jump and discus. On the second day, temperatures soared into the 90’s as Richardson won the 200-meter dash and placed second in the 100 meter. State rules limit individual participation to five events. However, even Richardson admits, five was enough: I don't think I could handle any more, she said, It was hot, and I was tired. Fortunately, heat and fatigue couldn’t hold her back. When the day was over, Richardson stood tall with a medal draped around her neck and a first place team plaque in her arms. A feat that Richardson didn’t even know was possible.

By spring 2009, Richardson knew exactly what was possible. She had only one regret, I wish I hadn’t stuck with the same five events, that I had branched out more. I would’ve vaulted, but we don’t have the money or interest in Rochelle to have a pit. I’ve never done hurdles, and I want to. Nonetheless, those same five events served her well. Richardson beat 56 other schools to win her second state team title.

However, that is not where the story ends. You see, New Rochelle High School didn’t even have a track. Richardson usually trained on a track that was ten miles down the road. In fact, she had to watch out for potholes while training. In an era when coaches and parents often pay a premium for high quality training facilities, Richardson provides a lesson for us all: talent plus lots of guts, determination, and maybe even potholes mark the spirit of a true champion.

Trevor Bunch

True champions aren't always the ones that win, but those with the most guts.

Mia Hamm

So often we hear reasons why athletes don’t succeed. Most people call them excuses. The athletes who truly make it to the top don’t know how to make excuses. Instead, they know how to work hard and stay focused. Trevor Bunch is one of those kinds of athletes. As a senior wrestler at Marquette High School in Chesterfield, Missouri, Bunch racked up quite a record. The 112 pound state runner-up not only went 44-4, but also delivered a message on determination that took his team by storm.

Although Bunch competed with intensity, his path to the wrestling mat was a lot different from the other athletes. Trevor was born with no bones below his knee. As a result, Bunch had both of his legs amputated when he was just a baby. For many children, that would have been the end of athletics, but for Bunch it was just the beginning. By three, Bunch was climbing high objects and jumping off. Apparently Bunch didn’t know that he couldn’t do those things. Nothing could hold him back. That spirited mindset helped Bunch develop athletic skills that others couldn’t even imagine.

At first, wrestling was quite a challenge for Bunch. At the junior varsity level, he lost his first eight matches. Again, that didn’t stop Bunch. Bunch poured his heart into wrestling, which was his first team sport. According to his coach, Joe Wier, [Bunch] is one of the hardest workers on the team and he fits in so well. You wouldn't know that he is any different than his teammates. None of us look at him that way. As a junior, Bunch found more success, and by his senior year, he became a leader both on and off the mat.

Bunch said he was not out to prove anything, but wrestling became a very important part of his life. When I am in the wrestling room, I feel at peace no matter what else has happened during the day, Bunch said. I feel like I belong. Bunch not only belongs, he also sets a standard for hard work and determination that others can emulate.

Bunch deserves a lot of credit for his success, but so do his family and his coach. So often parents and coaches see what is missing in an athlete—whether it’s a physical condition or mental attribute. Bunch’s family and coach looked beyond his limitations and saw potential that others would have missed. That foresight not only helped Bunch succeed, it also gave hope and inspiration to others who would one day know his story.

Jason Lester

Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen.

Michael Jordan

Life can be hard—really hard. Just ask Jason Lester. At twelve, Jason was biking when a woman traveling 70 mph struck him and left the scene. Jason was left behind with over 20 broken bones and a collapsed lung. After three months in the hospital, he still couldn’t regain the use of his right arm. Then things got worse. Jason’s father and sole caretaker died of a heart attack at 39. As Jason recalled, I remember looking out the window — we were on the third or fourth floor — thinking I should just jump. Fortunately, he didn’t.

Instead, Lester allowed his father’s love of sports to live through him. In high school, Lester excelled in track and cross country. At one point, a chemistry teacher encouraged Lester to consider triathlons. It’s a good thing he did. At 16, Lester started by competing in biathlons. Before long, he was a top competitor.

In 2004, however, Lester took his competitive spirit to a new level. While observing the Hawaiian Ironman Championship, Lester was inspired. He felt compelled to compete in the Hawaiian Ironman himself, and he embarked on an intense training program, which had amazing benefits. While training for his first major ironman competition, Lester started to regain movement in his paralyzed right arm.

In 2008, Lester’s dream came true. He became the first physically challenged athlete to complete the Ultraman World Championship in Hawaii. In order to complete that event, Lester swam 6.2 miles, biked 261.4 miles, and ran 52.4 miles. In other