The Right Moves

By Irv Leifer

WHAT OTHER COACHES SAY ABOUT IRV LEIFER

Irv is a positive influence on the young people he works with and has a great ability to communicate with and motivate them. With Irv you are getting a guy who coaches for the right reasons: the day-to-day involvement with young people and the opportunity to watch them improve.
MIKE BREY, HEAD BASKETBALL COACH, NOTRE DAME

I have two sons, and Irv is one of a handful of coaches that I would trust to coach my own.
STEW MORRILL, HEAD BASKETBALL COACH,
UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY

Irv Leifer prepares his players as well as anybody in the country.
BOB SCHERMERHORN, HEAD COACH,
HOLY CROSS COLLEGE

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Oct 2, 2013
• ISBN: 9781491802069

Irv Leifer

After more than three decades as a basketball coach at the high school, junior college, and college levels, I now run youth and high school basketball leagues in California through the HoopsUSA program. A graduate of Eastern Washington University, I coached at several Washington high schools before becoming assistant coach at Gonzaga University and later at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. I also served as head coach at Palomar College and Mira Costa College in the 1980s and 1990s, before founding the highly respected HoopsUSA program for young athletes. In addition, my career included several years as a sales and promotional representative for Converse, Puma, and Wilson, where I negotiated contracts for major NBA, NFL and MLB players including Magic Johnson, Fernando Valenzuela, Marcus Allen, and many others.

Book preview

© 2013 by Irv Leifer. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 08/16/2013

ISBN: 978-1-4918-0205-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4918-0206-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013913234

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

CONTENTS

Chapter 1   Will Your Child Be A Sports Success Story—Or A Sports Victim?

Chapter 2   What Sport Is Right For Your Child?

Chapter 3   Picking A Program

Chapter 4   Coaches, Players And "Chemistry

Chapter 5   Expectations Vs. Reality

Chapter 6   Learning To Win—And Learning To Lose

Chapter 7   Dealing With Problem Parents

Chapter 8   Do You Want To Be A Parent Coach?

Chapter 9   Are You The Parent Of A Female Athlete?

Chapter 10   Sports Camps And Clinics: Are You Getting Your Money’s Worth?

Chapter 11   Club Teams And All-Star Teams

Chapter 12   Should Your Teen Athlete Change Schools?

Chapter 13   College And Beyond

(Endnotes)

About The Author

THE RIGHT MOVES

Navigating your child or teen athlete

Safely, sanely, and successfully

Through the high-pressure world of youth sports

By Irv Leifer

Founder, HoopsUSA

Former assistant coach, Gonzaga University and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

From fistfights at Pee Wee games to corrupt college recruiting, youth sports are more competitive, more exploitative, more cut-throat, and even more violent than ever before—

but your child or teen athlete can still experience all of the joys of sports, while avoiding

the dangers. This book tells you how.

—WHAT OTHER COACHES SAY ABOUT IRV LEIFER—

"Irv is a positive influence on the young people he works with and has a great ability to communicate with and motivate them . . . . With Irv you are getting a guy who coaches for the right reasons: the day-to-day involvement with young people and the opportunity to watch them improve."

Mike Brey, Head Basketball Coach, Notre Dame

I have two sons, and Irv is one of a handful of coaches that I would trust to coach my own.

Stew Morrill, Head Basketball Coach,

Utah State University

Irv Leifer prepares his players as well as anybody in the country.

Bob Schermerhorn, Head Coach,

Holy Cross College

THE RIGHT MOVES

Navigating your child or teen athlete safely, sanely, and successfully

Through the high-pressure world of youth sports

By Irv Leifer

From soccer and Little League to the big time of college athletics, youth sports are more popular than ever. Nearly 26 million children and teens—two-thirds of all of America’s youth—play team, recreational, or competitive sports. That’s good news, because sports teach invaluable life lessons: Responsibility. Teamwork. Loyalty. The rewards of hard work. How to win graciously, and lose with dignity.

But today’s parents know that sports also have a darker side. The abuses that taint pro sports are infecting youth sports as well, and the consequences can be grim or even deadly. Among the threats to child and teen athletes:

•   VIOLENCE. A recent survey found that almost one-fifth of young athletes reported being hit, kicked, or slapped, and eight percent were pressured into hurting other players. Equally frightening is the epidemic of sideline rage by parents and other spectators. Adult violence at youth sports events is out of control, says Jim Thompson, director of the Positive Coaching Alliance. It’s almost to the point where we have a ‘brawl of the week’ with parents attacking officials, coaches, or other spectators. A 2004 survey by SportingKid found that 84 percent of respondents had witnessed violent parental behavior toward kids, referees, or coaches at children’s sporting events. Among the horror stories:

-   A dentist in California sharpened his son’s football helmet faceguard to a razor edge, so the boy could slash opposing players.

-   A spectator at an Ohio soccer match threatened the referee with a gun.

-   A player and an assistant coach needed hospital treatment for head injuries after nearly a hundred parents and fans waded into a melee at a midget football game.

Parents, however, aren’t the only culprits. One Tee Ball coach in Oklahoma tried to choke a teenaged umpire, and a youth baseball coach was arrested for breaking an umpire’s jaw. And players themselves are growing ever more violent; among the victims is Neal Goss, now paralyzed from the waist down after being attacked by another 15-year-old during a hockey game.

•   UNHEALTHY PRESSURE. Thousands of children bear emotional scars inflicted by parents or coaches who value winning—often at any cost—more than they value sportsmanship and fun. I’ve known kids so embarrassed by their parents’ behavior, and so worried by their unrealistic expectations, that they dread game days. Many other young players quit because coaches abuse them verbally, and cut or bench the less-skilled players. In fact, more than 70 percent of young athletes abandon team sports by the age of 13, and almost all quit by the age of 15, with most saying that playing is no fun any more.

In other cases, parents or coaches encounter a different problem: kids who push themselves too hard. This intense pressure to win can be more than dangerous—it can even be deadly. Anorexia and bulimia are rampant among young female athletes struggling to be thin enough to make skating or gymnastics teams, and the American College of Sports Medicine warns that increasing numbers of young women suffer from what’s called Female Athlete Triad—hormone dysregulation, eating disorders, and early-onset osteoporosis—due to excess training. Moreover, the National Institute on Drug Abuse now estimates that half a million teens (both boys and girls) use dangerous and behavior-altering steroid drugs in an attempt to become bigger, stronger, and more competitive.

•   INJURIES. Pediatric sports-medicine expert Eric Small says unrealistic coaches injure many children, sometimes permanently, making them train too much, too fast, too soon. Small says he now sees eight—and nine-year-olds with the types of injuries he once only saw in teen and adult athletes. Coaches who push too hard can even kill children, by making them keep playing when they’re dangerously dehydrated, or experiencing asthma attacks or chest pain.

•   CORRUPTION AND THE INFLUENCE OF "BIG MONEY." Danny Almonte, the 14-year-old whose coach cheated by allowing him to play as a 12-year-old in the Little League World Series, is just one victim of a system that too often steers young athletes astray. Other victims include high school and college athletes who buy into the dream of being professional players,