Real Teaching Moments

How many times have you seen someone post something on social media with the caption “this is what sports is all about?”

It’s usually a show of sportsmanship like a runner stopping to help another who is cramping, or a football team allowing someone on the other team with special needs score a touchdown. They are nice, and the point is well intentioned, but does it ever feel something like the digital version of a band-aid on a gushing wound? Where your response is something like, “yeah that would be nice if that’s what sports was all about?” And does it ever make you think “what is sports really all about?”

We likely have a sense of what sports is supposed to be all about … teamwork, sacrifice, and indeed, the sportsmanship shown in those post … but the modern reality has increasingly meant that sports is about a lot of other things: money, media, and madness come to mind … the “gushing wound” mentioned above.

We have all seen what’s become of sports, especially youth sports, and any conversation with sports parents often turns to the “insanity” of it all. Those conversations go on for hours.

We as QBs can actually do something about it. As QBs, we have an opportunity to influence, especially as parents and coaches at the youth level.

One of the great opportunities in coaching young athletes, which former QBs seems drawn to, is that every practice, every mistake, every small win becomes a chance to teach something deeper. A dropped pass can teach resilience. A disagreement can teach empathy. A hard practice can teach perseverance. A player learning to encourage a teammate can begin to understand and embody gratitude, humility, and accountability.

At QB Connections, we talk about the Red Zone 20 Essential Strengths and Skills. Youth sports - especially youth football - may be one of the best classrooms in the world for them. For the concepts, and for the vocabulary words, too.

Not only can coaches model these qualities, they can also give young athletes the actual vocabulary for them. Many kids have felt, or needed, empathy without knowing the word. They have shown resilience without being able to name it. They have practiced accountability without ever hearing that term clearly defined.

A coach can change that.

Imagine stopping practice after one player drops an easy pass. A typical coach might simply say, “Come on, catch the ball.” There’s in fact nothing much less helpful than that approach. Or the coach could actually coach, and go further:

“All right guys, bring it in. Right now, this is a chance to practice resilience. Do you guys know what that means? Resilience literally means the ability to bounce back, to not break, to rise back up. So shake it off, line up again, and let’s get the next one.”

Or imagine a player getting frustrated with a teammate who missed an assignment. A coach can step in and say:

“Let’s talk about empathy. Before you react, try to understand what your teammate is feeling. Is he confused? Is he nervous? Does he need help? Great teammates do not correct each other. They try to understand each other and teach each other.”

This is one of the hidden gifts of sports - especially youth sports: they create repeated, visible moments where strengths and skills can be named, practiced, and reinforced.

Coaches do not have to wait for a formal speech or team retreat. The best teaching often happens in the middle of ordinary moments:
a player who hangs his head after a mistake,
a teammate who refuses to share credit,
a group that loses focus during drills,
a kid who needs help but is afraid to ask.

These are all true teaching moments.

When young athletes hear words again and again, tied to real experiences, the words begin to stick. More importantly, the experiences begin to stick and to shape future actions.

Coaches can also use stories, clips, and other media to bring the Red Zone to life. Recall we discussed the value of inspirational media:

A short video, a postgame interview, or a scene from a film can open up a conversation: What strength did you see there? Was that conviction? Empathy? Communicating clearly? Managing risk? Kids often learn best when they can see the principle in action before being asked to practice it themselves.

That is part of the calling of coaching youth sports. A coach is not only running drills. A coach is shaping language, attention, and identity.

That is what sports is all about.

Thanks!