Six Indicators of a Transformational Coach

Admiral McRaven explains at a University of Texas, Austin commencement speech why making your bed everyday may be the best way to start off your day.

THE BEST CAPTAINS: ✅ are the hardest workers ✅ are compelled to win ✅ are honest and trustworthy ✅ respect teammates and coaches ✅ care passionately about the team ✅ encourage their teammates ✅ challenge their teammates ✅ hold their teammates accountable

A True Hero - The Coach’s Spouse. Marrying the right person is so important for a coach. Your spouse needs to be supportive, understanding, loyal, independent, and willing to sacrifice. If you go home from work each day and your spouse is unhappy, you either won’t be married long or you won’t be coaching anymore. Just as important, meet your spouse’s needs and be all of the above for them. If your spouse works, support them professionally. If they stay home with the kids they work just as hard and they don’t get many breaks. Understand their stress, schedule, and how you can help them. Don’t build your team at work and neglect your team at home. A few ways coaches can help their marriage while running an athletic program: *Leave work and have lunch together. Invite your spouse to work to have lunch with you. Your spouse should know the people you work with around the athletic department and school. *Communicate: Check in with each other throughout the busy work day. A text here and there or a three minute phone conversation is simple, quick, and beneficial. *Make the program “our program,” not “your program.” A spouse with involvement with the team is one who is invested in student-athlete success. Helping with team events and meals, attending games and even a few practices, and talking about the happenings within the program are all ways to make the program a partnership instead of a sole proprietorship. *Be fiercely loyal *Go for walks together; exercise together *Earn “coach credits” or “coach points.” Date nights scattered throughout the year and a well-planned vacation in the off-season help build up credit which you’ll need to use during extremely busy times of the season. *If you’re going for be busy with work all afternoon and evening then take the morning to be with your spouse. If you’re going to be busy all morning and afternoon, then be at home during the evening. There are times of the year when you’ll work 15+ hour days and will be on the road constantly. Don’t fall into the counter-productive trap of thinking this should be your schedule 12 months a year. *Be present when home. Do a “power hour” many times a week where you put your phone on the charger in another room and spend an hour solely focused on your spouse. Ephesians 5:33

5 E+R=O Lessons for Teenagers: You are a son, daughter, parent, grandparent, aunt, or uncle. You are a coach or teacher. And if you're none of those things, you know people who are. This is for you. E+R=O was one of the great gifts my dad gave me as a teenager. Because he introduced it to me early, my life lens changed, my learning curve accelerated, and my skill development exploded. Not instantly or magically, but massively and meaningfully. In that spirit, here are 5 E+R=O lessons for teenagers: 1. The quality of your responses, not the quality of your events, determines the quality of your life. Good events don't give you a good life. Bad events don't give you a bad life. How you respond to anything determines the quality of your life. 2. You will engage in disciplined responses that won't accomplish what you want. You will engage in undisciplined responses that will achieve what you want. These exceptions will occasionally happen. Don't let them distract you or plant seeds of doubt that discipline doesn't work or that you can get away with undisciplined responses. Everyone who falls too far into this pattern fails. Everyone. 3. Your responses create events for other people. Pay attention to what events you create for others through your attitude, action, and words. Do your best to create events that help people, even when that means challenging going them. 4. Everything meaningful to your life will require courage. Courage is a muscle. You don't have the option to eliminate fear or escape feelings of doubt. You have the chance now to strengthen the courage in your response. When you face events that scare you or doubt your ability to earn an outcome, you'll need your courage to be stronger than your fear and doubt. 5. People will tell you what you want to hear and sometimes lie or withhold things from you, but E+R=O will always tell you the truth. No matter what. It will explain why you succeed, why you fail, or why you have yet to reach that point. When you want clarity and understanding about why things are happening the way they are, E+R=O will reliably give you caring and unfiltered honesty. All you have to do is use it.

However you choose to celebrate, we wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! May you find time to spend with family and friends this holiday season. #ALLIN #SABRENATION🔴⚔️⚫️ #GOBIGRED #WESAL

Congratulations to Salisbury Sabres for winning the ASAA Tier I (Larry Wilson) Provincial Champions 2023! 🏈🏈 #football #footballalberta #tier1 #salisburysabres #provincialchampions #asaaprovs #highschoolfootball #larrywilson

An open letter to parents from a high school football coach: