SPORTSMANSHIP: Should All Coaches and Kids Be Forced to Speak English?
Celebrating Diversity in Youth Sports By Doug Abrams On December 8, two referees in Cooper City, Florida ejected a volunteer youth soccer coach from a game for instructing some of his 14-18-year-old players in Spanish. The coach had refused to heed the refs’ instructions to speak only English. The ejected coach later said that … Continue reading
SPORTSMANSHIP: Why Do Basketball Coaches Allow Lopsided Scores
It’s become so routine that the final scores no longer shock sports fans. It happens in all sports, but it really has become an issue primarily in HS basketball, both in boys and girls. I’m talking about routs. Lopsided scores. Recent games have included final c0unts of 107-2, 100-0, and other ridiculous scores. Even at … Continue reading
SPORTSMANSHIP: More on the Jack Taylor 138 Point Scoring “Record”
PART II: JACK TAYLOR’S RECORD PERFORMANCE (138 AGAINST FAITH BAPTIST) MISSES THE POINT By Steve Kallas (Author’s Note: This column is long. Please stick with it. It gets better at the end.) Well, a lot of new information has come out since the initial this-is-wonderful reaction to Jack Taylor, a 22-year-old sophomore, … Continue reading
SPORTSMANSHIP: An Inside Look at the Jack Taylor Scoring Record
JACK TAYLOR’S RECORD PERFORMANCE (138 AGAINST FAITH BAPTIST) MISSES THE POINT By Steve Kallas Yes, it’s hard to fathom. Yes, it’s amazing. Yes, it’s the all-time college scoring record for points in a game. But the feat of Grinnell’s Jack Taylor, scoring 138 points in a D III college game, also raises a … Continue reading
SPORTSMANSHIP: Is that 138 Points in a College Hoops Game a Legit Record?
Like everyone else who follows sports, when I read the headlines about this sophomore guard from Div-III Grinnell College in Iowa scoring 138 points in a single game, it just didn’t seem possible. But as the facts begin to be played out, more and more pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place. Yes, … Continue reading
COACHING TIPS: Harness the Power of Video to Teach Sportsmanship
Using Video of Ugly Incidents to Teach Sportsmanship By Doug Abrams “If you have a lemon, make a lemonade.” So wrote Dale Carnegie in his popular self-improvement book, How to Stop Worrying and Start Living (1948). Carnegie’s point was that people succeed best when they seek positive lessons from unanticipated personal setbacks. Good … Continue reading
SPORTSMANSHIP: It’s Easy to be a Good Winner…the Real Test is When You Lose
Post-Game Handshakes By Doug Abrams In late June, Royal Canadian Mounted Police arrested a Vancouver youth hockey coach who was captured on video sticking out his leg to trip a 13-year-old opponent as the teams passed each other in the handshake line at the end of a summer league game. … Continue reading
DANGERS OF LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL: 13-YEAR-OLD GETS BANNED FROM PLAYOFFS DUE TO CLERICAL ERROR BY LOCAL LITTLE LEAGUE
I’ve taken LL to task in the past regarding Williamsport’s blessing of aluminum bats and allowing kids to throw curve balls at too young an age. And a lot of people all over the country have agreed with me that LL really needs to start living up to its mission statement about “safety first” for its millions … Continue reading
Another Case of Religious Accomodation: In this case, a happy ending…
The boys’ basketball team at Beren Academy, a Jewish Orthodox school near Houston, had a terrific season, and the players were eagerly looking to the post-season playoffs. But then, the Texas Assn of Private and Parochial Schools (TAPPS), ruled that the playoff games were slated to start on Friday evening and that they couldn’t be changed. … Continue reading
My Top Ten Sports Parenting Predictions for 2012…
So much has happened in recent years in the ever-changing world of sports parenting, that I thought I’d finish out 2011 with my Top Ten Predictions for the coming year. Here we go: 10. LL Baseball will follow the NCAA and the Nat’l HS Baseball Federation and allow only BBCOR (and of course wood) bats. … Continue reading
Doug Abrams
Rick Wolff
Steve Kallas
Ask Coach Wolff 