Youth Sports, Fitness and Nutrition Networking Seminar:
Managing Competition in Youth Sports
Meeting Minutes
Tuesday December 7, 2010 | 9:30-11:30am
SquashSmarts
Sponsored by the Philadelphia Youth Sports Collaborative and
Health Promotion Council’s “Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities” OST Initiative
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Panel
Stephen Jackson, Starfinder Foundation
Stephens’s points:
- sports can be a hook and vehicle to develop youth
-college sport vs. coaching youth – a lot of competition comes directly from coaches, winning is
the ultimate goal
-kids get worn out when wining is the primary goal, pressure builds and kids do not know how to
cope with it
-competition is a great way to motivate, but the focus should be only healthy competition and
not just winning
-success= giving 100% mentally and physically
-Competition can:
 Build resistance
 Increase skills
 Develop critical thinking
 Identify personal goals
 Motivate
“If children don’t learn how to loose when they are young, how do they handle life wrought with
difficulty?”
Reynold Dyson, Mt. Airy Baseball
Reynold’s points:
-define expectations a s coach from the outset
-establish a TEAM not individuals
-get parents on board
-establish why the youth are there (practice, spring activity, hard-core sports?)
-balance skilled players with less skilled players (youth can teach each other)
-make the focus enjoyment, sport should be something to look forward to
Reynold’s points (continued):
-communicate!
-select coaches carefully, focusing on patience individuals for whom winning is not the only goal
-do not single out players
-kids should have fun, not stress
Jim Britt, Ed Snyder Youth Hockey Foundation
Jim’s points:
-sport reflects the essence of the culture
-competition comes in different forms, perception of success informs whether competition is
positive or negative
-coaches need to manage the perception of success and manage expectations
-coaches/ organizers decide the culture within each program
-competition is not a bad word
-develop the positives in sports
-not everyone who plays high school sports is destined to become pro!
-individual games are not remembered, what is remembered is fun, teamwork, challenge
-use smaller competitions (ie. full court, half court) to isolate skills
-life is about competition, competition is not a bad word
Group Discussion
Q: How do you create esteem for the “bench rider”?
 A coaches job is to figure out what each child is good at—everyone is good at something
 Figure out what motivates the child – give the child a job
 Find that “coachable moment” when you can teach the child / team something
 Recognize the child has courage just by showing up, just trying something new, the
success is that the child tried out for the team
Q: How often do you see what is learned in sports in other parts of youth’s lives?
 OFTEN. Many instances of youth with behavioral problems changing in good ways.
There are several instances seen over and over that youth grow as a result of being a
part of teams and sports. Many “lightbulb moments.”
Comment: Kids change and mature as a result of sport particiaption
Q: How to handle children with negative conditioning from home?
 Make the rules and culture of your center of sporting place.
 Create rules for your site, what is expected there
 Home is one place, but make it clear what is acceptable while playing
Q: How do you help develop youth if you don’t have one-on-one time?
 Don’t wait for a crisis, use anytime possible
 Take early opportunities to get to know kids
 Stand next to youth while they practice or are playing, move around talk while catching
throwing, et cetera. Work the field!
Q: What about youth that aren’t able to keep competition in perspective (poor looser, overly
competitive, intolerant)?
 Remind them that they are part of a team—no one gets any more credit or blame
 Everyone is different, and in the end the team is still there, still the foundation
 Minimize individual impact
 Remind youth of the BIG PICTURE
 Life means not always winning

Talk to the youth at the end of each game, keep stories in your back pocket. For
example: Michael Jordan was cut from his JV Basketball team!
 If you don’t fail you can’t succeed. Loosing is not a bad word
Comment: Structure can turn kids around (example of youth with Tourrette’s Syndrome)
Comment: Parents still have that winning is everything attitude. Need to watch out for
negativity. Negative experience in youth sports can have long lasting impact.
Q: Are there ways to mesh programming with developmental models?
 The key sustaining an organization is taking it from and enthusiastic individual to a
structure that works, overall
 Need to consider how to teach, what to teach, best practices for each age group
 PD for direct staff
 Stephen Jackson (1st speaker) has begun research on this
 Helpful sites:
o BALYI
o Canadian Sport for Life
o American Development Model
o (google “long term athletic progress)
Networking/ Meeting Wrap-up
Upcoming Meeting – Stay tuned for Spring 2011 meeting dates
To learn more about or register for a
Youth Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition Networking Seminar
Contact Nancy Peter: npeter@sp2.upenn.edu or 215-898-0640