We are obviously in a time of worldwide crisis. As coaches and citizens of the world we need to recognize that this transcends sport. Lives are at stake, the fact that sporting events are being cancelled seems trivial. Certainly, I feel for the athletes who have sacrificed so much and had their competitive opportunities taken away, but we must think about the big picture. Read more
Last week during my visit to Santa Barbara I connected with one of my former athletes from the Santa Barbara High School cross country and track team: Raul Gil. I had not seen Raul for close to forty years. He graduated in 1977 and was captain of the 1977 track team and a team leader on the 1976 cross country team that finished seventh in CIF Southern Section (There was no state cross country meet then). Read more
Focusing on the two hours a day an athlete trains misses out on the vast majority of what is going on in an athletes life. The other 22 hours a day in many cases are more important. Lifestyle can have both positive and negative effects on performance and to reach the top you truly need to be a 24-hour athlete. On this week’s episode Vern talks about how lifestyle can affect performance both positively and negatively. Read more
There is an inevitable point in every athlete’s life where sport becomes less important. This could be a student or junior athlete giving up on their dreams of becoming a professional athlete, a professional athlete realising that they are no longer competitive, or the Olympic champion succumbing to injury; no matter what the situation, there is a transition from athlete to human being. Read more
As Kibwé is adjusting to his new role as a coach, but still has his sights set on a medal in Rio for himself this summer. He sat down with the Sarasota Herald-Tribune recently for a series of videos to talk both about his own ambitions for Rio and about the preparations of his athletes like Amanda Bingson. Read more
What we are seeing today in big time professional and collegiate sports is no surprise to me. It is the result of a broken sports system and a society that has comprised basic standards of behavior. As coaches and sports administrators we are responsible for what we are seeing. Sport does not exist isolated or separate from society. As coaches we often proudly point out that sport is a microcosm of life, if that is the case should we be surprised by the aberrant behavior we are seeing in top athletes? Read more
As a young coach I knew there was more out there but I was not 100% sure what it was. It was the human element, the emotional intelligence piece, appreciating people and what they offer beyond their athletic skills. I must admit I took that for granted. I was into training, the X’s and O’s of coaching. I was focused on designing better workouts and refining technique. There were championships, big wins and some disappointing loses. As I progressed in my coaching career and climbed the ladder so to speak I saw there was more to it. Read more
The 2020 Olympians are 14 to 18 years old and the 2024 Olympians are 10 to 14 years old right now. For me that is cause for alarm. Why? Sport does exist independent of society it reflects society. We are a hypokinetic society characterized by exercise deficit disorder. Look around at these age groups and what do you see? You see kids who lack basic physical competencies who are overweight and sedentary. On the other end you see kids who are overspecialized and ready to flameout. We need to wakeup and address this now not to produce Olympians but to have a healthy society. Take a look at these statistics and ask yourself where future Olympians are coming from? Read more
