03/26/2026
I have made a second career out of helping high school coaches come up with performance metrics that gives them an advantage over other teams.
In the 1980s, it was strength training and fitness. And many of the coaches are still thinking that that model is the best way to change an athlete and reach maximum potential.
But it’s not.
The modern Coach understands that having an edge is doing things that your competition hasn’t thought of yet- it’s typically a 4 to 5 year window before the next idea trickles down.
Things like this image- these have a larger performance impact than many of the things that we do as coaches in an effort to improve our athletes.
Get modern! Thanks The Sporting Resource- great stuff!
The car journey home is rarely planned.
Unstructured ⇢ Unscripted ⇢ Unfiltered.
Yet it often becomes one of the most powerful parts of a child’s experience, because this is where the game gets interpreted.
Not by the coach, but by the person who matters most.
At times there’s silence, at others, frustration with the occasionally, analysis that was never asked for.
• “You should have passed earlier.”
• “Why didn’t you shoot?”
• “You need to work harder.”
All of it comes from a good place, but the impact doesn’t always match the intention and a child doesn’t process this as feedback but more like judgement.
The match has finished, but in the mind, it continues.
Over time, something subtle begins to shift.
• Fewer risks.
• Safer decisions.
• More glances toward the sideline.
Not to learn ⇢ To check.
The car journey home doesn’t just reflect the game, it can shape the experience of it and that experience determines whether football continues to matter.
Every conversation doesn’t need to be about football.
Often, the most powerful thing you can say has nothing to do with the game or something as simple as:
✅ “I loved watching you play.”
Long after the result is forgotten, the feeling of that journey home stays.
