- Coaches, parents, program directors, and board members
- Teach, Enforce, Affirm, and Model the positive life skills we want our athletes to learn.
‘T’ is for teach.
Don't assume your athletes automatically know what you expect of them. Take the time to explicitly teach the life skills you want your athletes to learn. Define the particular life skill you are teaching, explain why it is important, give examples, and tell stories about people who used the particular life skill to achieve success. The encourage your athletes to demonstrate the particular life skills you are teaching.
‘E’ is for enforce.
Like any kind of skill, life skills are learned best through consistent teaching and enforcement. Make intelligent use of rewards and consequences to enforce the behaviors you want your athletes to develop.
‘A’ is for affirm.
Take every opportunity to affirm for the positive life skills you are teaching. Recognize your athletes when they demonstrate positive behaviors. Also point out positive behaviors by other athletes your team encounters, especially famous athletes who actually do the right thing. Most importantly, stand up for the athlete who is struggling to do the right thing. Let them know you understand their struggle. Also let them know you believe they will come through it stronger for the experience. But avoid the temptation to let them off the hook or provide an easy fix for them.
‘M’ is for model the way.
The most powerful thing we can do to influence young people is to model the behaviors we want them to adopt. Try to model the same positive life skills you want your athletes to learn. Remain self aware so that you practice what you preach - especially under stress. And remember that you, like your athletes, are only human. If you model the wrong behavior, show your athletes how to take responsibility for mistakes and recommit to doing the right thing.
