This guide to coaching female athletes of all ages shows how to build a team and provides invaluable advice on the differences between coaching males and females. The authors include exercises that foster teamwork and develop essential skills. They also answer parents' most common questions, such as how to tell if the coach is doing a good job and what to do if a child wants to quit. Filled with stories about the Olympic and World Cup championship teams, this useful handbook is infused throughout with DiCicco's philosophy that at every level playing soccer (or any sport) is about "playing hard, playing fair, playing to win, and having fun."
How to Coach Girls provides the most comprehensive guide available to the many issues associated with coaching girls, teams across the spectrum of sports. Volunteer parents and experienced coaches alike will find invaluable advice on the process of making a successful team, encouraging girls to stay in sports beyond the middle school years
"Coach Hatchell's book is a must-read for every girls' basketball coach. She is fantastic in every phase of the game, and I love watching her teams play."—Roy Williams, head men's basketball coach, University of North Carolina, and Associated Press Coach of the Year, 2006 What does it take to turn a good coach into a great one? You need to be a teacher, a motivator, a guru of X's and O's. Coach Sylvia Hatchell shows you how she manages all these roles and gives you her winning advice to creating a team of champions. Head coach of the University of North Carolina's women's team, Coach Hathcell combines the Tar Heels' longstanding tradition of basketball greatness with her personal dedication to guiding young women as she teaches you how to: Communicate effectively to get peak performances from 11- to 18-year-old girls Teach all the fundamentals of the game and run a productive, high-energy practice Develop a formidable offense and tenacious defense Master 75 of her favorite drills, ranging in difficulty from beginner to advanced
This classic book on women's lacrosse has been updated with recent rule changes and the state of the game today. Women’s lacrosse is one of the fastest-growing sports in the United States. As stick technology advances, athleticism increases, and rules and regulations adapt, even the most experienced players and coaches need to keep current on all aspects of the game. Janine Tucker, head women’s lacrosse coach at Johns Hopkins University, and Maryalice Yakutchik, a writer and former lacrosse player, here supply the ultimate guide to women’s lacrosse. Each chapter provides a detailed explanation of a specific skill or technique, illustrated with easy-to-read instructional diagrams and photographs. Coach Tucker begins with lacrosse survival skills—throwing, catching, cradling, and scooping ground balls—and then moves on to more advanced techniques, such as precise checking, fast footwork, correct stick and body position, deceptive shooting, and quick dodges. Chapters on cutting-edge offensive and defensive strategy and on specialized skills, such as goal-tending and the draw, will get any team ready to hit the field. Fully updated, this edition includes * Detailed skill instruction * Drill suggestions throughout the book * New rules regarding the center draw and running through the crease For young women who want to play at the college level, the concluding chapter on recruiting offers a timeline; testimony from players, parents, and college coaches who have been through the process; and a sample résumé. Highlighting the most current strategies and tactics in the game today, Women's Lacrosse is a comprehensive instructional guide for coaches and players at all levels.
The Strong Female Athlete is an evidence-based and experience-based text with a fresh, novel approach for youth female athletes to improve speed, reduce injury, and increase strength. In this exuberant body of work, Erica Suter gives a deep understanding of female athlete growth and maturation, anatomy and physiology, nutritional needs, menstrual cycle considerations, and performance training progressions. She presents the science, but in a way that is readable and fun for coaches, parents, and young girls. This is way easier to read than a scientific study! The final chapters discuss mental training and how female athletes can improve confidence, and overcome challenges from sports and life.
The New York Times bestselling inspirational story of impoverished children who transformed themselves into world-class swimmers. In 1937, a schoolteacher on the island of Maui challenged a group of poverty-stricken sugar plantation kids to swim upstream against the current of their circumstance. The goal? To become Olympians. They faced seemingly insurmountable obstacles. The children were Japanese-American and were malnourished and barefoot. They had no pool; they trained in the filthy irrigation ditches that snaked down from the mountains into the sugarcane fields. Their future was in those same fields, working alongside their parents in virtual slavery, known not by their names but by numbered tags that hung around their necks. Their teacher, Soichi Sakamoto, was an ordinary man whose swimming ability didn't extend much beyond treading water. In spite of everything, including the virulent anti-Japanese sentiment of the late 1930s, in their first year the children outraced Olympic athletes twice their size; in their second year, they were national and international champs, shattering American and world records and making headlines from L.A. to Nazi Germany. In their third year, they'd be declared the greatest swimmers in the world. But they'd also face their greatest obstacle: the dawning of a world war and the cancellation of the Games. Still, on the battlefield, they'd become the 20th century's most celebrated heroes, and in 1948, they'd have one last chance for Olympic glory. They were the Three-Year Swim Club. This is their story.
This is what your coaches would have said to you if you were a boy, told through the story of a small-college soccer team that won more games than it ever had a right to win. It’s an inspiring and straightforward look at the qualities that define the most competitive females, and what separates the ones who get it from the ones who don't. Everything Your Coach Never Told You is the instruction manual for female athletes who want to do more than just play. It's for those girls who want to win, win big, and never apologize for it. It's the call-to-arms for competitive female athletes who dare to color outside of the lines. Not recommended for readers under the age of 13.
The modern day youth sports environment has taken the enjoyment out of athletics for our children. Currently, 70% of kids drop out of organized sports by the age of 13, which has given rise to a generation of overweight, unhealthy young adults. There is a solution. John O’Sullivan shares the secrets of the coaches and parents who have not only raised elite athletes, but have done so by creating an environment that promotes positive core values and teaches life lessons instead of focusing on wins and losses, scholarships, and professional aspirations. Changing the Game gives adults a new paradigm and a game plan for raising happy, high performing children, and provides a national call to action to return youth sports to our kids.
So you’re thinking about volunteering to coach youth basketball? Great! You’re in for a fun, rewarding experience. Whether you’re new to the sport and looking for some guidance or you’re a seasoned coach hunting for some fresh tips, Coaching Basketball For Dummies will help you command the court with confidence. Each friendly chapter is packed with expert advice on teaching the basics of basketball—from dribbling and shooting to rebounding and defending—and guiding your kids to a fun-filled, stress-free season. You get a crash course in the rules and regulations of the game, as well as clear explanations of what all those lines, circles, and half-circle markings mean on the court. You’ll assign team positions, run great practices, and work with both beginning and intermediate players of different age groups. You’ll also see how to ramp up your players’ skills and lead your team effectively during a game. This book will also help you discover how to: Develop your coaching philosophy Understand your league’s rules Conduct a preseason parents’ meeting—crucial for opening the lines of communication Teach offensive and defensive strategies Keep your kids healthy and injury-free Encourage good sportsmanship Make critical half-time adjustments during a game Help struggling players Address discipline problems and handle difficult parents Coach an All-Star or Travel team Complete with numerous offensive and defensive drills and tips for helping your kids relax before a game, Coaching Basketball For Dummies is the fun and easy way to get the score on this worthwhile endeavor!
