Mundelein parents invited to Positive Coaching Alliance meeting
The Mundelein Baseball and Softball Association (MBSA) and the Mundelein-based Lake County Stallions (LCS) have joined forces to form a partnership with the Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA), a national nonprofit organization that helps coaches and parents provide a positive experience for youth athletes and the community.
To introduce Mundelein parents to the organization's approach to character building through athletics, the MBSA and the LCS invites Mundelein parents to a free workshop introducing the Positive Coaching Alliance program from 7-9 p.m. June 30 in the Carmel Catholic High School auditorium.
Parents are invited to kick off the event with complimentary pizza and soft drinks at 6:30 p.m.
"We all want our kids to be winners," said Jason Berek, president of LCS and a coach, "but we want our kids to be winners both on and off the field. As leaders, it's important that we give our volunteer coaches the tools they need to help our kids grow up to be winners in life. We're confident PCA will help us do that."
Keenan Bigg, the partnership support manager for the Chicago chapter of PCA, who helped orchestrate the partnership, said difference in coaching style can have consequences well outside the lines.
"Anyone who played sports knows how much influence - positive or negative - a given coach can have," Bigg said. "Just like one great coach can be a springboard that sparks a long and successful career, one bad coach can lead a child to quit sports altogether. And nobody wants that."
Bigg says PCA helps coaches improve by teaching ways they can build their athletes up, increasing morale and team chemistry, which translates into success on the field.
Founded in 1998, PCA partners with more than 1,000 youth sports organizations around the country. Serving more than 3 million athletes, the group was founded by Stanford educator Jim Thompson, a father who sought to counteract the kind of negative coaching he witnessed on his daughter's youth basketball team.
Thompson believed yelling and belittling stunted the development of young athletes and set out to develop a program that taught coaches to better embrace the opportunity they had to be a positive influence in young peoples' lives.
The PCA Partnership includes in-person training and educational materials for coaches, organizational leaders and parents. In April, more than 100 area coaches filled the cafeteria at Mundelein High School for the first of three PCA workshops targeting each audience.
In May, MBSA and LCS board members attended a leadership workshop exploring how to establish and sustain a positive coaching environment in their respective organizations.