PLC Coaches Training in Everett July 26th

St. Mary Magdalen parish in Everett will be hosting a Play Like A Champion Today (PLC) coaches training on Thursday, July 26th, 2012 at 6:30pm. To register for this training, visit the PLC page of the CYO Athletics website and fill out the registration form found near the bottom.

What is a Champion?

The Play Like a Champion Today(R) Educational series focuses on producing “Champions” in sport and in life. Being a “Champion” means much more than being a winning athlete. It means being a leader, a team player, a hard worker, someone who demonstrates good sportsmanship, and someone who can take the lessons they have learned from sports to fuel their own growth and development and make a positive difference in the lives of others. Champions are formed through genuinely loving the sports they play, and sports should be a way for them to learn valuable life lessons, not for boosting their own ego.

In the dictionary, a Champion is, “a person who has defeated or surpassed all rivals in a competition, specifically in sports.” However, the true definition of Champion actually encompasses much more than just what an athlete does on the playing field. To enhance this discussion for coaches and athletes, below is an acronym created by Kayla McBride (ND Women’s Basketball and Student in ND’s Social Foundations of Coaching class) to describe each letter in the word "Champion" with a different quality.

C - Confidence: Champions must have confidence in their individual abilities (the talent level that God has given them), in their teammates and coaches.

H - Humble: Champions must respect their ability and never take it for granted. They should express gratitude to those who assist them in their success and thrive with them.

A - Attitude: Champions must have a positive attitude throughout their career and understand that there will be good and bad days along with wins and losses. They should have a growth mindset of striving to get better and encouraging others around them.

M - Mental Toughness: Sports are physically and mentally challenging. Champions must work to obtain the mental toughness to persevere through the obstacles that will come with the demands of sport.

P - Passion: Champions must have passion for the game. All the hard work and dedication should be done out of the love and pride they have every time they participate in their sport.

I - Idol: Champions, nowadays, are seen in the public eye much more than ever before. When being a role model, it is important that athletes maintain all those qualities of character that equal being a Champion.

O - Open-Minded: Champions must be open to new ideas; they can never settle.

N - Noble: Being a champion becomes more than just athletically performing. Champions must have the noble and morally-just qualities of a champion every day. It is a person’s character, not their athletic success, that truly matters.

Play Like A Champion Today!

VIA Play Like A Champion Today(R) Sport Parent Notes

Young People Need Good (PLC) Coaches

It seems that today’s athletic culture is driven by the notion that sports is nothing more than an opportunity to assert physical dominance over an opponent. Winning has become the ultimate goal with little or no concern for the shrapnel that is left in the lives of the young people who are reared in this single-minded environment.

Ok, perhaps the first paragraph was a little strong… but here are some simple reasons why coaches are now more important than ever in the lives of young people.

• Only 3.8% of elementary schools provide physical education (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2009).

• Children are on the average spending over 50 hours a week on electronic media – television, video games, email, social media, etc. (Bloomberg Business Week, 2010).

• According to the Center for Disease Control, one in three children are likely to develop type 2 diabetes, heart disease or high blood pressure due to sedentary lifestyles (Good Housekeeping, 2012).

• 58% of children age 2-5 can play simple computer games versus 44% who know how to ride a bike (CNN, 2012).

Heart disease…as a teenager? No P.E.? Kids don’t know how to ride a bike? Fifty hours per week on electronic media? That’s a full time job plus overtime on and above school related activities. Now more than ever the role of the coach is critical in helping shape the lives of young people. The critical question is: “What are our coaches teaching our young people?”
According to Play Like a Champion Today® philosophy, coaches are teachers using a different platform to educate. Instead of English, math and science they use practice time, discipline and teamwork to teach life lessons and moral development through sport.
That said moral development doesn’t spontaneously happen through organized sports. Just as practices require “reps” to get better physically, coaches have to be deliberate about promoting moral development by taking “moral development reps” throughout the day. Here are a few fundamentals that will support anyone who is truly coaching their student-athletes for moral development:
• emphasize that moral values come before all else

• take time before each practice and game to call attention to moral values

• take time after each practice and game to evaluate how well the team lived up to its espoused values

• help players to develop their moral reasoning by discussing moral problems as a team

The wide world of sports has changed in many ways…the one thing that stays consistent is the need for good coaches to guide, mentor and love young people. Remember to Play Like a Champion Today®!

VIA Play Like A Champion Today(R) Sport Parent Notes

Is WINNING everything?

Champions always play to win, but understand that both winning and losing are important parts of the game they love.

Parental Tips:

• Always support your children, whether they win or lose;

• Emphasize good play over winning; and

• Focus on athlete performance, rather than game outcome.


SUGGESTION:As parents, remind your athlete (and yourself) that every sporting event has a victor. Some of the time your children will be on the winning side, many times, they will not. It is important to accept both sides of the spectrum with grace. Help your children realize the process of the game – how the game was played – is more important in the overall scheme of their whole sport career than simply the final score.

VIA Play Like A Champion Today(R) Sport Parent Notes

Champion Committee Resource

Coaches and Parents can find a new resource for parents we posted on the Parents page of our website. At the bottom of the page, you will find a link to this outline of a Champion Committee, an adapted version of the committee described in the Play Like A Champion Today Coaches Manual Appendix G.

PLC Training 8/28 at Sacred Heart CANCELLED

Unfortunately, we have to cancel the Play Like a Champion Today ® (PLC) training scheduled for Sunday 8/28 at Sacred Heart. We needed a minimum of 15 coaches to register for the training, and we only have 9 coaches signed up. Coaches will need to visit our website and plan to attend a different training. Here is a link to the website:

http://seattleoyyam.org/programs/cyo-athletics/coaches/play-like-a-champion

We are sorry for the inconvenience this causes.

PLC Trainings This Weekend

There are two Play Like A Champion Today (PLC) trainings scheduled for this weekend. Saturday, August 27th there is a training at St. Catherine in Seattle at 9:00am. This training has more than 15 coaches registered and will not be canceled. There is of course still space available for any coach who wants to attend this training.

The second training is Sunday, August 28th from 1-4pm at Sacred Heart in Bellevue. Currently there are only 6 coaches registered for this training. We will need 9 more coaches to register before tomorrow morning or we will have to cancel the training. If we do cancel the training, all registered coaches will be notified via e-mail, and this blog will be updated. To register for this training, please use this Registration Form and send to cyo@seattlearch.org.

Last PLC Training for 2010-2011 School Year

Next Tuesday, April 19th, following the Pre-season Track & Field coach meeting, CYO Athletics will be providing the final scheduled Play Like A Champion Today coaches training for the 2010-2011 school year. The Track & Field coach meeting is scheduled in the Isaac Orr Conference room from 7:00-8:00pm and the Play Like a Champion Today coaches training will follow until around 11:00pm.

There will be coaches trainings scheduled again near the end of August in preparation for the soccer season and the 2011-2012 school year, but coaches who need the training prior to next year are encouraged to come next Tuesday, and get the training done sooner rather than later. Coaches coming to the training, who are not coming to the 7:00pm Track & Field coach meeting, should plan to arrive at the Isaac Orr Conference room by 8:00pm.

PLC Training Scheduled at St. Mary Magdalen

St. Mary Magdalen has offered to host a Play Like A Champion Today (PLC) training on Wednesday, November 10th from 6:30-9:30pm. This training does require a minimum of 15 coaches to pre-register, or we will have to cancel. Please use the registration form and instructions found on the PLC website.

Address for St. Mary Magdalen:

8517 7th Ave SE Everett, WA 98208

PLC Training Scheduled at St. Bernadette

St. Bernadette has offered to host a Play Like A Champion Today (PLC) training on Sunday, October 24th from 1-4pm. This training does require a minimum of 15 coaches to pre-register, or we will have to cancel. Please use the registration form and instructions found on the PLC website.

Cross Country Coaches Meeting and PLC Tonight

Tonight at 7:00pm is the Cross Country coaches meeting in the Isaac Orr Conference Room at the Chancery (910 Marion St. Seattle, WA, 98104). Immediately following the coaches meeting, we will be having two simultaneous meetings.

First, from around 7:45 to 8:30, we will be having a Cross Country coaches clinic, with cross country commissioner, and Blanchet HS cross country coach, John O'Leary. This clinic is intended to help coaches who have some questions about coaching cross country in CYO, and will take place in the small conference room off of Isaac Orr.

In the main room, we will have a Play Like A Champion Today training for any coach needing to stay for the training. We hope to get started with the pre-clinic survey by 7:45, and begin the training content promptly at 8:00pm, so that we can get out on time before 11pm.

Sunday PLC Training in Everett is Canceled

We were unable to receive the mandatory 15 pre-registrations for Sunday’s Play Like A Champion Today training in Everett. The training is canceled. If you still need to complete the training this weekend, please consider attending the St. Benedict training in Seattle at the same time on Sunday (August 29th), 1:00-4:00pm. There is also a training in Issaquah at St. Joseph parish on Saturday (August 28th) from 9am to noon that you may attend. Other than these two trainings, we will be offering PLC trainings following each pre-season coaches meeting.

We are sorry for the inconvenience that canceling this training might have caused. For a full list of the training dates, please visit our Play Like A Champion Today page on our website.

Additional PLC Location Set for August 29th

Immaculate Conception in Everett has offered to host an additional Play Like A Champion Today coaches training on Sunday, August 29th from 1-4pm. This training will be in addition to the training being offered at the same time at St. Benedict in Seattle. The training will be held in St. Mary's Hall, which is across the street from Immaculate Conception School (2508 Hoyt Ave. Everett, WA 98201). The training will require 15 pre-registered coaches, or it will be canceled. Please pre-register using the Excel registration form on the Play Like A Champion Today page on our website.

PLC Location Set for August 28th

The Play Like A Champion Today coaches training scheduled for Saturday, August 28th will be held at St. Joseph Issaquah from 9am to noon. Please pre-register using the Excel Registration Form on the Play Like A Champion Today page on our website. The training requires a minimum of 15 coaches pre-registered, or it will be canceled. Thank you to St. Joseph Issaquah for hosting and providing this opportunity for coaches to take the training on a weekend.

PLC Location Set for August 29th

The Play Like A Champion Today coaches training on Sunday, August 29th will be at St. Benedict in Seattle. The training will go from 1-4pm, and we encourage coaches to pre-register for the training using the registration form on the Play Like A Champion Today page on our website.

St. Benedict Cafeteria - Entry to the cafeteria is from the South side of St. Benedict School on N 48th Street at Wallingford Ave N. The stairwell is inside the gate and near the jungle gym.

PLC Training this Saturday at St. Luke Confirmed

The Play Like A Champion Today training this Saturday at St. Luke from 9:00am to noon has been confirmed with the minimum number of required preregistrations, and will not be canceled. Please try to show up 10 minutes early if you can, as each training begins with a survey, and we want to be able to start on time so that we can end on time.

Added PLC Training in Shoreline

St. Luke in Shoreline has offered to host a Play Like A Champion Today training on Saturday January 16th from 9:00am to 12:00pm. Please preregister for this training using the registration form on the CYO Athletics website.

Everett Training Confirmed

The Play Like A Champion Today training in Everett will not be canceled for this Sunday. There is of course room for more coaches, so please register by using the registration form found on the Coaches Trainings section of our website.

Reminder Basketball Coaches:

The first of two options to attend the mandatory pre-season basketball coaches meeting is tonight, Tuesday Nov. 10th at 7:00pm at the Isaac Orr Conference Room at the Chancery (910 Marion St. Seattle).

Coaches can also attend the meeting on November 18th, also in Isaac Orr at 7:00pm. Coaches are required to attend one or the other. Any team that fails to have representation at one of the two coaches meetings will recieve a one game forfeit and the head coach will be suspended for a game.

PLC Training in Everett 11/15

The Play Like A Champion Today training scheduled from 1-4pm in Everett on November 15th has a definite location:

Our Lady of Perpetual Help
2619 Cedar Street Everett, WA 98201
(social hall "green room" is the actual place, there will be people standing there with signs to help direct from the parking lot.)

Currently there are 3 coaches pre-registered to attend. We need at least 15 coaches before we will do the training. Less than 15 pre-registered, and we will have to cancel. If you know you need the PLC training, pre-register using the form on our website.

CORRECTION 10/27

In regards to a previous Blog Post, the PLACT training in Tacoma on October 27th, at St. Charles Borromeo Parish is actually starting at 6:00pm, not 7:00pm. Sorry for the inconvenience.