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    Let Them Play: From the Recreational League to the Bowl Championship Series
    Let Them Play: From the Recreational League to the Bowl Championship Series
    Let Them Play: From the Recreational League to the Bowl Championship Series
    Ebook115 pages1 hour

    Let Them Play: From the Recreational League to the Bowl Championship Series

    By Renwick Jones

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    About this ebook

    Volunteer coaches in recreational leagues for youngsters can make a difference, but its important that they have the tools and wisdom to be great leaders.

    Renwick Jones, who has coached a variety of sports, shares proven tips to help overcome challenges on the recreational level. In this guidebook, youll learn how

    recreational leagues can prepare students for higher levels of competition;
    coaching staffs can prepare youngsters for the future;
    parents can contribute to the success of the team.

    Youll also get tips on coaching kids from all types of socio-economic backgrounds and learning levels, with different temperaments and personalities. Keep in mind that you might be coaching children with attention deficit problems, autism, or other personal challenges.

    There are many lessons that can be learned through the vehicle of sports, but it is essential to provide young student-athletes with solid fundamentals, including sportsmanship, teambuilding, and the character needed to succeed in the future. Become a better coach and leader, and Let Them Play.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisheriUniverse
    Release dateMay 11, 2012
    ISBN9781475916072
    Let Them Play: From the Recreational League to the Bowl Championship Series
    Author

    Renwick Jones

    Renwick Orlando Jones, a native of Gadsden, Alabama, earned a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism from Alabama State University and a master’s degree from Auburn University. He formerly worked at several radio and television stations before starting a career in higher education. He is the vice president of alumni affairs at Stillman College, and he lives in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

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      Book preview

      Let Them Play - Renwick Jones

      Copyright ©

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

      iUniverse books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

      iUniverse

      1663 Liberty Drive

      Bloomington, IN 47403

      www.iuniverse.com

      1-800-Authors (1-800-288-4677)

      Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

      Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

      Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

      ISBN: 978-1-4759-1606-5 (sc)

      ISBN: 978-1-4759-1607-2 (ebook)

      ISBN: 978-1-4759-1608-9 (dj)

      iUniverse rev. date: 5/8/2012

      Contents

      ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

      FOREWORD

      INTRODUCTION: THIS IS WHY YOU COACH IN THE RECREATIONAL LEAGUE

      CHAPTER 1 IN THE BEGINNING: COACHING IN THE RECREATIONAL LEAGUE

      CHAPTER 2 BUILDING YOUR COACHING STAFF

      CHAPTER 3 WHAT AGE IS TOO YOUNG TO PLAY?

      CHAPTER 4 GETTING PARENTS ON YOUR TEAM

      CHAPTER 5 THE IMPORTANCE OF PRACTICE

      CHAPTER 6 COACHING YOUR OWN CHILD

      CHAPTER 7 FUN AND GAMES

      CHAPTER 8 COACH-SPEAK AND FACING OTHER COACHES

      CHAPTER 9 FROM THE RECREATIONAL LEAGUE TO THE BOWL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

      CHAPTER 10 PERSPECTIVES ON THE BOWL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

      CHAPTER 11 A FAN’S PERSONAL APPEAL TO THE HEART AND MIND

      CHAPTER 12 CREATING A LIST OF ENEMIES

      CHAPTER 13 WHAT A PLAYOFF MIGHT LOOK LIKE

      CHAPTER 14 MONEY AND FORTY YEARS

      ABOUT THE AUTHOR

      RESOURCES

      Acknowledgments

      I’d like to thank my parents, Robert and Vivian Jones, for always being there for me.

      I’d also like to thank my mentors, City Councilman Tracy Larkin of Montgomery, Alabama; noted motivational speaker Dr. Earl Suttle; Dr. C.C. Baker and his wife, Jean Baker, for their lifelong encouragement; and my master’s thesis chair at Auburn University, Dr. Margaret Fitch-Hauser, who always told me to stay focused!

      On the cover, left to right: Cagan Campbell and Isaiah Shatzline of the Central Falcons, and Bryant Stampede of the eleven- and twelve-year-old division of the West Alabama Youth Football Association. James Jimmy Dillard, University of Notre Dame Class of 1988 and member of the 1988 Irish National Championship team, and Lawrence L. C. Cole, #81, 1979 graduate of the University of Nebraska and first black captain of the Cornhuskers’ football program. Photos courtesy of Ms. Kristi Schatzline, Mr. James Jimmy Dillard and the University of Nebraska.

      Foreword

      31_a_h.JPG

      Two-time Super Bowl Champion Dennis Dirt Winston of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Photo courtesy of the Pittsburgh Steelers

      As a player, I won two Super Bowl Championships with the NFL Pittsburgh Steelers in 1978 and 1979, and as an assistant coach, I won a Grey Cup in 2005 with the Canadian Football League’s Edmonton Eskimos.

      Over the course of my career, I have been fortunate to have extensive coaching and playing experience with teams from Canada to the Deep South. From my humble beginnings as a junior high school football player to a scholarship athlete at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and a Super Bowl champ in the NFL, there aren’t many things in the arena of coaching and playing that I haven’t experienced, except one—I did not get the opportunity to play recreational league ball growing up!

      Why? Simple! There was no recreational league or Pop Warner where I grew up in Marianna, Arkansas.

      I did manage to play in the American Legion Baseball League, but I didn’t play football until I was in the seventh grade. I was a starter on the varsity team. Though I was blessed with a great athletic ability, my road to the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville was a bit rough because I did not play football during my senior year in high school due to riots that broke out at that time.

      I still received over fifty scholarship offers from major Division I schools because I was good in football and basketball. I was fortunate, but I wonder how many young boys and girls out there are also gifted in sports but lack the opportunities to grow athletically and learn the powerful lessons sports can teach.

      This book will give you all the tools you need to reach aspiring young athletes in your community, take them under your wing, and develop them into great athletes and good people.

      It will show you techniques of how to coach and mentor young people and how to equip them for the biggest game of all—life.

      For me, there were three coaches who had a tremendous impact on me while I was growing up. They were Antonio Hobbs, my junior high basketball coach; Chester Bailey, my junior high football coach; and James Banks, my high school basketball coach.

      They had such an impact on my life that I still remain in touch with them even today, long after I played for them.

      If you have a heart for coaching young people in a recreational league, I urge you to read this book. The rewards of coaching and making a positive impact on the life of a young athlete are endless.

      Remember, the young kids you coach in the recreational league today will be our stand-out college athletes of tomorrow!

      Introduction:

      This Is Why You Coach in the Recreational League

      001_a_h.JPG

      Two-year-old J. B. Leatherwood of Clay, Alabama (2010). Photo courtesy John and Lacey Leatherwood and the Birmingham News

      Meet J. B. Leatherwood. J. B., two years old at the time, was attending Fan Day for the University of Alabama-Birmingham (UAB) football team in the fall of 2010. Look at the expression on J. B.’s face. He’s excited about meeting the football players and getting their autographs.

      As J. B. gets older, his interest in sports will grow. He’ll probably ask his parents to sign him up to play a sport in their local recreational league. Now here is where you, the recreational league coach, come in.

      There are so many lessons to be learned through the vehicle of sports, so it’s important that you capture the excitement of eager, young student-athletes and provide them with the solid fundamentals of the game: sportsmanship, teambuilding, and character traits they will need as they grow older.

      Sure J. B. is cute at this age, but don’t get caught up in that hype! He and others like him represent the future of youth sports, and as a recreational league coach, it’s incumbent on you to harness that youthful excitement and exuberance they have for sports and use it to teach them how important it is to study and maintain good grades in school, to represent themselves and their community well, and to know the value of winning and losing.

      Teach your players and their parents the value of good habits, such as exercise and healthy eating, and teach them to stay away from drugs, alcohol, and performance-enhancing drugs, such as steroids.

      You have the power to place a child on the right path in life through athletics, because you are not

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