The Mad Culture Present in Athletics

Over the course of the last two decades, my feeling on coaching philosophy has shifted dramatically. There are many central factors that have led to a philosophical change and the dynamics are not necessarily that student/athletes have changed over time, but that our parental support and/or culture of coaching has changed over time. We have experienced a dynamic shift in many facets over the years that have molded who we have become as a sports culture. This has created a real challenge and struggle for school districts, athletic departments, and travel/home town athletic organizations throughout the country. Numbers of student/athletes have dwindled along with coaches and officials. This problem has to be looked at discreetly, with a focus on improving a line of communication, a real communication that will foster results.Our culture represents the values, morals, and success of any organization. In order for success, everyone in the organization and/or community must have the best interests in mind for our student/athletes, coaches, officials, and all stakeholders involved. How do we change the culture of a program? This is the fundamental issue that can make or break an organization. In order to understand the shifts over time that have changed the game, we have to break it down in layers. For example; let's look at the issue like we look at the layers of an onion. The first layer of the onion looks solid, one cannot see the issues of the onion until you clean the onion and peel the first layer. The second layer may be distorted and rotten in places. In order to fix this part of the onion we clean it and cut off the rotten layer and throw it away. The third layer may show more issues or it may be perfect in representation. The over-arching issues can be found the deeper you go within the onion, much like in the culture of any organization.Coaching Culture in AthleticsMission Statement: To end the Mad Culture Present in today's Athletics.Vision Statement: Realizing the full potential of Pro-Active Coaching on Athletic Culture in the United States.