Okay, I am not the perfect parent-coach—if such a thing even exists. Plus, it’s not about being perfect, anyway.

One thing I have learned is that the game is about my son and not about me. R-E-S-P-E-C-T: You have to respect your child’s sports experiences. I learned this lesson the hard way. I used to run up and down the sidelines at Jack’s lacrosse games and scream advice—and I wasn’t even the coach. Finally, Jack told me that this just confused him, because he got advice from the coach and from me, and he didn’t know who to listen to.

I learned to keep my sideline shouts to encouragement and leave the game-time advice to the coach. Oh, yeah, I later became coach of Jack’s lacrosse team!

Posted by Doug Donaldson at 04:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The first instructional videos we shot were with Kevin MacKenzie, a soccer coach who trains both boys and girls.  We were incredibly fortunate to work with him, because he really understands what PlaySportsTV is looking for— “teachable moments” that clearly present a specific playing technique or skill.

For our shoot, Kevin brought along one of his players, Lily, and we ran through several goaltending techniques.  They nailed ‘em all.  For every video, Kevin introduced the concept briefly, demonstrated it himself and with Lily, and then wrapped up nicely with a quick reiteration. 

A coach who has this ability to precisely encapsulate and demonstrate a necessary skill for his or her players is a true asset, both on the field and in PlaySportsTV videos.

Doug

Posted by Doug Donaldson at 09:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The initial video shoot for PlaySportsTV was me and a cameraman friend of mine.  The first thing I wanted to do was demonstrate an easy soccer drill a coach could run for really young players—“Monster in the Middle.”  I set out cones and my friend started shooting.  On-camera, I explained that the coach acts like a monster.  So, there I am, on a beautiful spring day, running around with a crazy expression on my face, acting like a monster.  My friend thought I was an idiot.

Then, we ran over to a baseball diamond and shoot a couple of quick drills.  My friend still thought I was an idiot.  Well, fortunately, we were able to get a number of people interested in our new venture, PlaySportsTV, just from those few video pieces.  That was surprising and exciting!

Doug

Posted by Doug Donaldson at 08:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)