Sport and the Growing Good

What happens when families and communities come together every weekend for youth sports games? SGG presents ten minutes of condensed Saturday morning basketball action. What do we hear in these ten minutes? 1. A community of volunteers coming together…running concessions, coaching, running the clock; 2. Parents meeting each other and developing relationships; 3. Young athletes cheering for each other and have fun playing a game together; 4. A kid getting a bloody nose; 5. Teammates communicating with each other and coordinating their actions on the court; 6. Parents cheering for their teams; 7. Coaches giving the players instruction, encouragement, and correction during the game...and across the years.

Yvette Healy is the head softball coach at the University of Wisconsin. She’s led the team to great heights during her ten years in Madison. Coach Healy discusses: 1.  The value of small group practice sessions; 2.  Why an indoor dirt field is important; 3.  Her daily routine – splitting time between the office and the field; 4.  One of her coaching models, Eugene Lenti; 5.  Building a competitive atmosphere; 6.  Developing belief on a team; 7.  Designing practices that are fun and competitive; 8.  Making players uncomfortable in drills; 9.  What coaches can learn from watching kids run the bases; 10.  The best advice she received from Barry Alvarez; 11.  Being more present to the team; 12.  Having “side-to-side” conversations with players; 13.  Modeling self-challenge; 14.  Building relationships off the field with the coaching staff.

Kelly Sheffield is the head coach of the University of Wisconsin's volleyball team. Fresh off a run to the national championship game, Coach Sheffield discusses: 1.  His initial team goals during his first season at Wisconsin in 2013; 2.  Why he chose to hold a critical team meeting in the top corner of the field house; 3.  His purposeful design of the team’s locker room; 4.  The messages that are conveyed by different spaces where the team gathers; 5.  The film room’s “classroom” feel; 6.  Player seating in the film room; 7.  His “goulash” style of learning from other coaches; 8.  Being unafraid to ask questions; 9.  How to make large amounts of information simple and useable for the team; 10.  How he utilizes the days and weeks immediately following the season; and 11.  Preparing for top rivals’ specific strengths and strategies.

Chris Clark is the head coach of the men's rowing team at the University of Wisconsin. Reflecting on his years as leader and competitor across the world, he discusses: 1. Dwelling on failures (7:04). 2. Eliminating impediments (11:50) 3. The myth of Sysiphus and the momentum of a team (12:20) 4. Multi-sport athletes who "know they know nothing" (16:00) 5. The value of athletes with "the right attitude" (19:55) 6. Finding his first rowing mentors at Orange Coast College, the national team, and beyond (25:00) 7. Reassessing coaches years after being on their teams (27:45) 8. Oxford Coach Mike Spracklen's patience with young "Heater" Clark... and the lessons Heater learned (28:20) 9. Coaching at Navy...while delivering pizzas (33:50) 10. His perspective that "nobody is above or below anything" (34:30)