Conditioning

Football players know this as "gassers", Basketball players as "lines", Baseball players as, "Circuts". It all translates to sprints up and down a field, court or gymnasium to build stamina. However when it is done in 94 degree weather until someone collapses it's negligence.

Sophomore Max Gilpin and his Pleasure Ridge Park teammates spent the tail end of a three-hour practice on a sweltering August day in Louisville running the drill that is a coaching staple across the country, hoping to impress enough to earn varsity playing time that fall. They sprinted 12 times in what felt like 94-degree heat, sometimes with helmets and pads, as the coaches pushed them to go harder and harder. It was a drill like those on many high school football fields, until Gilpin, a 6-foot-2, 220-pound offensive lineman, collapsed to the turf just 15 minutes after a teammate went down.

Three days later, the 15-year-old Gilpin was dead from heat stroke, with authorities saying his body temperature was 107 degrees when he reached the hospital. Five months later, his first-year head coach David Jason Stinson is facing a reckless homicide charge, with a prosecutor saying the coach should have realized a player could get heat stroke in such broiling weather.

Gilpin was one of six heat-related deaths in high school and college athletics in 2008, said Dr. Frederick Mueller with the National Center for Catastrophic Injury Research at the University of North Carolina. More than 120 athletes have died under similar circumstances since 1931. Conditioning is, an important part of athletics that needs to be done.....with common sense.

Club Baseball

Club is a relatively young option to Youth Baseball compared to Little League, Pony League or Colt League. It was developed as an elite program to provide a higher level of play, but has now taken on a life of its own. While the more traditional Baseball programs charge minimal fees to each player, most Clubs charge dues to support : Tournament Entry Fees, Uniforms, Equipment, Travel, Field Time and Coaching Salaries. (This is similar to some High School programs which have high fee requirements of their athletes.) Club Baseball offers: Year round play, Multiple age levels, Local, State and National Tournaments and even National Rankings.

Currently, some organizations (Clubs) are offering a Spring League beginning March 1, 2009. It is being presented as an option to parents and players which means, you have to make a choice between Club and High School Baseball. There are any number of reasons why this option has surfaced but understand this, if a student chooses to play Club Baseball in the spring, he may not play for his High School team and will bring sanctions on the team and coach, if he does.

While I can understand the feeling that a player might need another option other than his High School team, I have many concerns about the direction this could end up. However, one piece of advice I have is this: If it sounds to good to be true, it probably is.

Chemistry

"United we stand, divided we fall." "One for all, All for one!" These are age old expressions of team unity. This dynamic process, which occurs when a team sticks together in pursuit of its goals, is an extremely important variable in the quest for athletic success. Success, especially in tough situations, is directly related to the type of chemistry that exists within the team.

Just as important, when evaluating team chemistry, is the level of satisfaction and personal well-being that each member feels as a result of inclusion to his/her role on the team. Also, players need to feel that others on the team (including coaches) trust them or "have their back." This trust will cease to develop if one does not work to provide consistent feedback to each athlete.

John Wooden is without question one of the most respected and honored coaches in our nations history. Although he won many Championships, it wasn't winning games that drove him. It was ensuring that, regardless of the final score, his players always put forth their utmost effort and performed to the best of their abilities, together. He also had a personal connection to each player's value, worth and role on his teams. Wooden's famous "Pyrimad of Success" was not just a formula for winning, but for character and chemistry as well. Great team chemistry, more often than not, has been the common denominator for coaches in their championship seasons. Dean Smith stated, "I think a very underrated part of championship teams is team chemistry."

Coaches need to make an undying commitment to helping their players grow as students and as individuals, in addition to helping them improve on the field. They should coach with a vision for success for each athlete and for the team, but always keep each game in the proper perspective. With that in mind, what’s more important: team goals, individual improvement or team chemistry?The correct answer is ALL OF THE ABOVE!