Coaches and Parents: New Podcast Offers Youth Sports Advice from Football Great Tony Dorsett
Third episode in Liberty Mutual Podcast Series at www.ResponsibleSports.com provides advice to coaches and parents on youth sports character building.
Boston, MA (PRWEB) November 16, 2009 –- According to the Institute for Sport Coaching, fewer than 10 percent of the 2.5 million American volunteer coaches, and fewer than one-third of interscholastic coaches have had any type of coaching education. As these coaches and parents turn to the Internet to seek youth sports coaching advice, it’s easy to find drills and sample practices, but more challenging to find effective resources for teaching the more emotional components and values of youth sports. To fill this need, football icon Tony Dorsett discusses the life lessons he learned through sports in the third installment of Liberty Mutual's Responsible Sports Podcast Series released today at ResponsibleSports.com.
 Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA) Founder and Executive Director Jim Thompson interviews Tony Dorsett, the only player in football history to win the Heisman Trophy, a Super Bowl and a college football National Championship, and be enshrined in both the College Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame. In the interview, available for download at www.ResponsibleSports.com and on iTunes®, Yahoo and Odeo, Dorsett shares rarely heard stories from his experience with professional athletes and how they overcome challenges, how coaches help them bounce back from mistakes, and how parents can help young athletes focus on learning valuable life lessons from youth sports.
“In many cases, parents and coaches over-emphasize winning, putting unnecessary pressure on kids and taking away from the spirit of the game. But responsible coaches have two goals, preparing their team to win on the scoreboard and preparing young athletes to reach their potential on and off the field,” said Thompson. “As a former professional athlete and father of both professional and amateur athletes, Tony Dorsett provides invaluable insight into how parents can support their kids and encourage them to learn from sports, no matter what the scoreboard says.”
The Liberty Mutual Responsible Sports Podcast Series features noted athletes and coaches, all of whom are members of Positive Coaching Alliance’s National Advisory Board, drawing from their own experiences to share the best ways for parents and coaches to create positive character building environments for youth athletes. The series launched in September with former NHL All-Star and current San Jose Sharks Executive Vice President and General Manager Doug Wilson discussing teachable moments for players and how to overcome adversity.
Also available at ResponsibleSports.com is an interview with NFL Hall of Fame defensive back and four-time Super Bowl champion Ronnie Lott, who discusses how parents and coaches can communicate with young athletes to fill their emotional tanks – a key factor in motivating children to bounce back from mistakes both on and off the field.
New installments of the series will be available for download every two weeks at ResponsibleSports.com, and will feature interviews with other PCA board members, including former MLS and U.S. Soccer Team great Alexi Lalas; Olympic gold medalist swimmer Summer Sanders; Boston Celtics Coach Doc Rivers; and two-time Olympic gold medalist and former USA Softball captain Dr. Dot Richardson.
“Through the Responsible Sports program, Liberty Mutual seeks to support youth sports coaches and parents who help young athletes view sports as a positive and educational experience,” said Greg Gordon, Liberty Mutual senior vice president, Consumer Marketing. “The podcast series further guides coaches and parents through the responsible sports experience by providing unique content from athletes who are noted for their responsible character beyond their success on their playing field.”
About Responsible Sports
Liberty Mutual founded the Responsible Sports program in 2007 as a means to highlight the positive impact that everyday, responsible actions can have on our youth. As an insurance company that celebrates people who choose to do the right thing, Liberty Mutual believes that youth sport coaching and youth sport parenting are clear examples of how people can unite to promote the fundamental ideals of community.
Liberty Mutual Responsible Sports is a community-based program providing resources, tools, tips and advice for volunteer youth sport coaches and sport parents. In partnership with Positive Coaching Alliance, US Youth Soccer, the Amateur Softball Association and USA Hockey, Liberty Mutual also offers twenty $2,500 grants to youth sports organizations and school athletic programs that have the most individuals in their communities complete the online Responsible Sports curriculum on their behalf between September 1 and November 30 at ResponsibleSports.com.
Liberty Mutual’s Responsible Sports website, www.ResponsibleSports.com, also provides resources for responsible coaches and parents to help children improve on-field performance and learn life lessons that sports can uniquely provide. ResponsibleSports.com includes information and tips on responsible sports parenting and coaching, interactive discussion forums, coursework and quizzes to help identify and capitalize on the many opportunities sports provide to teach valuable life lessons to children.
About Liberty Mutual Group
“Helping people live safer, more secure lives” since 1912, Boston-based Liberty Mutual Group (LibertyMutualGroup.com) is a diversified global insurer and fifth-largest property and casualty insurer in the U.S. based on 2008 direct written premium. Liberty Mutual Group ranks 86th on the Fortune 500 list of largest U.S. corporations, based on 2008 revenue. The company has over 45,000 employees located in more than 900 offices throughout the world.
The eighth-largest auto and home insurer in the U.S., Liberty Mutual (LibertyMutual.com) sells full lines of coverage for automobile, homeowners, valuable possessions, personal liability, and individual life insurance. The company is an industry leader in affinity partnerships, offering car and home insurance to employees and members of more than 12,000 companies, credit unions, professional associations and alumni groups.
About Positive Coaching Alliance
Since its founding within the Stanford University Athletic Department in 1998, PCA has conducted roughly 6,000 live group workshops nationwide for more than 300,000 youth sports leaders, coaches, parents and athletes. PCA trains workshop attendees to create a positive, character-building environment for youth athletes, replacing the prevalent win-at-all-cost mentality.
PCA has affected more than 3 million youth athletes through partnerships with 1,100-plus youth sports organizations, cities and schools that host workshops across the U.S., primarily near PCA’s hub markets of Northern California, Southern California, Chicago, Hawaii, Houston, New York City and Washington, D.C. Thousands of other coaches and parents learn PCA methods via online courses at PositiveCoach.org.
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