My philosophy is that sport is one of the most important aspects of a person’s life. A person can learn so much from being involved in athletics. He/she learns discipline, motivation, teamwork, perseverance, commitment and how to succeed in the game of life.

As a coach, I will teach by example to instill values, motivation and sportsmanship in my teams.

First, I want to be able to teach my players values on and off the court. Most important is respect. The only way to teach respect is to demonstrate it first. I will encourage my players to be professional, on the court and in the classroom. The players will know the rules of the team and the rules of the classroom and they will be expected to follow both. They will also learn quickly that the sport they play is important but it is not as important as family, school, their beliefs and their health. They will need to take care of those areas before they can focus on the sport they are playing.

Second, I will be a constant motivator for my players.  I want kids to believe in themselves and believe in the team or school they represent. Players don’t need to be constantly reminded of what they did wrong. At the high school level, most athletes know the rights and wrongs. They need to be motivated to learn from their mistakes to get better. I will be a constant positive reinforcement of any person I coach.

Finally, sportsmanship will always be a focus of any team I have the privilege of coaching. This will start with myself.  It’s your reaction to the game and game of life that makes all the difference.  My players learn how to deal with the “goods” and the “bads” that occur in life. My players will learn to respect their opponents but not fear them. They will also be assertive on the court not aggressive.  I try to instill in my players, “walk and talk like champions, both on and off the court.”