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NICA Coach and Student-Athlete Development� Working with the NICA Student-Athlete ��

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Presentation Agenda:

NICA Core Values and Mission
Safety First, Enjoyable Experiences
Why kids need sports
Long Term Athlete Development Model

Dangers of Early Specialization

Coaching NICA Student-Athletes

Building Trust and Teaching Grit
Coaching for Process
Practical Tools

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Inclusivity

Equality

Strong Minds

Strong Bodies

Strong Character

Core Values and Vision

Vision: NICA sees a future where every American youth has the opportunity to build strong body, mind and character through interscholastic cycling.

Thank you for being a NorCal coach.

#morekidsonbikes

As a coach, you will be spending hundreds of hours in direct contact with your student athletes. No one will have as much influence as you in the daily lives of your riders. You have an opportunity to build character in young adults.

Why do you coach? What is important to you? What is important to your athletes? What do you value? What kind of team culture do you want to create? What kind of leader do you want to be?

MISSION

We build strong bodies, minds, character and community through cycling

VISION

Every youth is empowered to be part of a thriving and engaged cycling community

CORE VALUES

Fun Inclusivity Equity Respect Community

Core values create foundation for your coaching practice.

FUN friendship, joy and adventure. #1 reason kids participate in sports is because fun. Kids define fun differently; learning, mastery, positive coaching and being with their friends.

INCLUSIVITY everyone welcomed, respected and supported. Welcome no matter ability, gender, background or socioeconomic status. No cuts, everyone rides. Encourages participation for all. S-A’s are not required to race to be on a team

EQUITY giving everyone the tools they need to have an equal opportunity to succeed. Meet the student athletes where they are at. Some may need additional support, encouragement or access to equipment to want to join a NorCal team, to progress their skills, or take on new challenges. NorCal is committed to fair treatment, equal access, opportunity, advancement and elimination of barriers to encourage participation for all.

RESPECT NICA coaching philosophy and code of conduct requires everyone to use a riding style of respect for oneself, others, and the environment. We respect others’ thoughts and feelings. As a coach, you set the tone, example and culture of respect in how you lead and model behavior to your S-As.

COMMUNITY NorCal unites diverse people, family and communities through cycling by creating fun and welcoming experiences. As a NorCal coach, you will impart foundational life lessons, self-awareness and cameraderie to those you coach, and to the broader community.

We ask you use our mission as foundation to your coaching.

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Keep student-athletes, your team, the League, and the community SAFE!

Provide an enjoyable experience riding bikes

NICA Coach Priority: Safety and Fun

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Enjoyment of the Experience

Athlete-appropriate before sport-specific.

The needs of the student-athlete always matter more than the demands of the race, practice or ride.

What does this mean? In the simplest terms, you are coaching an athlete, not a sport. As a coach, always check your personal agenda or practice plan against this idea. Check your personal coaching biases as well.

If you take the stick and slant it so that one end is lower than the other, children who want to run and jump and feel successful can do so at their own pace. When the players feel comfortable they will seek new challenges. Players can participate at their own level. They can attain the aforementioned state of “flow”—the balance between challenge and accomplishment that brings total focus and satisfaction.

The world is filled with late bloomers. They succeed because they have parents, coaches, and teachers who give them perspective and help them realize that their perceived failures are due to factors beyond their control. All they need to do is keep working hard and stay in the game.

We’ll talk more about this later in Long-Term Athlete Development

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First Responsibility: Do No Harm

Risk management and performance improvement go hand in hand

Focus on risk management and performance will improve

Progression is everything. Be conservative

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Why Kids Need Sports?

1. To have fun

2. To improve my skills

3. To stay in shape

4. To do something I am good at

5. The excitement of the competition

6. To get exercise

7. To play as part of a team

8. The challenge of the competition

9. To learn new skills

10. To win

“Why do you participate in sports?”

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Why Kids Leave Sports?

The top ten reasons kids quit organized youth sports:

1. They lost interest

2. They were not having fun

3. It required too much time

4. The coach played favorites

5. The coach was a poor teacher

6. They got tired of playing

7. Too much emphasis on winning

8. They wanted to participate in other non-sport activities

9. They needed more time to study

10. There was too much pressure

Survey data by The Youth Sports Institute at Michigan State from 10,000 kids nation-wide

FUN friendship, joy and adventure. #1 reason kids participate in sports is because fun. Kids define fun differently; learning, mastery, positive coaching and being with their friends.

INCLUSIVITY everyone welcomed, respected and supported. Welcome no matter ability, gender, background or socioeconomic status. No cuts, everyone rides. Encourages participation for all. S-A’s are not required to race to be on a team

EQUITY giving everyone the tools they need to have an equal opportunity to succeed. Meet the student athletes where they are at. Some may need additional support, encouragement or access to equipment to want to join a NorCal team, to progress their skills, or take on new challenges. NorCal is committed to fair treatment, equal access, opportunity, advancement and elimination of barriers to encourage participation for all.

RESPECT NICA coaching philosophy and code of conduct requires everyone to use a riding style of respect for oneself, others, and the environment. We respect others’ thoughts and feelings. As a coach, you set the tone, example and culture of respect in how you lead and model behavior to your S-As.

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What Do Kids Want From Coaches?

Consider the top five things young athletes say they want most from their coaches:

Respect and encouragement
Positive role model
Clear, consistent communication
Someone who listens
Knowledge of sport

Kids want a coach that cares

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Long Term Athlete Development Model (LTAD)

The Long–Term Athlete Development Model is a training, competition and recovery pathway based on developmental age–the maturational level of an individual – rather than chronological age.

LTAD follows systematic, structured principles to optimize the development of athletes at all ages and stages of their development.

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Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD)

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What does the NICA coach need to understand about the Long Term Athlete Development Model?

LTAD is based on science, psychology and development best practices
Student athletes develop at different rates, based on biological, psychological, and social determinants
Serves kids’ needs for a lifetime. Reduces injuries and burnout and increases enjoyment and motivation
Produces better athletes and life long cyclists
Multiple sport participation and less structured play

The basic premise of the LTAD as a NICA coach: your central goal is to help your student-athletes become a life-long cyclist.

LTAD is based on concepts of age-appropriate athlete development, and on the premise that participants will not only be more successful in sport but healthier throughout life if they develop “physical literacy” at a young age – a wide range of skills that include movement, balance, throwing, catching, hitting, etc. The development of sound physical literacy skills, followed by ongoing learning and training introduced during optimal “windows of trainability” keyed to developmental ages and stages, is necessary for any athlete to reach his or her full potential. Missing a step, or introducing the “5 S’s” (stamina, strength, speed, skill and suppleness) too early or late, restricts the athlete’s potential and makes reaching the highest levels of performance more difficult.

The following is option info for the presenter to help with LTAD understanding and explanation

Prior to age 12: 80% of time should be spent in deliberate play and in sports OTHER THAN the chosen sport!
Age 13-15: 50/50 split between a chosen sport and other athletic pursuits
Age 16+: Even when specialization becomes very important, 20% of training time should still be in the non-specialized sport and deliberate play.

Learning to Train

When the athlete is ready to begin training according to more formalized methods, but the emphasis is still on general sports skills suitable to a number of activities. While it is often tempting to over-develop "talent" through excessive single sport training and competition (as well as early positioning in team sports), this can be very detrimental to later stages of development if the athlete is playing a late specialization sport: it promotes one-sided physical, technical, and tactical development and increases the likelihood of injury and burnout.

Training to Train

At this stage, athletes are ready to consolidate their basic sport-specific skills and tactics. They may play to win and do their best, but they still need to focus more time on skill training and physical development over competition. This approach is critical to the development of top performers and maintaining activity in the long-term, so parents or athletes should check with their national organization to ensure their program has the correct training-to-competition ratio.

Training to Compete

This is where things get "serious." Athletes can either choose to specialize in one sport and pursue a competitive stream, or they can continue participating at a recreational level and thereby enter the Active for Life stage (see below). In the competitive stream, high volume and high intensity training begins to occur year-round.

Active for Life

Young athletes can enter this stage at essentially any age. According to LTAD, if children have been correctly introduced to activity and sport through Active Start, FUNdamentals and Learning to Train programs, they will have the necessary motor skills and confidence (physical literacy) to remain Active for Life in virtually any sport they like. They may decide to continue playing their sport at the recreational level, or they may become involved in the sport as a game official or coach. They might also try new sports and activities: examples could be a hockey player taking up golf or a tennis player starting to cycle

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Dangers of Early Specialization

Increased risk of injuries

Increased risk of burnout

Kids need diversity to develop physical literacy

Early athletic success has little to no correlation

to future athletic success

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How do you identify student-athletes’ mountain biking goals?

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Ask! Challenge by Choice

Answer: Ask!!

As a coach, you must figure out what each student-athlete’s makeup and mountain biking preferences are….do they want to compete, ride for fun, somewhere in the middle?

Determine their goals

Then, use your coaching skills to develop a partnership with your riders to help them reach their goals

Student Athlete Makeup

Discover Your Athlete’s Goals - Use NICA provided Goal Setting handout or True Sport http://teach.truesport.org/goal-setting/#takeaways

Characteristics and Background

Learning Style and Preference

Motivations, Understandings, and Desires

Emotional State

Coach Behavior

Use your Skills to:

Introduce and Develop Trust

Assess Athletes and Their Movements

Help Determine Goals and Plan Experiences

Development of Partnership

Create a Culture That:

Is Creative, Individualized, and Student Athlete- Centered

Is Interactive, Experiential, SAFE and FUN!

Contributes to the Student Athlete’s Success

Introduce the concept of “Challenge by Choice” NICA provides opportunities for student-athletes to participate through fundamental, adventure, or performance development, both on and off the bike

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NICA Student-Athlete Development Model

“No one cares how much you know

until they know how much you care”

Teddy Roosevelt

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What to Cultivate: Grit

GRIT: Perseverance and passion for long-term goals

A top predictor of athletic success
Athletes can refine skills through perseverance and consistency
Top athletes can have increased feelings of anxiety/pressure = decreased grit. Less talented athletes often show increased grit
Growth mindset vs. fixed mindset
Focus on positive solutions to adversity
Teach mental flexibility not just toughness

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You Do You

Focus on process, not outcome

Focus on finish line feelings, not results

Focus on skills, fitness will follow

Deal with, don’t deny, athlete anxiety/feelings.

Validate feelings.

Nerves = You care

Stress is a reaction to an event. It’s controllable

How do you coach for Grit?

Coach for Process, Not Outcomes

Teach your athletes to focus on their own performance, progression and improvement: You Do You

Focus on how you practice, train and improve. Preach consistency in process. Try not to let athletes just focus on the outcome (a result or a podium placing.) Tie process to a good outcome.

Teach your athletes to connect feelings - how do they want to feel at the end? Exhausted, like they rode fast, well, aggressive, consistently, pushed all the hills, etc?

With young athletes, focusing on skills will lead to better long term outcomes. They are generally still too young to handle lots of intervals and volume. Instead, focus on good handling skills so as fitness develops their skills can support their increased aerobic capacity

Help athletes assess what is making them anxious or nervous and give them tools to handle those feelings.

Nerves aren’t bad - greet them in a positive way.

Teach athletes to focus on what they can control

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Meditation and visualization. Mental training for preparation

and pre-race routines

Discuss control - what you can, what you can’t
Mental energy is like a bank account
Ask questions!
Empathize
Teach/model resiliency
Do a positive. Don’t prove a negative