Coaching my children’s soccer, lacrosse and basketball teams provided continuous insight into skills development. Key goals include creating a team environment and managing expectations for the athletes and their parents. As a former athlete, I gained an understanding of the X’s and O’s, the fundamentals of teamwork and strategies such as roles, assignments, and offensive and defensive schemes. In addition to requiring sport-specific certifications and clinics, many of these leagues also required participation in an annual two-day positive coaching program facilitated by the Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA). The processes of learning, adopting and implementing the positive coaching principles increased my ...