COMPLETE Understanding

As he shared with our coaching staff in the past, at the beginning of every season, Coach Don Meyer would hand out a slip of paper to each player and staff member. On it, were three simple words - Coach, Player, and Official. Each person in Coach Meyer's program was asked to circle ONE choice on the paper - they could only be either a coach, player, or official. That meant the OTHER two duties had to be left to others. Makes sense. Drives home a very important point to all involved.

However, in order to have a COMPLETE understanding of one's own role, it helps to understand the roles of others - "walk a mile" in their shoes, see the world through their eyes, it will make you better. Know how it feels to BE another person, and then you will have a better idea of how to interact with them.

• Coach - benefit from being a parent or communicating with parents, listen and learn about what issues players face in their lives (school, work, etc.), spend time talking to officials (away from the game) in order to determine what officials are looking for/experience in games (even BE an official - volunteer or otherwise - very humbling)
  
• Player - go to a coaching clinic or read coaching blogs/books/articles in order to understand why coaches approach player development the way they do, communicate with officials (away from games) to better understand how refs view contact plays/footwork faults/player advantages (again, volunteer to be an official for a younger age group), speak to parents so that the player truly grasps the sacrifices that parents make so that kids can participate in sports
• Official - either speak to or be a parent so that they know why parents want the best for their kids (and may be passionate in the stands), talk to players to fully understand what happens on court in games (the speed of the game, the challenges, rules interpretations, inconsistencies, etc), and finally coach at any level to comprehend what is involved with being a leader on the sidelines
• Parent - communicate with coaches in areas of philosophy, skill development, nutrition, fitness, etc. (don't assume that coaches are not approachable, don't judge them) - even better, try being a coach in order to completely understand the joys and pressures of the role - talk to players and learn, as athletes, what challenges they face, and either learn the rules of the sport (in order to best appreciate what is happening on the court), ask for the help of an official, or BE an official