CHS Athletics announces partnership with PCA

As part of a targeted effort to provide the most positive experience for its athletes, Canton High School has established a partnership with Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA).

PCA, a Stanford University-based nonprofit organization, works with coaches, organizational leaders, and parents to more effectively teach young athletes not only how to win, but also how to learn about teamwork, discipline, respect, and goal-setting through their sports experience.

The partnership is sponsored by the CHS Athletic Booster Club, which supports the Athletic Department in its goal of continuing to improve the student-athlete experience at CHS.

“Many people think that misbehavior in youth sports is like the weather,” said Jim Thompson, PCA’s founder and director. “You can complain about it, but you can’t do anything about it. Working with hundreds of youth sports organizations and schools around the United States, we know you can change youth sports, and we’ve developed many practical tools and guidelines to do just that. We’re excited that Canton High School recognizes the tremendous potential sports participation offers for today’s youth and is stepping up to realize that potential through their athletic programs.”

Coach, parent, and player misbehavior in youth sports has become national news. Canton High School sees its partnership with PCA as a key step in preventing such incidents; developing clear, positive expectations for its players, fans and coaches; and thus helping promote the school’s core values and behaviors.

According to CHS Athletic Director Danny Erickson, “The CHS Athletic Department is guided by our school’s core values of continuous improvement, academic excellence and rigor, respectful and responsible relationships, and inclusive community.”

“Our new relationship with PCA will help us all navigate the complex situations encountered during the high school athletic journey,” continued Erickson. “This relationship will help us continue to strengthen the correlation between our practice and our core values.”

The partnership includes three annual workshops. The first two workshops were held this fall at CHS — one for captains and one for coaches. The third workshop — a mandatory session for all freshmen athletes — will be held on Monday, January 12, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the CHS auditorium.

Founded as a nonprofit within the Stanford University Athletic Department in 1998, PCA is committed to providing all youth and high school athletes a positive, character-building youth sports experience. To that end, PCA has conducted more than 10,000 live group workshops nationwide for more than 675,000 youth and high school sports coaches, parents, student-athletes, and school/organizational leaders. Through workshops and companion online courses, PCA has impacted more than 4.5 million youth.

PCA’s partnership network includes more than 1,700 youth sports organizations, cities and schools. In 2012, PCA will conduct roughly 1,200 live group workshops across the U.S., while assisting tens of thousands of other individuals via online courses at www.positivecoach.org.

PCA workshops and courses strive to establish these prevailing models in youth and high school sports:

* The Double-Goal Coach, whose first goal is winning and whose second, more-important goal is teaching life lessons through sports.

* The Second-Goal Parent, who concentrates on life lessons while letting coaches and athletes focus on competing.

* The Triple-Impact Competitor, who strives to impact sport on three levels by improving oneself, teammates, and the game as a whole.

PCA has the support of elite coaches and athletes on a National Advisory Board, including national spokesperson and 11-time NBA champion coach Phil Jackson.

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Posted by Canton Citizen on Dec 18 2014. Filed under High School, Sports. Both comments and pings are currently closed.