Touchdown to Checkdown

What 128 Athletes Told Me About Motivation (And What It Means for Your Program) I want to talk numbers this week. Not scores, not win-loss records, but the kind of numbers that actually tell you something meaningful about what is happening inside your program. For my graduate research project at the University of Oklahoma, I administered a validated sport psychology survey called the Sport Motivation Scale II to 128 high school athletes at Deer Creek High School. Football players and track and field athletes, freshmen through seniors. The goal was to understand what actually drives them to show up, work hard, and keep coming back. What I found was encouraging. But it also raised some important questions that I think every coach needs to sit with. What Is the Sport Motivation Scale II? The SMS-II is an 18-question survey built around Self-Determination Theory. It asks athletes to respond to one simple prompt: "Why do you practice your sport?" From there, it measures six catego...

Coaches Coaching Coaches, Part 2: The Three Things Every Athlete Needs (And How Coaches Build or Break Them) If you read Part 1, you know that seven out of ten kids drop out of their sport before they even get to high school. And you know that Self-Determination Theory gives us a framework to understand why that happens. But knowing the theory and actually applying it are two very different things. Today let's talk about what autonomy, competence, and relatedness actually look like on the sidelines, in the weight room, and in the locker room. Because all three of these needs show up in your program every single day, whether you are intentional about them or not. Autonomy: Do Your Athletes Feel Like It Is Their Choice? Autonomy is the feeling that what an athlete is doing comes from within them, not from fear, pressure, or obligation. It does not mean they get to do whatever they want. It means they feel like they have ownership over their experience. Think about the difference betw...

Why 70% of Kids Quit Their Sport by Age 13 (And What Coaches Can Do About It)        I've been coaching since I was 19 years old. I've been on the sidelines, in the weight room, in the film room, and in the office having hard conversations with kids and parents. And the one question that has always stuck with me is this: why do so many kids quit? Not just quit a sport. Quit the experience entirely. Research shows that 70% of youth athletes drop out of their sport by age 13. Let that sink in. Seven out of ten kids who start playing a sport will be done before they even get to high school. That number doesn't happen by accident. There's a reason, and I think a lot of it starts with us, the coaches. It Comes Down to Motivation I recently completed a graduate research project at the University of Oklahoma where I administered a validated sport psychology survey, the Sport Motivation Scale II, to 128 high school athletes in the Deer Creek School District. Football play...