“Kids these days…”

Shared by Breanne Smedley

As a coach, it’s interesting to see and compare the way things were when I was a player, to how players are now.

It seems I’m not the only one who tends to do this.

I was at a volleyball conference last year with hundreds of other coaches.

It was a Q&A session when a coach raised his hand and asked a question along the lines of, “How do you motivate players to play?” Then, the famous words..

“Kids these days are impossible to motivate.”

I’ve heard it many times.

Kids these days…

…are so much more entitled.
…don’t respect authority.
…have a short attention span.
…are babied by their parents.
…don’t want to be held accountable.
…aren’t mentally tough.

There seems to be a popular thought circulating around coaches and teachers of youth that kids are so much different than they were 10, 20, 30, 40 years ago.

This is undoubtedly true.

Obviously, kids are different. It’s 2020, why would we expect them to be the same as kids from 1990 when everything about our world and their environment has changed?

The key, however, lies in our response.

As Darwin concluded, those who survive “are not the strongest or the most intelligent, but the most adaptable to change.”

In business, companies that don’t change and adapt with the times, eventually, have to close their doors.

In coaching, coaches who continually expect their players to be the image of “who they were as a player,” will continue to be frustrated.

And outcoached by those who do the opposite.

If we know that adaptation is the key to success, then we can choose to adapt.

Rather than waiting to be negatively affected by the changing times.

Entitled kids? Good.
No respect for authority? Good.
Short attention span? Good.
Not mentally tough? Good

How can we adapt our coaching to leverage “kids these days”?

See the opportunity in the fact that they have more access.
Shorter attention spans.
Desire more autonomy.

And structure our practices, training, meetings, and approach around them.

That coach from the conference last year could see the opportunity in all of these things.

Use them to his advantage.

He could.

But he won’t.

He’ll continue to coach, continue to get frustrated, then blame his terrible season on “kids these days.”

Victim vs Opportunist.

We get to choose.

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#MindfullyEvolving

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