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By: Dr. Troy Urdahl, CMAA - St. Anthony Village High School (Minnesota) "Most people miss opportunity because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." I believe the transformative power of high school sports can make the world a better place. This charge, to make the world a better place through school sports, cannot be entered into lightly. To accomplish such a lofty vision requires an ultimate team effort-this work is not something a single person can do alone. It requires a team of individual efforts from every dot and corner of the map. With caring, life-changing mentors, sports can be a conduit to make every community a better place. There are twice as many youth coaches as school teachers in America. Just think, if each day, in ways either large or small, every coach improved the trajectory of just one person, 6.5 million youths would have a brighter day1. Person to person that's how you change the world. If we want positive change, youth and school sports are the perfect place to make a mark. Caring activities administrators and coaches are the ones to do it! Once you realize that your purpose is a gift and you've identified this "why," the real work comes when you put that purpose into action (my purpose is making the world a better place through high school sports). The intersection of purpose and action is what I believe creates mastery. Doing purpose driven work is no picnic, but knowing your why and not doing anything with it is more than a missed opportunity. It's a swing and a miss at living a meaningful life. Purpose without mastery is like gasoline without a spark. Gasoline has the potential to create energy, but it's useless without combustion. One needs more than just a great cause; to achieve success you need a spark to light your gifts and passions. I discovered my spark during a COVID-19 quarantine. It was January 2022, and I got stuck in Mexico with COVID. Until that moment I had never considered writing a book, in large part because I didn't have a story to write. I have a lot of interests, especially history and sports, but none of these passions had ever inspired me to try to write a book. I had been a consumer of others' works and talents for years and it was now time for me to lean-in to my purpose and become a contributor to help those ADs and coaches who believe in the transformative influence of school sports! As a high school athletic director for nearly two decades, I've penned weekly lessons for our school's coaches to use with their athletes. Without being aware of it, I suddenly realized I had been writing a book. These weekly lessons, reframed and woven together, could tell an entertaining and educational story for coaches and leaders to benefit from. The result is the book Chasing Influence: Transformational Coaching to Build Champions for Life. My purpose sprang to life to help others on their own coaching and leadership journeys. To further extend my purpose and make positive change through the power of school sports, each Sunday I share a weekly lesson for any coach/administrator to use with their team(s). Anyone interested in these character driven lessons for life can access the free resources and content at www.chasing-influence.com Athletic administrators are life changers – sharing our stories and teaching and modeling important life skills. Some of the lessons learned through sports are easier to understand in the moment: getting out what you put in, staying motivated, and embracing a never give up attitude. Others may take years to recognize: successfully working with other even difficult personalities, performing under pressure, and embracing a longer view of how to define "success." There is power in conversation and storytelling. A good story bridges our past to future actions. As educational leaders, we share stories about life skills such as hard work, resiliency, commitment, managing failure, accountability, and teamwork. More importantly, lifelong wisdom can spring from living with optimism, gratitude, care, and integrity topics you will find in the shared weekly lessons. Regardless of what brings you to these stories, if they help just one coach or team grow, it will have been a success! Here are some ideas to consider when implementing these lessons within your department. Lessons can be used with coaches, captains, or with your teams.
"Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does." Excerpts of this article come from Dr. Urdahl's recent book: Chasing Influence: Transformational Coaching to Build Champions for Life. Dr. Troy Urdahl, CMAA is the Activities Director and head baseball coach at St. Anthony Village HS (Minn.).Urdahl is also an adjunct professor, an AD partner for the InSideOut Initiative, and has served in numerous coaching and athletic administration organization leadership positions. |
Sharing Your Purpose: Weekly Life Lessons to Build Champions for Life [NIAAA]
