Mike Brey: Coach of the Year!

In 2000, the Notre Dame Men’s Basketball was in a lack-luster state. Following the departure of legendary coach Digger Phelps in 1991, the Fighting Irish floundered in mediocrity for the bulk of the 1990s, posting a record of 128-139 over nine years. This was followed by an abrupt exit of 1-year coach Matt Doherty at the end of the 1999-2000 season.

Athletic Director Kevin White took a chance on hiring the little known head coach of the Delaware Blue Hens, Mike Brey. The list of accolades that have accumulated since then are practically innumerable, including several post-season appearances, three Big East Coach of the Year selections, one of the highest graduation rates in the country, and culminating in his most recent honor as the recipient of the Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year award.

Play Like a Champion Today® couldn’t be prouder to have a close relationship with such a great role model and coach. He epitomizes what it means to be a good coach, both in his ability to develop fundamental basketball ability in his players, and to make his players get the most out of basketball as they can. In a sport where only 1% of Division I athletes end up going to the pros, the goal of collegiate basketball has to be about more than just the number of wins your team strives for. Wins should be strived for, (and Brey’s 259 wins show that he accomplishes that goal regularly) but Coach Brey realizes that he is coaching people, not just athletes. He develops players to handle a full court press, and to handle challenges in their personal lives. He trains men to prepare for a zone defense and to prepare for their first job interview. If you watch him on the sideline, he stays positive, and uses encouragement to motivate. Brey knows the value of relationships in producing winning teams. 

Coach Brey’s teams have a way of quietly surprising viewers with little-known recruits. His teams have a patient style of play, and win games usually without a superstar. This past season was called by many a surprise. But next year, the Irish won’t be surprising anyone: everyone is seeing that Coach Brey’s ways are a recipe for success.

Leaving as Champions



Anyone who has watched a Notre Dame Women’s basketball game in the last 25 years will recall the well dressed, stoic personality that has guided the Irish bench. Little emotion, in victory or defeat has been seen from the legendary Hall of Fame coach, Muffet McGraw, but last night, a different side of the coach was revealed. Following Notre Dame’s 80-61 loss in the National Championship, Muffet couldn’t find the words to describe how meaningful this senior class has been to her, and the usually glamorous coach was brought to tearful speechlessness.

This year’s senior class is certainly one worth getting emotional over. In all phases of the program, the women who leave the Irish team this year have left a mark on the program’s growing legacy. It was only 30 years ago that the NCAA even began to sponsor a championship for women’s basketball, and since then, success in the sport has been associated almost exclusively with the University of Connecticut and the University of Tennessee. This year’s senior class, led by Coach McGraw, has changed the landscape of the sport, showcasing their skills on the court and in the classroom. Not only was Notre Dame the first school in over 20 years, besides UConn or UT, to make back-to-back trips to the National Championship game, but they accomplished the feat within a program that leads the nation in graduating its athletes.

The Irish fought hard last night, but in the end, the Baylor squad proved to be too much for the Irish to handle. Credit goes to the hard work that the women from Waco, TX have put in over the years developing an excellent team and program. Our hats go off to them, and kudos goes to them for their work in developing the sport.

Thanks to McGraw & Co, women’s basketball is on the rise. More people are watching women’s basketball because of its tremendous showcase of fundamentals and its extremely team-oriented style of play. Fans are getting access to more women’s games in the media, and girls around the country are getting to see role models in a sport that, throughout its history, has been mostly dominated by men.

Most importantly, the entire Notre Dame Women’s basketball team embodies everything that Play Like a Champion Today® stands for. They are tenacious in the way their pursuit of goals that they set. They care for each other like each teammate was a member of her own family. They pursue their work with full hearts, and unwavering integrity. And they handle victory and defeat with equal grace.

For the Irish faithful, it is a sad day. There is no doubt that a championship trophy would have been a welcome addition to Notre Dame’s collection, but we can be proud of what our women accomplished in another great season. The Baylor Bears played extremely well, and walked out as winners, but the Fighting Irish left as they always leave—as champions.

                                                                                       

GROWing Against Bullying



Bullying is a major concern today. Everyone reads about it, and everyone is concerned. How do a lot of schools, leagues, and programs deal with it? They bring in a speaker, they hold meeting or two, they punish perpetrators, and they pray for the best. This a good top-down start, but bullying is a complex problem, and it requires a committed, grassroots solution.

This weekend, the documentary Bully was released, and is a powerful tool in the campaign against bullying. It lights a fire in viewers, but on top of the awareness that the film creates, a coordinated, effective framework is needed for communities to use to combat this societal ill. Play Like a Champion Today™ offers that framework. We use, just as we do on the playing field, our GROW approach:

Goals-Stop bullying, and create healthy, fun environment for all children.

+          Relationships-So often in bullying, we think about the bully and the victim, but there is a key player in the approach to stop bullying: the bystander. We need to create spaces for open discussions among our children, so that bullies aren’t the top-dog on the playground, and victims do not feel alone. As adults, let us engage all children to talk about their experiences with bullying, and encourage them to let their feelings be heard.

+          Ownership-This is a problem happening in OUR communities. WE are responsible for it. And our children are responsible for it, too. We need to get the kids involved. Get them talking to us, but more importantly each other, about their thoughts on bullying. Bullying will stop if our children can create an environment in which they realize the importance of inclusion, and when they hold each other accountable for their actions. This cannot be a one-time discussion, and shouldn’t wait to come as a reaction to a tragedy. It should be a proactive, ongoing atmosphere that is encouraged by adults, but owned by children.

=          Winning-In this case, being a winner means that we have playgrounds, sports leagues, and school hallways that are safe and fun. Winning is seeing the yellow school bus as a sign of hope for a new day, and not a portal to a dark place. Winning is a day when phone calls from school are about good performance, and not another fight.

We are on the frontlines of a new battle with a familiar foe. We have long known what we are up against, and Play Like a Champion Today™ now empowers our communities with the best tools. Let us use these tools to make our world better for our children.

Bullying is not solved with ‘one and done’ approach

       

            The film Bully, opening in theaters today, addresses an issue that is verging on an epidemic with more than 18 million young people reportedly being bullied in the United States this year alone.

Before the motion picture has even hit the big screen, it already is inspiring a wide array of opinions ranging from educators to Lady Gaga. And all too often the suggested solution to bullying will be a “one and done” event, an ineffective approach, according to a University of Notre Dame psychologist.

“Bringing in a one-time motivational speaker to raise awareness will not resolve this issue and is a waste of money,” says F. Clark Power, a professor of liberal studies and psychology who specializes in moral education and development. “Even worse, this approach will salve the conscience without solving the problem.”

Power believes the only real solution involves commitment and consistency to change the culture over time. That is why Dr. Power has a history of commitment to the bullying issue, showcasing his approach to the issue in the research that developed the Play Like a Champion Today™ program he founded several years ago. Through his research he has concluded the only real solution is to focus on changing the culture; not the bully’s behavior or the victim’s responses exclusively.

“The key to change is to focus on the bystanders and get them to own the bullying issue themselves by becoming involved. Often fear of being bullied themselves is the barrier to becoming involved. And the only way to create involvement is to create understanding that the bully is not the problem of just the victim alone, but the problem of all.”

Over the years, research first focused on the victim – producing no significant solution. Next the pathology of the bully was studied – again with no measurable change resulting. Research has shown that real change only occurs when you work with the kids themselves in a group to change that group’s culture. For example, working with kids in a safe group environment with hypothetical dilemmas allows each member to feel what it is like to be both the victim and the bystander. Once kids are comfortable in this environment, we can move them to solve bullying issues in their “real life” through development of shared group norms.

Power has worked in the area of moral development and culture for the majority of his academic career. Approximately 10 years ago he formed the Play Like A Champion Educational Series for youth and high school sports. This program is a forum for coaches, athletic administrators and parents to address issues such as bullying and character development within a team.

“In many ways schools can learn from good sports and coaches practical and sustained methods to solve the bullying issue. Coaches working with their teams to look out for each other rarely have sustained bullying issues because the team will rally around a victim and shut the bullying down.”

Power and his team are currently concluding a research project within the South Bend Community School Corporation on moral development, with early findings validating the team culture approach to bullying as being sustainable both in the arena and in life.  

Muffet Teaches Athletes to GROW

Notre Dame Social Foundations of Coaching student, Kelsey Taylor blogs...

Coaching is a much more complex task than many perceive it to be.  Particularly when it comes to coaching a high caliber team at the collegiate level.  Muffet McGraw however, has seemed to find her niche as one of the most successful and renowned college women’s basketball coaches in history.  As McGraw enters the NCAA tournament this week as a number one seed, one should take note of how well she demonstrates the aspects that Play Like a Champion coaching guide preaches.

Muffet not only boasts of having an overall winning percentage of .733 in her 25 years coaching at Notre Dame, but she additionally has been nominated for the Naismith Coach of the Year award among many others, and has prepared all of her current and prior players to not only be athletically talented but excel in the real world as well.  She is also well known for her extraordinarily high basketball IQ, and her demeanor in which she presents herself on and off the court.

This is why when analyzing the GROW standards that were discussed in the Play Like a Champion coaching handbook, I immediately envisioned Muffet McGraw.  It is clear that she has clear goals for herself, the team as a whole, and her individual players.  More importantly, she also possesses the mastery of basketball to achieve them with the talent she is able to recruit.  As far as relationships go, McGraw is known as one of the most personable coaches, and prides herself in finding the perfect pieces to fit into her puzzle of a team.  She treats them as her very own family and requires that they do the same.  McGraw clearly nurtures ownership through the opportunities she presents her players on and off the court.  This demonstrates that McGraw fully understands the impact that ownership can have on a team once each individual buys into their role.  Finally, it is evident that in addition to the prior three qualities Muffet places a high value on winning, yet promotes it in the right manner. 

With her noteworthy career winning percentage, and the quality of the players she has produced in tandem with her impeccable reputation, it is clear that Muffet McGraw is an idealistic coach and overall person.  Her assistant coach Jonathan Tsipis supports this by claiming "Coach McGraw has continually been challenging the players and understanding what buttons to push and when to push forward and when to step back a little bit ... it's just been an amazing job."  It would be quite difficult to argue for a more qualified coach who strongly embodies all of the GROW model criteria to achieve such a high level of success.  

PLC's Work in Uganda

In May of this year, 12 Notre Dame students, accompanied by Notre Dame Athletics and Play Like a Champion Today™ staff will be going to Uganda for a trip geared at promoting youth sports in the country. To learn more about the trip read here.

Uganda has been in the news a lot these days. The Kony 2012 video, showing the horrors of the life of children in Northern Uganda recently went viral. Earlier this week, a story came out about a mystifying “nodding disease” in the same region that crippling thousands of children with epileptic-like symptoms (read here).

In light of these news stories, a trip to promote youth sports might be seen as a little strange. The safety of the American students and the worthiness of the trip might be called into question. However, this trip is a worthy endeavor for a number of reasons, and here’s just a few:

1.      There is a clear link between human development and sports. Sports provide physical benefits to those who participate, increasing their mental health as well as their cardio-vascular well-being. Although AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis often dominate the health challenges in developing countries, heart disease is still the number one cause of health problems and death in the developing world. Sports also promote a good quality of life, by creating a shared space for people to flourish together without stigma that might be caused by gender, religion, ethnicity, or medical issues. This is all in addition to a host of social, economic, and educational benefits gained by incorporating sports into human development that you can read about here.

2.      The University of Notre Dame is complementing work that is already in progress in Uganda. Having worked in Uganda for a year and a half, I learned that nothing can be done by well-intentioned outsiders without support and ownership from domestic stakeholders in Uganda. PLC’s trip is meant to assist in the development of the Physical education curriculum in the country, and to support research being done by professors at Ugandan Martyrs University about physical education’s role on the development of children.

3.      The Notre Dame students will never be the same. The word “Africa” can stir up a number of images in our heads. Wildlife on the savannah, tribal warriors in traditional dress, war, and injustice are some of the images of the continent that end up in the US. But even a short visit such as this one will show our students that there is so much more to Uganda than what we read and see. It is a safe place of incredible joy and astounding beauty. It is a troubled place where most people are very poor and unstable. It is a country that is working hard to combat those problems in the realms of education, economics, and human rights. And Uganda is home to some of the kindest, friendliest people on the planet, eager to welcome visitors into their culture. The trip will challenge our students to examine their own values, possessions, and lifestyles. It will open their eyes to the positive role that youth sports and the Play Like a Champion Today™ model can play in promoting good child development both down the street and across the globe. 

We are very much looking forward to this endeavor, and partnering with Ugandans in villages, in higher education, and in government departments. We have seen the good work that the Play Like a Champion Today™ model can do in our country, and we are looking forward to using its core values of integrity, inclusion, and character development to touch people’s lives around the world!

Coach Dad

Social  Foundations of Coaching student, Joe Sorice blogs....

As the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament unfolds, we are always intrigued by the storylines as much as the match-ups.  This year, we have two coaches whose teams were marred by an ugly fight (Xavier and Cincinnati) but ultimately overcame the difficulties to rebuild the teams into tournament contenders.  We also have Shaka Smart, the VCU coach who wants to remain at the mid-major school and forge upsets against the larger counterparts as opposed to joining their ranks (for the time being…).  And even more interesting, we had a father coaching his son to a victory in the tournament.  Creighton’s coach Greg McDermott and star forward Doug McDermott won their first round game together over Alabama.  There are many other storylines and tales of overcoming adversity in the tournament that we can relate to, and I hope they can match the experiences from my days with the round ball and beyond. 

            No, I did not even come close to qualifying for the tournament, or play organizational basketball beyond my sophomore year of high school.  Instead I’m looking back at the time when my father coached my grade school team in basketball from second through eighth grade.  We were a misfit team to say the least, as we were designated the “B-Team” from fourth grade onward.  The other team in the school had the two best players, who would go on to be the only players from either team to play varsity for the high school team.  My dad, instead of throwing up his hands at this, rallied the team around “the little things leading to big things.”  He insisted that our fundamentals would be necessary for us to win, and only as a team working as a finely tuned machine would that happen.  Our plays were organized chaos – all five players on the court should be expected to shoot and score at anytime on the court.  Our point guard could run the same play and we could execute it with a completely new angle of attack or cut to keep the defense at bay.  This type of autonomy allowed us as players to become creative within our roles and take pride in our set plays that involved everyone moving with and without the ball.  We trusted each other to be where they needed to be, and my dad rarely called plays from the bench during the game.  Our team had faith in ourselves. 

            We never lost a holiday tournament to the “A-Team,” albeit one year came down to our center sinking a half-court heave to win the game.  Other contests against our A-Team were decidedly in our favor.  They insisted on detailed set plays that seemed more mechanical than fluid, whereas we took joy in cutting to an open spot or setting a pick for our teammate.  Out of that rag-tag group, two players have since started coaching football at the freshmen level, no doubt making practices fun like my dad did.  The autonomy he afforded us allowed us to take ownership of our actions and our team, and it developed into leaders and coaches.  For that, I can’t thank him enough.

            In full circle, my dad and I attended the NCAA play-in tournament game last year between VCU and Southern Cal.  We watched a scrappy, undersized squad led by an energetic coach who looked like he and his team were drinking in every moment.  My dad turned to me and before he said a word, I beat him to it.  “Looks familiar, doesn’t it?  I wouldn’t bet against VCU.”  My dad replied and still boasts to this day, “Yeah, I think they could beat Georgetown after seeing them in person.”  One Final Four later, my dad had the understatement of the year.  Here’s to hoping that players who have been blessed by excellent coaching will carry on the torch of ministry through coaching, with that light that crosses generations and brings us closer.

The importance of a Coach

Social Foundations of Coach Student, Maria Skorcz writes...

Many of the coaching principles we have studied this past semester are aimed at youth sports, but they can also be applied at higher levels to keep the athletes focused and continually improving on and off the field.  Good coaching is especially important during March Madness, as the media is constantly making judgments and assumptions about teams.  A team needs good leadership to help the athletes stay focused on the team goals as rumors swirl around the team.  It is very easy to get wrapped up in the hype of the team rankings, game match ups, and potential championships, but it can be disheartening when a good, deserving team is left out or projected to lose in the first round.  If a coach has spent the season preparing his team to face whatever challenges come their way, the team will be prepared to either accept a loss or an underdog position.  The best way for a coach to do this is by helping his players adopt individual and team goals throughout the season and celebrate achieving them.  The team should be taught to measure success by its own goals and standards, rather than falling back on media critiques and criticisms. 

How Sweet it is!

Last night, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish advanced to the Sweet 16 of the Women’s NCAA Championship Tournament with a victory over the University of California by a score of 73-62. Congratulations Irish! Keep up the great work!

March is a wonderful time for college basketball, and players and fans alike get to enjoy the pageantry and madness of the championships. It is a time to celebrate the hard work of all 64 teams who earn a spot in the tournament. Their consistent high level of play, performed with grace and integrity, has landed them on one of sport’s grandest stages, and as spectators, we enjoy watching athletes who excel on the court and in the classroom. Although only one can emerge from the month of mayhem on top, Play Like a Champion Today ™ salutes the efforts of all the teams who have made it this far. We wish the best to all those teams who have already been eliminated, and thank them for playing with determination, passion, and class.

Thank you all you athletes and coaches for being good role models for our children, and good luck in the coming weeks! GO IRISH!

Novosel Knows What it Takes

(c) University of Notre Dame

The Notre Dame Women's Basketball Team Defeated the Lady Flames of Liberty yesterday 74-43 in opening round action in the NCAA Championship. The Irish success should come as no surprise, knowning they are led by star senior guard, Natalie Novosel. She comments on Playing Like a Champion...

A popular saying that circulates through the sporting community is that ‘sports build character’; but a more appropriate saying is that ‘sports reveals character’. A champion has three very important qualities innate to their character that enables them to ‘Play like a Champion’. First, they put the team’s success before their own individual successes. For example, if a player in basketball is not having a very good shooting night, instead of sulking and getting frustrated, they can find other ways to contribute and help their team such as rebounding and defending. This requires an athlete to be self-less.

Another important quality of a champion is that they are leaders both on and off the playing field. If a champion is not a very good leader by example off the court, how are they going to be a leader for their team on the court? Leadership begins in the classroom and being responsible in their daily lives because they are representing a team and their program. Once champions are leaders off the court, it carries over into their leadership on the court, and teammates will be compelled to follow them.

One last quality of many that champions exemplify is that they are approachable and able to relate to their own teammates in order to build their trust in them as a leader and the team as a whole. It is very important for a championship team to trust in each other. The way to best build trust is for everyone to get to know their teammates better so that they can begin to understand where each person comes from. Once an understanding is met, people begin to let their guard down and are willing to let people in and a sense of trust and chemistry is built on the team. This will in turn help the overall success of the team and help all of them to become champions individually and collectively.