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Lance Scranton: Winning starts at home

Lance Scranton/For Craig Press
Lance Scranton
Courtesy photo

Summer is here and high school students are as busy! If you are reading this column and wondering why your high schooler doesn’t have something to do every day; you’ve come to the right place. If your child is of high school age and you are wondering why coaches have so much going on in the summer months, you’ve come to the right place.

The days of just showing up when the season starts and expecting to win have long since passed in the arena of high school competition. If your son or daughter intends on playing sports during the fall, winter, and spring, summer offers a plethora of opportunities to hone the craft, develop success, and practice discipline. Back in the prehistoric 1980s when I was in high school, summer was a time to play some baseball and find a few more ways to get into trouble. I never heard from a coach unless we happened to run into each other as I was wandering the streets or on my way to practice.

But, things have changed. Most high school coaches understand the importance of summer workouts; especially if kids are involved in a fall sport. Getting the jump on training camp is an essential part of program development. If you happen to drive by the high school on a given weekday, you’ll see kids running, lifting weights, shooting hoops, and practicing various skills for a few hours in the morning.



Some parents balk at the over-seriousness of summer workouts and decry the demands that sports have on their children’s summer lives. Some believe that it is more important that their son or daughter find a job and get a break from all the school stuff. But most parents and community members also expect that our sports teams dominate and bring home trophies that indicate our success during the fall, winter, and spring.

Working during the summer months is absolutely a valuable life lesson for young people but so is learning how to organize schedules to meet the expectations that they and parents will have during the sports season.



Almost everyone will say they want to win. What exactly does that mean in terms of commitment and determination?

Is wanting to win a feeling or an attitude? If winning is an attitude that you can carry throughout your life, you will have to make sacrifices to make it happen.

Little known tidbit of knowledge: coaches do not get paid extra in the summer to run workouts for students; we earn a stipend during the actual season that the sport takes place. All the camps, workouts and traveling that takes place in the summer is not paid for by the school. But coaches know from experience that success starts at home and parents play a crucial role in forming the habits of a winner; and making sure that the development of a winning mindset begins by getting to workouts.

Get your high-schooler up, get them moving, and let’s all work together to make winning a commitment so our kids understand what it really means and how it will carry through to their adulthood.

Success in sports begins at home!


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