?
Does your child want to play middle school or high school sports? ?If the answer is yes or maybe then you should ask yourself these questions to see how many steps your child needs to take in oder to be ready to compete for a spot on the team. ?I usually ask the following questions:
?
Dr. Mark Robinson is a personal development expert who helps highly competitive individuals excel in a highly competitive environment.
?
One of the unfortunate parts about coaching middle school basketball for me are the days during tryouts. ?The disappointing news I have to give a player and parent on their non selection.? Each year parents and kids attend basketball tryouts hoping to be selected to play for the team.? I have experienced two different types of parents of youth athletes.? You’re either a parent who is investing money and time into your child’s athletic skill development or a parent who is not.? Youth sports is a billion dollar business.??The parents who have not embraced the billion dollar business are usually the parents upset when their child is not selected for the team. ?
?
Dr. Mark Robinson is a personal development expert who helps highly competitive individuals excel in a highly competitive environment.
Since 2013 we have delivered news, articles, and videos regarding the personal development of athletes. In 2019 what has changed? The desire to produce more blogs, fewer articles and less interviews. As a result, we have revamped the look and feel of PPD MAG. We provide content convenient and a quicker. More importantly we had to analize athletes and non athletes personal development issues and challenges meeting the common denomnator.
In response to the request, more blog and opinion content on current events regarding the personal development of the athlete. As well as content on other highly competitive individuals from highly competitive environments. Money, power, and status are the common denominators for the athlete and an individual seeking to excel in a competitive corporate environment. Moving forward understanding the personal development of these individuals is part of the personal player development agenda.
A review of our visitor’s analytics pushed the 2019 revamp. Who’s reading our content and why? How long the average visitor actually spent on our site? Interest in PPD MAG original viewership is deep-rooted in the topics we cover. As a result the addition of a serious blog element on the personal development of highly competitive individuals. In-lines us with global players from all professions competing to be the best in a competitive environment.
Dr. Mark Robinson is a personal development expert who helps highly competitive individuals excel in a highly competitive environment.
?
Middle school is an important time for youth athletes.? It’s when the foundation and development of skills and understanding begin to take shape.? It is also at this time that key questions and decisions should be made. ?Is your child playing sport as a recreational activity? ?Is you child playing sport to inprove to make the high school team? Does your child want to play in college? ?Is your child playing sport because of mom and dad?
If a child wants to play sport in college. ?Parents should examine the High Schools in the local district. ?Do your homework on the program and coach. This means, find out how many players from the school have moved on to play college sports.? How many of those players played for the current coach?? Does the coach have connections or a network on the college level? ??Does the school have a quality strength and conditioning program?? What does the summer development program consist of? ?Attend a game or practice if necessary. ?All of the above activities will allow you to get a feel for what type of program and coach a child will become a part of.?
School districts have a policy in place regarding boundaries in a school district (if public) area.? You should familiarize yourself with these policies. Understand the reason certain districts allow kids from other boundaries to attend schools in that district.? Most school boundaries are in place for equal enrollment purposes, not athletic purposes. ?
Speak to some of the counselors and find out if they have experience with the NCAA academic requirements and understand what classes athletes should be taking.? Also, find out if they understand the difference between NCAA divisions 1,2 and 3.
If a player is good enough to compete on varsity as a freshman parents should understand that player will be around older kids every day and this could expose a player to the ills of playing sports.? A freshman hanging around a senior is not always a bad thing but from a social standpoint, attending parties and being exposed to alcohol and drugs could be.
Sometimes as parents we want our child to be so successful that we forget it’s not about us it’s about the child.? If your child doesn?t want to play high school sports leave it and find another activity for them to enjoy.? Pushing your child to play sport will only damage your relationship.
Playing a sport on the collegiate level is difficult, and not many have the opportunity. Many parents leave the investigative legwork to others.? While some parents are not educated on the things that will provide their child with the necessary developmental aspects of playing in college.? If a child is willing to put in the effort, a parent need to make sure they are doing their part.
?
Dr. Mark Robinson?is a personal development expert who helps highly competitive individuals excel in a highly competitive environment.
A highlight of Dr. Mark changing athlete behavior in one of his presentations.
PPD Mag: Why are athletes getting into so much trouble outside of sports?
Mr. Stokes: I quantify that things today were not around when I played.? Social media and cell phones are a big issue.? This generation of opposing fans has?much more access to student athletes as well as professional athletes.? The athletes personal business is more exposed and socially, the general public? are now noticing a lot of the negative?behavior?athletes are exhibiting?away from the sport.
Dr. Mark: ?How important is the male influence for the athlete?
Mr. Stokes: Having a positive influence during the developmental stages at home especially having the male influence or lack of influence plays a major role.? I would add, not having a male in the household is an issue.? Mom and grandma are great but having a male involved in the developmental process is in some ways a separator.? Unfortunately we are seeing a lot of athletes getting into trouble and they happen to be African American athletes.
PPD Mag: What core element is missing from college and professional athletics?
Mr. Stokes: A person who is dedicated and focusing on working with athletes in an area of personal growth.? At the moment we could see this person as a mentor.? I think a mentor is someone that can give the kids something that they need, if someone who has had similar life experience that they can share with athletes, it can be useful to a kid.? However, it is important to understand that, mentorship has a lot of responsibility and people attempting to fill that role need to understand all the components involved.? More importantly, the mentee has to be able to accept the information and help which the mentor is providing.? Its a two way street.
PPD Mag: Do you see a need for transitional support services for athletes??
Mr. Stokes: Yes, transitional support services are vitally important, unfortunately kids leave college ill-equipped in certain areas, they are thrown out and expected to survive in a number of areas and the transition is an ongoing process.? I know some coaches help athletes but I also know some coaches that just don?t.? I had mentors who taught me and prepared me for life.? These were things that I couldn’t learn on the basketball court.
During a four or five year process it would be an extra bonus for the school to provide pre-transitional services.? Once they leave the university, student athletes do not engage with the institution. ?Services should be in place allowing athletes to engage with the university.? By that I mean, the institutions should have programs in place to support former athletes once they have completed or exhausted their eligibility, due to the amount of issues former athletes encounter.
PPD Mag: What are your three suggestions for student athletes?
You can find Mr. Stokes on twitter?
This interview was arranged by Jay Keys
Joe Asberry left the USA in 1991 to play international basketball and has not been back since.? He has played in Switzerland, Japan, Germany, Finland and Luxembourg and to this day lives in Berlin.? He is currently a social worker, who is an international guest speaker on drug prevention and sports motivation.
Dr. Mark: Why are your youtube videos so Hard Core?
Mr. Asberry: I try and just keep it real and its a rage.? I really felt I was not treated fairly in the college system. ?I also think it stems from my experience at Pepperdine University where?I was redshirted and then the next year they shipped me out!? Now, I made mistakes, but I think they could have had someone on campus working with me on the issues I had.? It was clear that I had a substance abuse problem back then as well as a lot of other guys on the team. I won’t name names, lol.? The reason I am speaking after years is to show them they did not stop me from achieving my goal. I also want to help educate and inspire the next generation of ballers.
Dr. Mark: Playing basketball in Europe, what are the key issues athletes need to understand?
Mr. Asberry: One, off the court issues
Financial Issues:? are you going to get your money on time or at all and most often players money is late.
Health Issues:? Most teams have health coverage but I have heard too many stories of guys getting hurt and soon after, they are released from the club.
Social Issues: The club life will kill you and the women really, really are interested in you and I have seen guys get caught up in that and I was one of them but the social seen didn’t dictate my success.? Some guys can handle it but some guys can?t.
Cultural Issues: Athletes coming abroad have to be willing to embrace the culture.? The American culture is something they should leave in the USA, if not players never last on the international level.
Mr. Asberry: Two, on the court issues
Coaching and communication: some coaches don’t speak english and so it makes it tough to communicate in games.
Knowledge of the game of basketball:? Many of the coaches don’t understand the game in the same manner that US coaches do.
Teammates: Most of the teammates will be envious of your journey through basketball development and the major factor is your American and most Americans playing abroad get all the attention.
Knowledge of the game of basketball: the international rules are different and the style of play is a bit more technical from a fundamental stand point.? The USA has athletes on the court but many cant think the game.? The international game involves a lot more thinking while playing as oppose to just playing.
Dr. Mark: Can we expect more, of Joe?s Basketball Diary in 2016?
Bet on it, LoL?..
Hire Ethics was created to support underrepresented college students. The majority of these students were completing their education but lacked the skills to obtain employment.? Hire Ethics became that bridge between education and employment.? After a few years in business, they?realized that other populations were also lacking these same career management skills, particularly?athletes. ?In 2016, a new division of Hire Ethics will be launched, ?Hire Ethics Pro? dedicated to career, education & employment services for elite & professional athletes. Gregg Simmons is the Executive Director?of Hire Ethics and agreed to talk to PPD Mag.
Dr. Mark: Is it?difficult to prepare athletes for a career outside of athletics?
Mr. Simmons: I don?t believe it is difficult.? I believe it becomes difficult when information is not available, when the discussion happens toward the end of their athletic career, and when there is a lack of support from their immediate circle.
Dr. Mark: Why is the transition to the career world difficult for athletes?
Mr. Simmons: Transition / change is difficult for most people, it becomes increasingly difficult for athletes because no one wants to talk about or plan for the inevitable, retiring or leaving their sport.
Dr. Mark: Can you tell us your thoughts on campus speakers who are former athletes?
Mr. Simmons: Athletes, like most people, like hearing from their own, so athletes are most receptive to listen to what former athletes have to say.? The benefits occur when the message or the story is so unique or special that the athlete gain empathy or not a sense of ?I can do that too.? ?The bigger issue is when a former athlete provides a good message but fails to provide or articulate a way for current athletes to be successful too (If that is the message from a former athlete). ?There should be next steps or ?how to? incorporated within any presentation to benefit or help the athlete.
Dr. Mark: Why is personal development important to the athlete?
Mr. Simmons: The main reason is in the title of the question ?Personal.? ?It has to be personal and athletes have to own it and be actively involved with their growth & development.? The same effort and time they put into being the best athletes has to go into their personal development.? Transition is inevitable, so preparing, training and getting ready for life after sports is important.
Dr. Mark: Do you believe people currently working with athletes have been properly trained to help athletes in the area of personal growth?
Mr. Simmons: I believe the majority of these people have not been trained?properly.? It?s widely believed that being a former athlete is the main criteria to work with or speak to other athletes, this should not be the case.? A perfect example is when sport teams hire an All-World athlete as a head coach mainly due to their athletic success and they turn out to be an awful coach.? Being a former athlete or an athletic administrator is a great hire if they have been properly trained.
Dr. Mark: How does the family effect the personal development of the athlete?
Mr. Simmons: Family and individuals in their immediate circle influence, shapes and effects the athlete?s decisions, reality, direction and growth.? When an elite athlete transitions from sport so does everyone else in their family and immediate circle.
Click here to learn more about Hire Ethics?
In my early youth I had to be a warrior just to survive in the concrete jungle. Then came Martial Arts where I learned to develop and harness my warrior spirit. Later I joined Uncle Sam’s Army where I trained and then trained others to divide and conquer. All that I cared about was winning at any cost. Now in my life I am trying hard to channel my warrior spirit into something constructive and peaceful.
Technology and Science are changing at breakneck speeds. Are you keeping up with the rise, or falling behind? All around you is information that can change your health, finances and social standing. It is in easy and accessible formats. So, there is really no excuse for not staying abreast. The time for excuses is obsolete but we must be careful.
We hold in our mist, in the guise of Social Media a tool for changing the collective consciousness and the world or for keeping us in limitation and towards self-destruction. We must all make an individual choice. Whatever you write, share or post on this powerful tool causes a change, ripple effect somewhere in the world. Therefore care should be taken at all times. Everything is connected. Seeds of negativity will only grow more of the same.
The personal pain I have grown through helped mold and shape me into the person that I am today. I’m not asking for more, but if more was to come my way I am more than ready for the lesson. Like everyone at sometime or another I have been tried in the fire. But I’m still here and growing.
One great understanding is that balance in all things is needed and that examples of that is around me waiting for my attention and comprehension. The greatest life lesson I have learned, I must take as much care of my physical body as I do my spiritual. I built up the temple not made of hands but allowed my body temple to slowly slip into stiffness and weakness. The Divine Creator gave me the insight to regain my balance. I am so thankful. Stay in balance.
Until next time
Ant
See more Interviews, Articles or Videos
In the third part of a four part interview, Dr. Tommy Shavers gives us a better understanding of the athlete in the areas of Culture, Power and Sex based off his research. ?If you are?working with athletes you should read this and share it.
How do we address the domestic violence and sexual assault problem in the culture of sports?
?
I will continue to come back to my hallmark statement; if you are unaware, then you are unprepared. The first part that is essential to addressing the issues of domestic violence and sexual assault in sports is accurate awareness on the issue. Being a college football player myself and being coached by one of the great defensive minds in football, our coach would always ask the question, ?what do you see?? If we couldn?t accurately articulate what we were seeing on the field from our opponent, there was no way we could accurately prepare or respond to what we were up against. So it all starts with accurate awareness, does the sports industry really know what they are seeing when it comes to these areas. Currently they are not fully aware (which means to be accurately aware) of what they are up against with this issue.
?
In a research study I conducted with college football players, in which they talked about status, power, and sex; these athletes were unanimously clear that their status and social power as college football players was influencing their overall behavior as well as their sexual perspective, actions and behaviors with women. The things these young men stated during these interviews would bring chills to someone who is not aware that such a culture (which the kids didn?t create) exists. Listen, I lived the culture and I was a bit taken back by what I was hearing in these interviews. Most of them talked about entering into a world or culture they didn?t even know existed, where people (men and women) were willing and able to give them anything, just because of their status and influence as athletes. So in other words the way society began to treat these athletes changed (culture); which quickly in turn began to change them. Many of them admitted to being the focus of attention in high school, and they stated that it was at a whole different level in college. A unique issue that most may not understand about this culture is when it comes to sex. In this culture, most male athletes are pursued just as much for sex as they pursue sex. One player asked me a question, ?what are you suppose to do when a beautiful, attractive girl wants to sleep with you; turn it down? That?s a hard thing to do; for one you look bad if you turn her down, and two who would want to turn that down??
So for those who have lived in and experienced that culture, they know these things to be real and valid. Another thing that was emerging out of the study was that athletes are really polarized in the eyes of people socially (especially women). Some love them and want to be in their circle and others really don?t care for them and avoid them socially and relationally as much as possible. So what this creates is a generalized view of women by athletes because all the women that they engage with on a regular basis are women who are heavily influenced by their status and thus carry themselves or allow themselves to be treated in ways that other women who are not so enamored by athletes would carry themselves. As a result many athletes develop a dangerously false perception of women because of the culture of women they regularly engage with.
Now someone may want to jump on those statements as sexist or degrading of women, well before we can talk about how inappropriate such statements are, we must first ask are they true, and as unfortunate as it is, this is true. But it is not just about women. Everyone in their circles who are enamored with their status as athletes, treat them in such a way that this becomes the only world they know. I call it ?living in a world of all green lights?. If this is the case, then what happens when such a person comes to a yellow or red light in their life? Well, yellow and red lights don?t exist in their life so they are unaware and thus unprepared to deal with yellow and red light realities of life. And the reality is yellow and red lights do exist for the rest of the world, which means that it is almost inevitable that the green light world will one day encounter a red light, catching up to the athlete and causing disastrous wreckage in their own lives and in the lives of those they?ve encountered. This is why this work is so important. We are trying to tell these kids to slow down and stop, when those things don?t practically exist in their world which makes them unaware that they really exist (for them) anywhere else in the world.
The last thing I say on that is this; the thing that surprised me the most about this study, was the reaction of the athletes after the interviews were concluded. I would ask each of the participants if they had any questions or anything additional they would like to add to the study. Unexpected to me was that the majority (I can?t recall one who wasn?t) were as surprised as I, about the realities that they were sharing about their own lives and the lives of others in this status power culture of sports. Many of them mentioned that they have never stopped and thought about their lives and actions in this way, they were use to just living in it, and it was normal for them, until they actually sat down and talked about it. Many of them seemed to be sobered and alarmed at their actions and the actions of others; now knowing how dangerously risky and abnormal their lives were. Many of them thanked me for opening their eyes to their own world. Think about that, they told me about their lives, all I did was ask if having status and power as an athlete affected them in anyway. But in the end, to them it was as if I had just made them (accurately) aware of their own lives in ways they had no idea. For example guys talk about sexual activity that in the eyes of most, would be viewed as gang rape. This didn?t hit them until they actually were made to look at their lives from an objective and not power influenced point of view. They are so accustomed to living on impulsive and desire that they rarely are taught to process things rationally and with awareness of the circumstances. But this is what all of the research on power tells us could happen to individuals like athletes. Their words were merely practical confirmation of what the research field has already learned and continues to discover when it comes to individuals with high levels of status and social power. This was why I realized that for most of these athletes, we expected them to rationally function in a world that?s not their norm and carry themselves in ways they rarely have to, in their normal daily lives as power individuals. Let me just add, this does not just go on in sports, but in all high profile, high power cultures. We see it with politicians, corporate executives, and sports leaders. We?ve seen it recently with law enforcement and the inability of some police officers to effectively handle having power. We see it in faith circles with the moral failures, behavioral abuses, and exploitation of people by ministers, pastors, and other church leaders. Some are aware and choose to use their status and power in appalling ways for their own corrupt desires. However, many are not this way; many have unfortunately inherited a culture that their character and conduct has adapted to.
?
?
?