WINNING EDGE MOTIVATING YOUR PLAYERS
8 Keys To Coaching Today’s Millennial-Generation Athlete Patience, adversity are valuable lessons for young athletes
They’re Team-Oriented By Jeff Janssen, Janssen Sports Leadership Center A
re today’s athletes different than years past? Do you at times feel a little disconnected from the current gen- eration? If you are like many coaches, teachers and parents, you sense that today’s generation is a bit different from years past. Fortunately, you don’t necessarily need to be up on all the latest catch phrases, texting, hottest websites and dance moves, yet you must understand what makes today’s genera- tion of athletes tick and coach them accordingly. According to authors Neil Howe and William Strauss of a book called Millennials Go To College, today’s Millennial generation is signifi cantly different than years past in seven primary ways.
They’re Special
As a group, Millennials have been taught that they are spe- cial and vital to the success of their family, team and commu- nity. They have received an unprecedented amount of focus and attention from their parents and other adults, so they natu- rally feel that they are entitled to the best.
They’re Sheltered Most Millennials have been protected and sheltered from
birth. They have had a multitude of laws and gadgets de- signed to protect them from the many harms and dangers of the world.
While this sheltering has created a generation that is much healthier and less prone to injury, it has also prevented them from experiencing, learning from, adapting to and overcom- ing the important and inevitable hard knocks of life. Because of this sheltering, many are crushed when they receive less than an “A” for a grade, don’t get a ribbon for coming in ninth place, get cut from teams or receive negative feedback. It’s as if they’ve rarely received any criticism and subsequently don’t know how to handle it.
They’re Confi dent According to the authors’ polls, Millennials tend to be a
more confi dent generation when it comes to their abilities to achieve. While many of them do believe they can achieve anything, they sometimes forget that success is not going to come instantly but must be worked at consistently and is any- thing but a linear journey.
16 May/June 2013
Millennials are the most interconnected generation yet. Be- tween emailing, texting and staying connected through social media, peer networks are a huge part of their daily experienc- es. They have strong team instincts and like to stay connected with their social groups on a regular basis.
They’re Conventional
Rather than the usual rebellious teen years, Millennials tend to embrace the more traditional values of their parents. They are much less likely to use alcohol, tobacco and mari- juana than the generations before them.
Howe and Strauss write, “Millennials describe closer ties with their parents than teens in the history of postwar poll- ing.” Many are in continual contact with their parents.
They’re Pressured Because of the increased competitiveness for grades, school admissions and jobs, today’s Millennials feel much more pressure to succeed than generations before them. They believe the stakes are high and the price of mistakes are more consequential than in the past.
Many of them are overscheduled and overwhelmed from childhood with private lessons, camps and tutors all designed to help them try to get ahead of the ever-increasing global and local competition.
They’re Achieving With higher standards, Millennials are very focused on achievement and “are on track to becoming the smartest, best educated adults in U.S. history” according to Howe and Strauss. Their test scores are continually rising and more of them are focused on going to college than ever before. They have a strong need to achieve.
The authors make the case that everyone from college professors, admissions offi cers, high school teachers, school administrators, employers and coaches all must understand these seven differences that make the Millennial generation different than the Gen X, Baby Boomers and others who came before them.
I hear a lot of coaches say that today’s athletes seem more fragile because they have been sheltered and protected from many of the natural disappointments in life. It also seems that many of the Millennials think that today’s “instant gratifi ca- tion” society also applies to athletics. They think that they can master skills in a short period of time without going through the natural and time-consuming process that it takes to learn and master a complex sport skill.
Coaches also realize that Millennials are much likelier to
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