Latest / The Gill Athletics Track and Field Connections Podcast / #111: Gill1918 Presents Coach/Author Dave Emeott “Growing Pains” Powered by Coach O

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#111: Gill1918 Presents Coach/Author Dave Emeott “Growing Pains” Powered by Coach O · The Gill Athletics Track and Field Connections Podcast

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  Welcome to the Gill 1918 Project, a podcast series by
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  coaches for coaches, powered by Gill Athletics.
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  Think of it as the Ted Talks of track and field coaching.
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  Short, insightful, and packed with valuable strategies to help
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  you grow as a coach. This episode is part of the
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  Youth and Beginner Series, brought to you by Coach O.
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  In this series, we focus on topics relating to coaching
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  youth athletes, coaching beginner athletes of any age,
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  and supporting brand new coaches as they find their way.
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  With that in mind, let's grow. If we judge people by who they
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  were at 14, I wouldn't be doing this podcast right now and I bet
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  most of you wouldn't be in your position either.
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  I'm Dave Amiot, head boys track and field coach at East Kentwood
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  High School in Michigan. We built one of the largest
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  programs in the state last year, probably one of the largest
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  programs in the country. We had 180 boys and 160 girls on
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  our team, coached by a staff of 15 full time and part time
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  coaches. Over the years we've seen and
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  heard it all. Every bonehead mistake a kid can
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  make, every reckless online message, fights, missing buses,
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  missed opportunities, false starts, drop batons, ejections,
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  showboating, you name it, we've seen it.
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  It's easy to get frustrated. As coaches, we wonder why can't
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  they just see what's important? Why can't they see it our way
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  and why can't they they move forward?
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  But we always come back to the same mantra.
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  And I and I try to tell my staff the same thing daily when we
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  talk about our young, sometimes boneheaded kids is they all grow
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  up between 14 and 40. Why 14 and 40?
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  Sure, 14 and 40 sounds catchy. It's illiterate, but but there's
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  a reason those numbers matter. It's hard to imagine imagine a
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  truly mature 13 year old, especially boys.
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  Yet just a few generations ago we had 15 and 16 year olds
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  signing up to fight in World War 2.
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  Some kids grow up fast, but that doesn't make them better.
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  It just means they're further along the curve.
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  For now, think of athletically. We've all had that middle
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  school. We've all had that, that 7th
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  grade kid who, you know, hit puberty way early, dominated
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  middle school. You know, I can, you know, I can
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  think of those kids in my brain right now.
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  I'm sure you can think of them too.
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  They were, they were dominant and they crushed everybody in
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  middle school and they were the stud coming into high school.
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  And then what happens, right? All of their friends, all of
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  their buddies catch up and surpass them.
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  And Johnny, who was the best kid in middle school, is now just a
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  middle of the pack kid in high school.
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  And hopefully he's got the maturity to handle that
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  situation. And, and when you want to talk
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  about a coachable moment, that's a time when they really need
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  coaches, that's for sure. Well, the same thing happens
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  with the brain, right? Maturity runs on its own
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  timeline. The frontal cortex, the part
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  that controls decision making and impulse, doesn't fully
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  develop until at least 25 years old.
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  And some people. So if we expect teenagers to
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  think like adults, we're asking for, we're asking to be
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  disappointed, essentially. But here's the magic One day the
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  light will turn on. They will grow into themselves.
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  And if we're patient, we'll be there when it happens.
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  We don't just get to see the transformation, we get to shape
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  the transformation. In my 30 years of coaching, one
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  of my biggest joys is the delayed.
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  Thank you. We've all, we've all been there.
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  We've been walking through the grocery store, we've been in the
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  restaurant, whatever it is. And that and that kid comes up
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  and he says, coach, coach, how are you doing?
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  And, and you know, sometimes you remember their name or sometimes
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  you don't, But, but you, you know, you kind of catch a
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  glimmer in their eye or in their face and, and then they go, Hey,
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  coach, I'm sorry I was such a pain in the butt.
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  Hey, hey, I'm sorry I drove you crazy with all my, my goofiness.
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  But I want to thank you for for sticking with me.
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  I want to thank you for never giving up on me.
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  That's, that's one of the greatest joys that that a coach
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  can have is that opportunity for that to watch the kid mature.
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  And you weren't there when it happened.
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  I had a kid say to me one time, it was probably one of the
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  greatest compliments I've ever gotten.
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  He I had a kid who said, you know, those character lessons
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  that you used to give us every day in practice and on the bus.
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  I didn't listen, but they were like seeds that were planted
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  into my brain and they didn't bloom for many years.
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  And, and now I'm running a trucking company and I'm, I'm in
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  charge of a crew of 18 guys and, and I can tell you that was one
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  of the greatest days and victories of my coaching career.
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  And there were no trophies. There were no medals.
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  There wasn't even any anybody running that day.
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  But it was a true victory. So here's my charge to you.
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  Be patient. Give one chance too many instead
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  of one chance too few. Now.
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  Now, to be clear, I removed many kids from my teams over the
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  years, but only when their behavior was truly damaging to
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  themselves or to the team. And you know what?
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  Many of those kids that I've kicked off as 9th, 10th, and
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  11th graders would come back the next year.
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  They'd be more focused, more mature, ready to contribute and
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  and they knew what the task was at that time.
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  I gave them a completely clean slate and said, hey, let's start
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  from the let's start fresh. Knowing they grew up, they
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  matured and maybe I wasn't patient enough in the last year,
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  but I'm ready to be patient now because maybe, maybe this is
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  what you need to move on to that next part of your life.
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  Every coach wants to be a part of a championship, but the great
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  ones changed lives, not by watching great kids do great
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  things. Anyone can do that.
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  Everybody who coaches long enough is going to have some
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  star kid that you're going to coach and everybody around you
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  is going to be, you know, be excited and go, hey, man, you,
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  you did a great job coaching that kid.
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  But you know, the reality might be that that kid was just ready
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  to go and, and, and you got to watch it, which is, which is
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  nice. But really a great coach is
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  someone who helps a struggling kid find direction, someone who
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  builds people up. The the miracle is, isn't the
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  kid who runs fast or jumps high. It's the one who grows up.
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  The closer to 14 they grow up, the better their lives are going
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  to be. The closer to 40, the harder
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  their lives are going to be. And guess what?
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  You're the one they need at that moment.
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  Quick reminder, hold them accountable.
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  Praise them publicly criticize them if you can.
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  Privately coach, coach them relentlessly.
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  Coach their heart. Don't just coach their talent,
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  but also remember when you were 14 years old, they're they're
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  not finished yet. They're still becoming who
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  they'll be. And you were also a 14 year old
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  kid who was not ready and somebody helped you out with a
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  little grace and a little patient.
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  You'll be part of their story of that story forever.
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  You'll be a part of their forever story.
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  They'll they'll tell their kids about Coach Thompson, who who
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  helped me get over the top. Coach Smith really stuck with me
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  on this one. They'll be telling your
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  character lessons to their children and to their
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  grandchildren forever. Because you were patient,
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  because you allowed them to grow.
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  You allowed them to grow between 14 and 40.
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  Don't miss the miracle. Let let me know if if you like
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  this lesson, If you if, if you enjoyed my podcast today again,
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  my name is Dave Amiot. I got a book coming out at the
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  end of 2025. It's called beyond the finish
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  line and the Art of Transformational coaching.
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  I'd love you to check it out and and be part of the folks that
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  are that are going to go down that path of transformational
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  coaching. Hey, be patient, be patient,
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  give them, give them a second chance.
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  One chance too many instead of one chance too few.
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  Thank you. Have a great day.
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  Thanks for listening. This is David Mitchell.
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  I'm the coordinator of the Youth series powered by Kocho.
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  And I just wanted to give you a quick update there as Dave Emiot
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  wrapped up that talk. He actually recorded it just
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  before his book was released. It is out now, and it's doing
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  very well. Again, it's beyond the finish
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  line. The Art of Transformational
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  Coaching by David Emiot and he's making the circuit now on
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  various coaching clinics and the book is doing great online.
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  We highly recommend it to you. Check it out.
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  Art of Transformational Coaching beyond the finish line.
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  Hey gang, Mike Cunningham here. Thanks for joining us for this
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  episode in the Youth and beginner series powered by Coach
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  O Powered by Coach O is more than a platform.
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  athletes, parents, officials and event directors and countless
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  plugged in to the Powered by Coach O by visiting coacho.com
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