Author: Coach Alercio

A gentleman in our community recently approached me to inform me that he will be coaching his son’s youth basketball team and asked what advice I would give him as he begins to coach?

Without putting much thought into it, I replied “Make sure the players know that their interests are prioritized above yours.” He looked both puzzled and intrigued by my reply. Perhaps it was not what he was expecting. The goal of every youth sports coach should be first and foremost to see that the kids have fun and experiences catalyzing a desire to return to the sport the next year. Youth coaches should focus solely on altruism. Focus on giving to others without seeking personal gain. Best selling author Simon Sinek (and others) refer to this concept as “Servant Leadership.” 

Servant leadership flips the traditional power dynamic. Instead of leaders focusing on their own authority, they prioritize serving and empowering others. By fostering a collaborative environment and prioritizing the well-being of team members, servant leaders cultivate a high-performing and engaged group. This philosophy benefits individuals, teams, and ultimately, the entire organization.

Additionally, putting others’ interests ahead of yours demonstrates selflessness and fosters strong relationships. Prioritizing the wants and needs of others contributes to a positive and supportive environment that benefits everyone on the team.

Coaches should be process-oriented and not results-oriented. If you do all the right things during the process, more often than not, you will achieve favorable results. To quote Zig Ziglar, “You can have everything in life you want if you will just help other people get what they want.”

Coach Rich Alercio is available to discuss coaching philosophy, X’s & O’s, or teach his O-Line “techniques in the trenches.” Contact Coach at richalercio@gmail.com and share http://www.olineskills.com with your colleagues and friends. Thanks for supporting this blog and joining our conversations, and as always, thanks for your time!

Positive reinforcement is a powerful strategy in shaping good habits and desired performance.  At our annual football banquet this past Sunday, after recognizing our letter winners, all-division team members, and seniors we honor 7 team members with the following awards: Scout Team Player of the Year, Most Improved Player, Most Outstanding Lineman, Most Outstanding Back/Receiver (which also includes Linebackers and Defensive Backs), Most Valuable Player, Coaches Award, and the Hilltopper Award.  

As I present these awards, I provide specific details of each player’s actions to earn the award, presenting a road map for the returning players to follow.  By reinforcing the most desirable actions with positive outcomes, individuals are motivated to repeat those behaviors leveraging the psychological principle of positive reinforcement.  Whether in personal development, workplace management, or parenting, recognizing and rewarding positive actions fosters an environment conducive to growth.  It creates a feedback loop where individuals are more likely to engage in behaviors leading to those rewarded outcomes, ultimately contributing to establishing lasting and beneficial habits.  The key lies in acknowledging and celebrating the steps aligning with desired goals, reinforcing success, and ensuring a continuous cycle of improvement which ultimately leads to a positive team culture.

Coach Rich Alercio is available to discuss coaching philosophy, X’s & O’s, or teach his O-Line “techniques in the trenches.” Contact Coach at richalercio@gmail.com and share http://www.olineskills.com with your colleagues and friends. Thanks for supporting this blog and joining our conversations, and as always, thanks for your time!

With the playing of the Vermont North v South All-Star game, the 2023 football season is in the books.  Now, we encourage our athletes to participate in a Winter sport.  We believe engaging in multiple sports cultivates a more well-rounded athlete, enhancing physical fitness, imparting diverse skills, and fostering mental resilience.  

The versatility gained from engaging in different sports improves agility, coordination, and adaptability.  It also reduces the risk of burnout and overuse injuries associated with specializing early in a single sport.  The multi-sport athlete also develops a broader social network increasing their circle of friendships.  

We will have players participating in Alpine Skiing, Basketball, Ice Hockey, and Indoor Track and I look forward to watching them compete.  For those athletes who choose not to participate in a Winter sport, we have a 3-day/week strength and conditioning program that will better prepare them for their Spring sport as well as the 2024 football season.

Coach Rich Alercio is available to discuss coaching philosophy, X’s & O’s, or teach his O-Line “techniques in the trenches.” Contact Coach at richalercio@gmail.com and share http://www.olineskills.com with your colleagues and friends. Thanks for supporting this blog and joining our conversations, and as always, thanks for your time!

Thanksgiving is more than an indulgence in a festive meal…More than Holiday travel… More than cardboard Pilgrims and Turkeys at the grocery store or elementary classroom…

Thanksgiving is a day of unity, appreciation, gratitude, and reflection… A day for families and friends (both old and new) to gather with loved ones and acknowledge the many blessings in their lives…

I encourage all to put some patient thought into their circumstances. While we must all undoubtedly endure uncertainty, adversity, and setbacks, focusing on what we have rather than what we lack fosters a sense of fulfillment and contentment. In preparation for the day, put some thought into a person, place, thing, experience, activity, and blessing you are thankful for. Take some time between turkey legs, pumpkin pies, and casseroles to truly recognize and account for the many blessings we enjoy.

Then… after the turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie are put away, let this serve as a reminder to live every day with a heart full of appreciation and gratitude, and seek opportunities to engage, enrich, and empower the lives and success of others.

Coach Rich Alercio is available to discuss coaching philosophy, X’s & O’s, or teach his O-Line “techniques in the trenches.” Contact Coach at richalercio@gmail.com and share http://www.olineskills.com with your colleagues and friends. Thanks for supporting this blog and joining our conversations, and as always, thanks for your time!

With the 2023 season behind us, we begin our off-season with 1-on-1 meetings with every player to discuss their reflections on the season, seniors’ plans for the future as well as off-season and next-season expectations for those expecting to return next fall.

The meetings revealed a common thread of communication from many underclassmen when asked why their production on the field was minimal in the first half of the season but maximal in the latter:  “I lacked confidence in the beginning,” was the most common refrain….

In my 35 years of coaching, I have never heard such an epidemic proportion of a lack of confidence… 

In recent years, I have had concerns that student-athletes are overconfident due to so many (helicopter or snowplow) parents telling them how wonderful they are every time they accomplish a minor task.  (Growing up in an era where everyone gets a trophy…) Perhaps I need to reevaluate how I distribute praise to players to make them feel more confident going into the 2024, season.  

In a recent “Knowledge Project” podcast episode, Shane Parrish, the host is speaking with a guest about resilience, and in particular, parenting for resilience. In doing so the conversation turns to how parents (or coaches) characterize a child through feedback. Telling a boy or girl they are “so smart,” “so brilliant,” or “so talented.” Has the potential to sew seeds of overconfidence, and set children up for a shock when confronted with the reality of being “relatively average.” (Remember, on a planet with nearly 8 Billion people, a child who is truly “one in a million,” has 8,000 more kids out there, just like him/her)  

Rather than overcredit some attribute like intelligence, talent, or athletic ability, parents (and teachers or coaches) are much more likely to breed resilience with comments like, “You’re such a hard worker,” “You don’t quit when things get tough,” or “Others may have given up, but not you,” has the potential to instill confidence in a child’s ability to overcome adversity rather than unfounded belief in what may ultimately prove to be less than pure excellence in talent.

To Quote Mahatma Gandhi, “Man often becomes what he believes himself to be.  If I keep on saying to myself that I cannot do a certain thing, it is possible that I may end by really becoming incapable of doing it.  On the contrary, if I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning.”

I continue to believe in the potential for football to help inoculate student-athletes and teams against adversity, loss, and fear. Nonetheless, as coaches, we have the responsibility to set the conditions for a player’s and a team’s resilience, and ultimately success on and off the field.

Coach Rich Alercio is available to discuss coaching philosophy, X’s & O’s, or teach his O-Line “techniques in the trenches.” Contact Coach at richalercio@gmail.com and share http://www.olineskills.com with your colleagues and friends. Thanks for supporting this blog and joining our conversations, and as always, thanks for your time!

As we discussed in the two previous blogs, a loss in the playoffs ends the season abruptly and without celebration.  During those years when we advanced to the State Championship game, given the obviously forecast conclusion to the season, we planned and executed a celebration of our seniors’ last practice. 

We established a tradition where we would all meet in the middle of our field and invite the seniors to go to their most memorable spot on the field.  The underclassmen make notice of each senior and his/her location.  Then the seniors are asked to return to the team and explain where they went and why it was so meaningful. 

For some, it is the spot of their first start, first tackle, or first score.  This year, one player, who played for us as a freshman then stepped away for two years before returning for his senior year, went up into the bleachers. He later explained that is where he was during games his sophomore and junior seasons.  He shared that he had a lot of fun cheering on the team along with his classmates but that there was something missing.  He needed to be a part of something special… Part of something bigger than himself… Part of a family.

After the last senior shares their story, the underclassmen line up in a gauntlet at the edge of the field so they can have one last hug and share parting words with each senior as they make their way off the field one last time as a football player. On more than one occasion, I’ve heard a senior with tears in his eyes say to an underclassmen, “This team is yours now, and it’s special. Treat it with care and respect. Before you know it, you’ll be passing it on to someone yourself. Make sure they treat it with care and respect too…” 

This tradition is too extraordinary to only do on those years when we reach Championship Saturday, so now we come out to the field on the first Monday after our last game.  Regardless of how far we advance in the playoffs, our seniors are celebrated, their legacy passed on, and the tradition continues.  

Coach Rich Alercio is available to discuss coaching philosophy, X’s & O’s, or teach his O-Line “techniques in the trenches.” Contact Coach at richalercio@gmail.com and share http://www.olineskills.com with your colleagues and friends. Thanks for supporting this blog and joining our conversations, and as always, thanks for your time!

Coaching legend, Hal Mumme, recently shared a great post from another great, Hugh Yaughn:

 “If you’ve never played football, you could never truly understand what it means to put those shoulder pads and helmet on for the very last time.  Football can never be duplicated, NEVER.”

While I agree in general with Hugh’s statement about football, I do not think putting them on for the last time is as nearly impactful as taking them off for the last time…

As I referenced in last week’s blog, most players never realize it is their last game.  For me, it was on the field at Washington & Lee University in Lexington, VA.  I vividly remember everything about that moment when I pulled off the pads for the very last time.  

Over the past three and a half decades, I have played pick-up basketball, Rec league softball, competed in triathlons, played golf, tennis, racquetball and pickleball, enjoyed alpine and Nordic skiing in the winter, and wakeskating in the summer, none of those things will ever replace what it felt like to be a football player; a part of, and belonging to, something so much bigger than myself.

I don’t in any way want to minimize the experiences of those who derive satisfaction or meaning from those (or other) endeavors. I simply want to convey how in my experience as a player, and now observing more than 30 team evolutions as a coach, the dissolution of a team, and the loss of belonging, as the season closes is real. We’ve talked before about Professor Tuckman’s teambuilding steps of “Forming, Storming, Norming, and Performing…” and I’ve also heard it suggested a fifth step, “mourning,” could be added to complete the cycle as the team experience concludes.

Players feel something special when they put on the uniform. It’s an overt declaration of purpose, shared vision, shared goals, and shared meaning between those who have endured adversity and enjoyed success. The culture we work so hard to instill and sustain lives on in the team, and will echo in the lives of those who have been teammates. However, when they take the uniform off for the last time, a little bit of their identity dies…  While in most cases, aspects of identity are reborn in new endeavors, the change from saying “I am a football player,” to “I was a football player,” is a loss worth mourning.

Coach Rich Alercio is available to discuss coaching philosophy, X’s & O’s, or teach his O-Line “techniques in the trenches.” Contact Coach at richalercio@gmail.com and share http://www.olineskills.com with your colleagues and friends. Thanks for supporting this blog and joining our conversations, and as always, thanks for your time! 

It is playoff time for the high school football season and we are blessed with a home playoff game.  Win and advance.  Lose, and the season is abruptly and unexpectedly over. That is the reality of the playoffs.  As they used to say at the beginning of every Wild World of Sports episode when I was growing up, “the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.”  Unfortunately, the latter awaits for most.  

We have been very fortunate to have made the playoffs in every season at St Johnsbury Academy, but in only one did we finish with a win, raising the championship trophy.  All others ended with a loss.  In two of those seasons, that loss was the first of the year.  Once again… the reality of the playoffs.  For the great majority of players, their last high school football game will be a loss, as only one ascends to the championship.

Our job as coaches is to prepare them for the win.  The win provides the gift of another week together, another game to play, and another week to be a football player.  If we link enough of those together, maybe just maybe we can be the fortunate ones to finish with a win, once again raise a trophy, and celebrate all we’ve achieved together.  

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. This weekend’s game is the focus of effort, and we will take it like we have every other contest this season… one game at a time. Each teammate contributes to the whole… We work together to support one another, shoulder to shoulder, arm in arm, and doing so with joy in our hearts because we are a team of character, perseverance, and together, far stronger than any of us would ever be alone.

Coach Rich Alercio is available to discuss coaching philosophy, X’s & O’s, or teach his O-Line “techniques in the trenches.” Contact Coach at richalercio@gmail.com and share http://www.olineskills.com with your colleagues and friends. Thanks for supporting this blog and joining our conversations, and as always, thanks for your time! 

On Saturday at 1 p.m., St Johnsbury Academy will host Lyndon Institute in the 118th playing of “The Game” as it is known here in the Northeast.  “The Game” dates back to the Fall of 1894, making it one of the oldest football rivalries in the nation.  In 2013, USA Today conducted an online poll to determine the country’s greatest high school football rivalries.  “The Game” easily won the Vermont, New England, and Eastern Regions before finishing fourth in the nation.

This week the campus and the entire St Johnsbury community are filled with Spirit Week activities.  Students will work on class floats for the parade, prepare skits for the Pep Chapel, decorate hallways, and collect cardboard for the bonfire.  There will be dedications to football players in the local media, the light in the clocktower will shine green to reflect our school color and alumni will gather for social activities sharing old stories until late into the night.   Alumni representing many decades fondly recall their contributions to such traditions, and this year’s freshmen through seniors seek their opportunity to contribute to traditions they’ll look back on decades from now.  It is truly the best of small town USA.

Please join me in wishing well all those who have contributed to this great tradition, and best wishes ahead to all who will contribute this Saturday and for years to come.

Coach Rich Alercio is available to discuss coaching philosophy, X’s & O’s, or teach his O-Line “techniques in the trenches.” Contact Coach at richalercio@gmail.com and share http://www.olineskills.com with your colleagues and friends. Thanks for supporting this blog and joining our conversations, and as always, thanks for your time! 

29 days and 540 miles driven between home football games…A brutal schedule to start the 2023 season. 

The term “home field advantage” is often used in sports and is a crucial factor.  The comfort and familiarity of the home environment can boost a team’s confidence and performance. Players are accustomed to the routine, field surface, and lighting giving them a sense of comfort and control that can translate into improved focus and execution.  The spirited support of the home crowd can also be a game changer.  The energy and enthusiasm of passionate fans can create an electrifying atmosphere, motivating players and intimidating opponents.  Moreover, logistical advantages such as reduced travel can contribute to home-field advantage.  

When Sir Henry Bishop wrote “ ‘Mid pleasures and Palaces though we may roam, be it ever so humble there’s no place like home,” he was undoubtedly not referencing sports teams; but after watching the outstanding performance of our team after all those days and miles, I know exactly how he must have felt the moment he penned those words.

Coach Rich Alercio is available to discuss coaching philosophy, X’s & O’s, or teach his O-Line “techniques in the trenches.” Contact Coach at richalercio@gmail.com and share http://www.olineskills.com with your colleagues and friends. Thanks for supporting this blog and joining our conversations, and as always, thanks for your time!