Sports training cards for kids, coaches and parents

(Catholic Online) - Soccer and football seasons are here, with basketball and hockey looming in the not too distant future. Kids today have many opportunities to plays a wide variety of sports in school and in community run programs.

Providing kids with information to learn game rules, strategies and ways to excel as an individual and a team member increases their abilities and their self esteem. As a parent and sports coach in the Diocese of Seattle, Wash., Charlie Cowan helped young athletes to develop their skills, to understand basics of the sports and to work together as a team. While teaching game strategies, he found that often after explaining strategies, the players did not fully comprehend the concepts. He then discovered that using visuals with the verbal descriptions was much more effective. He came up with the idea of developing a deck of cards to help coaches communicate their ideas. A graphic artist friend, Dana Robinson, submitted some sketches that clearly conveyed the coaching ideas. They began working together and have since created decks of "Sports Training Cards" in the fields of soccer, baseball, basketball, softball, snowboarding, hockey and golf. These training cards can be useful to students, coaches and parents, too. Each specific sports deck contains 120 lessons in colored coded sections that cover all important aspects of the sport, from skills instruction to rules to strategies. There is a table of contents, instructions for a home practice routine and a practice log. The daily practice log in the soccer deck includes: target shoot, juggle, wall ball, 4-move circle, and slide tackle. Keeping a log helps to create a regular schedule while improving skills. The cards provide "how to" graphics that show information pertaining to that particular lesson. These graphics can help coaches get their ideas across and help kids learn on their own. In the basketball deck, the table of contents includes: passing, dribbling, offensive moves, shooting, rebounding, playing defense, rules, home practice routine and bonus drills. The baseball deck includes 16 tips ranging from stance, to swing, to follow-through. Each of the suggestions has numbered steps and a graphic showing the concept. Parents interested in improving their own score on the links may even want their own deck of golf cards, which includes tips on techniques, equipment and a practice routine. The snowboarding deck offers a full range of information from getting on and off the chairlift, to catching some air over a jump. The cards are helpful for parents that might not understand a sport, or be leery of the danger factor. For example, the hockey training cards can make the quick paced, somewhat dangerous, game easier to grasp. The daily workout listed in the basketball Home Practice Log includes: layups, free throws, shoot and follow, and triple threat. In this day and age of busy schedules and limited conversation topics, these cards can provide an excellent opportunity for parents to share time and knowledge with their children. The common bond of sports in a family has the power to strengthen the whole family unit. Teachers could also have the cards on hand for free time periods and a fun activity for a rainy indoor recess day. To ensure the information is in line with the various sports, the cards have been critiqued and edited by high school, college, Olympic and professional coaches. The cards are great gift ideas, favors at parties, dinner table conversation topics, a fun traveling activity in the car and the perfect stocking stuffer. - - - Sport Moves Sport Training Cards can be ordered at Sport Moves www.sportmoves.com.

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