Where Standards, Commitments, and Joy Meet | Ryan Kirkorsky

Luke: 0:12

Really appreciate you joining us and listening today, and definitely appreciate you sharing the show out. So please continue to spread the news of The "I" in Win podcast, which is the podcast that focuses on people rather than outcomes. And with it, let me welcome in today's guest, Ryan Korski, who is the head girls basketball coach and English teacher at Rolling Medals high school in Illinois. Coach, thanks for hopping on with US Championship Sunday today. "I wanna first start with why high school girls basketball?

Ryan: 0:45

well first off, thanks. Thanks for having me on Luke "I. Appreciate it. so it's interesting. So. When "I first was interested in coaching, "I was coaching some basketball. "I coached a little baseball at the beginning of my teaching career. And, uh, my first full-time English job that "I was offered was at Larkin High School in Elgin and "I. Remember when they offered me the job, they, said to me, Hey, part of this is as the extracurricular, we need a freshman girls basketball so that has been my kind, my journey since then, 27 years later, I've been coaching every level of girls basketball since.

Luke: 1:24

and one thing that we've talked about before, "I really believe regardless of sport, regardless of gender. Really regardless of level as well. A coach is a coach and there's just that process of making better people and we're all really committed to that. So if it is boys basketball or girls basketball, my case football, we're really all on this same journey. And you sent me a lot of information on your program, which "I really appreciate. Thank you so much for, sharing that. the one thing that "I really liked that you. Is the commitment statements and reading through your commitment statements as a coach, that's when "I knew. This is someone that "I definitely need to showcase because he has no doubt in it for the right reason. So let's talk about the commitment statements what they are and why you have your girls do them.

Ryan: 2:18

Um, and I'll start off and, and I'm sure everybody that that listens to this, will have the same idea. All, all of these ideas that "I have, "I "I, wish "I could say that "I originated them, but they, all come from different places. "I believe the, the commitment statements comes from the P G C organization. and, um, "I attended one of their camps, probably "I Dunno, it might be 10, 15 years ago. "I attended a week long camp and that was part of what they had. The coaches and the athletes who attended, uh, basically come up with commitment statements of, not where they are, but where they're, they are committed to striving towards during really the season and the off season. And so "I just thought it was a, a great idea for me personally. what "I was striving to be as a coach and a person, and then "I thought "I was perfect for our athletes as well of, you know, none of us are a finished product of where we're trying to get to.

Luke: 3:12

How do you hold your girls accountable, if that's the right word, to their commitment statements? Again, "I don't "I, don't love that word accountable, but "I know, like one thing "I talk about my players is be a person of action, not a person of words. So to me, when "I, you know, read about the commitment statements, my first thought is how do "I hold my players to that standard? that they are committing in front of their team to be.

Ryan: 3:35

Yeah. And "I think that that's the big part of the commitment statements and, and "I think this is what "I got from, pgc when "I participated. as really "I was kind of a camper at their camp. Is that the idea is that you, you come up with these commitment statements and then. so we do this as a program freshman through senior altogether in one room before the first game of the year. And when we talk about it, once again, it's what you're striving to be. And so then we talk about, Hey, you just presented this to our entire program, so now everybody has heard you say this aloud. So the expectation is that everybody in this room, first off, if they're living up to that, whatever they said that you, you really "I think that that's probably the keys. You want to celebrate people that are living up to their commitment statements. And then when you get to that point, if you, you know, we're all trying to build those relationships. If you have good relationships, if somebody is not living up to that, then you should be able to, hold them accountable. And, and "I really talk about it a lot. when we have this conversation with our seniors, we have four seniors this year. I've known these kids since they were fifth grade feeder kids. you know, "I say especially to those kids, like when they see me, you know, one day if, if one of my commitment states is like coming with authentic energy each day and they say me and I'm, I'm not getting after it for a. Those seniors, they should be calling me out as much as "I would be able to call them out, for not living up to their, their statements. And we kind of joke like if you're, if you're a freshman, you probably don't want to call me out for not living up to my expectations. But, but definitely the, uh, the older kids, you know, we think at that point they're on kind of that level plane where they should be able to hold us accountable.

Luke: 5:19

So to any coach listening right now that does not participate in this, or they do, but they actually as a coach do not present their own commitment statements. Why would you tell them that you think it's important for a coach to also create his or her own commitment statements and present that to the team as well?

Ryan: 5:41

I. Just think in terms. if your kids don't ever see any vulnerability from you, and, we talk to our kids all, all the time. I'm a work in progress as much as, the freshman kids in our program. And so if, if everybody doesn't see it that way, is that we're all trying to improve. And if it's just something you're having the kids do, then "I, "I don't think it's really an authentic exercise, to have everybody on the same.

Luke: 6:05

is it something that throughout the season you could change? Do you allow your players to change if they, they say at the beginning of the year, this is. Who "I am or what "I wanna do or what I'm gonna be about. But as the year goes on, they might start to veer down a different path. do they go back and revisit 'em and maybe edit them throughout the season?

Ryan: 6:25

I really love that idea and, and, and we probably do not do a good enough job. I'm just thinking about all these things that, you know, as you say, that we could definitely revisit that during the season. Uh, one of the things I'm just, I'm thinking about right now is that, you know, we had, probably our second most experienced kid coming back this year, tore a c l a few, few games into the season. And, and "I know that, that that's been a really tough transition for her. and as you say that, that might have been a great exercise for. you know, cuz kind of her role and kind of what she's trying to accomplish this year has obviously changed. And "I, "I think that that might be really for, not just in ca in terms of an injury, but for everybody to kind of revisit those.

Luke: 7:08

Another thing "I like to discuss are your chalk talks that you do throughout the summer and leading into your season. before we hit record, you gave me a little bit of a snapshot of 'em and "I, "I really like that, that concept. So, let's just first help our audience understand what the chalk talks are when you do them and, and why you do them.

Ryan: 7:29

first off, our summers have changed quite a bit. we, we actually have three former players on our staff this year, and they kind of joke when they came into our program, you know, they were used to, you know, a decade ago our summer camp would be six, six to 9:00 AM and we would go play summer league games every night. and we've changed in some ways where, You know, "I think the standards of how hard we work are the same, but I think our focus is a little bit different. So we start each day of camp. we have this great, black box theater that was built at our school a few years ago. So we start every morning in the theater and the chalk talk, the premises that either, I myself, one of the coaches on our staff, and even our players, especially our seniors, will lead. discussions, presentations about what we're trying to accomplish on and off the court for that season.

Luke: 8:22

So how much freedom do you give your players and your coaches "I? Do you just turn it over to them when they, when it's their, day or their week, or are you kind of more hands on and walk 'em through and, and a little bit more? Tensional with the messaging that's coming across in these meetings.

Ryan: 8:39

Yeah. "I would say, I'm, I'm pretty hands off. You know, "I, "I take Probably half the days to myself. So if there's certain messages that "I, that "I really want conveyed, then "I will do those in my chalk talks. Um, but otherwise, when I'm, you know, all the coaches on our staff are responsible to present at least one, and then our seniors present at least one. And "I, you know, "I really wanna see what what they think is important to our program and what perspective they bring without me. Um, I'm another "I know, I'm the head coach of the program, but I'm. Participant in the program. So "I, don't think "I can be top down on all of that.

Luke: 9:13

Can you think of a moment and "I apologize for putting you on the spot with this one, but "I think it just helps those coaches listening what it looks like in these meetings. Cause a lot of us do similar things, but. Help us understand like a great moment that came out of one of those meetings cuz "I do something similar as "I told you before we hit record. And there are certain moments that "I was just blown away and it it something maybe that a coach presented or said or something that a player reveal about himself. And obviously you don't need to tell us the player's name and the coach's name, but just to help us understand what really goes on in these meeting.

Ryan: 9:50

so one of them that you know kind of comes to mind is, each year when you're trying to decide, what the standards are that, that you're trying to live up to within your program, and you kind of hand that, you hand that off to the kids and just listening to the players talk about the things that, you know, in previous years they thought the, the returning kids, the things that they saw that they thought went great, and the things that may have derailed us at points and just to. The kids kind of work through that. And, being, uh, an almost, 50 year old this year, um, my perspective on things that are happening are not the same as, you know, 14 through 18 year old girls. So, just to hear their perspective is, is really powerful. And kind of added to that, you know, we've talked about this a lot. When we talk about great teammates and, and great leaders, um, we often ask kids to reflect upon. Great teammates that they've had in the past and why they were great teammates and a lot of times it's not even a basketball teammate. It might be, you know, some kid that they played soccer with when they were 10 years old. And, you know, trying to give them specific standards to live up to.

Luke: 11:00

We're about the same age based on the number years of experience we have in this profession. And you talked about relatability, and it's interesting and a little bit sad for me because my relatability with the players, you know, the gap is growing. So they're uh, just like that famous line from the movie Daisy confuse, you know, The older "I get, they're staying the same age, and, but there's this gap. And, and, and that's why I've been very intentional with hiring young assistant coaches because "I think that's really important. Now buns me out that I'm not, that I'm not that coach anymore because I'm getting to the point where the players just feel like I'm just the old guy, you know? but yeah, it's, it's really powerful to listen to. Right. That's just so important to listen to what your players have to say cuz then you're gonna be more in tune with meeting them where they're at, which is such an important part of our profession. another topic "I know you're really big on and all of us in the coaching profession are is energy and there's positive and there's negative energy. And "I know you're a John Gordon. As am "I. So let's talk about energy. why is positive energy so important and how do you create energy and practice, especially late in the season? Like, you know where you're at right now? It's so easy those first couple weeks to be really excited, but you're in a sport that it's, it's a long period of time, just like football. It's a long period of time. Plus you throw in summer, So why is positive energy so important, and again, how do you create energy in practice, especially late in the season?

Ryan: 12:40

so well I'll start again with, and you know, "I know probably a lot of your listeners, especially the basketball coaches, know, PGC really well. So this is, once again, um, we've used this acronym their their Shape acronym for years, and the, the letter S in their acronym stands for spirit. And so "I Gue "I, guess the thing that. "I probably learned more than anything. And, uh, "I, "I, I'm a, personally, I'm a, I'm like a pretty mellow person. Pretty, pretty even keeled person. so one of the things, and you know, obviously if you're, if you're a basketball team and, and you do not communicate not only on the court, but off the court, um, you're gonna, you're gonna have a bad team. And so the thing that "I learned probably from PGC and The premise of of Spirit is that if, if you're not with everything we talk about, if, if you're not intentional about those things, it's not going to happen. So you can't just say, you can't walk in and say, Hey, we need good energy today. so that program "I, think we've talked off, off there a little bit about lead him up with Adam Bradley, um, "I, think there's just like programs out there that, that really can help you and teach you how to be intentional about doing that in terms. you know, "I lead 'em up has something called the Nine Clap. Like even teaching kids how to clap on the sidelines for each other. Uh, PGC talks about, how you encourage your teammates, like what things you should say, um, how you should bring people's names to, um, offering suggestions or encouraging them. So once again, "I "I, it is just stuff that we've studied within our program that you can't just say, Hey, we're gonna have great energy today. you have to teach kids how to do that, and you have to be intentional about it every day. and the reality is, is like some, teams I've had, have not bought into it. and some teams have really bought into it. And you can see, you can see results on the court and off the court.

Luke: 14:30

and if you're having a bad energy day. It's pretty obvious. You could feel it as a coach in practice, sometimes it's your coaches, sometimes it's your players, sometimes it's all the above. What do you do "I "I mean? Are you a, are you a press pause type of coach? "I noticed that, uh, you allow your players to call a timeout, which "I thought was interesting. What do you do when the energy is negative or.

Ryan: 14:55

Yeah, so. "I. Think one of the things we'll do. So we, and you're just reminding me of, we, we did that a couple years ago, quite a bit where we tried to give much of the ownership to the kids when they sense that it was not going well to call a timeout and to let them intervene. I think one of the things that we try to do sometimes is, we'll just have a, you know, when you're at basketball practice, you want to do things that are like the most efficient things possible. So, If we have five baskets for a day, then you want to split up kids as much as possible and get as many shots as possible during that drill and be efficient. But sometimes even when it's inefficient, we'll bring all the kids to one basket and we'll say, our entire focus of this drill is just great spirit. Like that's the only thing we're looking at and we'll keep doing it until we get that spirit. once again, sometimes that works. But, you know, if you just let it go and just say, Hey, we're gonna have a poor energy practice, then "I think that that's what you'll get more often than not.

Luke: 15:56

The point is to try to just address it at the moment. And even if you can't fix it, at least you're putting on notice that this is not what we want. This is not who we are as a program. So that, that's some great advice moving forward. And you brought up your acronym of shape, One of the words in there, one of the letters is communication, and that's something that is near and dear to my heart. "I think it's really, really an important skill to impart upon young people, and unfortunately it's one that they're probably most efficient in in today's world. And. One area that I struggle with is the player to player communication. And they're not really good at it. And they, they say things that are so hurtful or just so negative you know, and they, they don't even. I "I don't know "I. They're good people, but they're not like recognizing how damaging player to player communication can be, or more importantly, how powerful player to player communication is and how important it is on great championship teams. So anything you're doing that you could help me on this journey and help our coaches listening to improve player to player communi.

Ryan: 17:06

it's a great question. It's, and it's, it's tough. And "I "I think oftentimes, at least in my experience, some of the, best players, the, the really, really skilled kids, um, "I think sometimes those kids struggle with that. There's, there's other kids that are not, not at the level that they are in terms of, uh, level of play. so one of the things we do, so we. either our captains this year we have a leadership council, so with our seniors, our captains, you know, our better players. Once again, "I, "I think it all goes back to, and I'm not saying these, these things are successful, but we're at least being intentional trying to address those things. So, and once again, I've taken this stuff from, whether it's PGC or other books that I've read, just in terms of talking to kids about, you know, how, how often, before you snap at somebody. have you given them positive encouragement? "I know there's some kind of ratio. "I don't, "I don't remember what that is. Like how often do you say, say your teammate's name when it's not Something about that I'm gonna crack down on you because you just made a turnover or you didn't, you know, you didn't catch my past, or whatever that is. and then, you know, we do things, we talk a lot with our leadership council of a lot about serving your teammates. For example, if you're the senior in our program, we give them a homework assignment of, Hey, you're gonna do something selfless for, the freshmen that are on our varsity. And so maybe you go out with to lunch with them today. maybe you just send them a, you know, a good luck text and get 'em a Gatorade before the game. And so it, it doesn't solve everything. But if, but at least if you have some sort of relationship and they've seen you be kind to them a little bit. Then when you do snap at them on the court for messing up something, that kid might be able to bounce back a little bit more. But "I "I know it's kind of a repetitive answer, but "I think everything that we're trying to do is, trying to be intentional about those things. And I'm not saying that it solves the problem. "I have the, the same issues that you have year in and year out, but um, that's what we're trying to.

Luke: 19:00

The power of little steps of what you brought up is you said buying someone a Gatorade or hey, do you wanna go grab a bite to eat after practice? And, and how far that goes in your right. It does open up the, um, it's like investing money in a bank, right? Like you, you're depositing money in that bank and it's going to improve those lines of communication. Something that we need to definitely keep working with our young people on. They think that communicating via SNAP is the way to do it right now. And even that "I mean some of the things they're putting out there. I'm a dean of students, "I just can't believe what some of these kids are putting out there and missing how important communication is. The other part of communication that "I have really been in tune with lately is coach to player. Why I've become so in tune with it is because "I have high school aged athletes. Myself now as a father and "I hear the things that their coaches will tell them, and "I know their coaches to be great people and good leaders. But then when "I hear my kid get in the car or come home and say, yeah, coach said this, I just cringe like, oh man. That came off wrong, And how much athletes look into everything we say and everything we do. And unfortunately they take those words or those actions as indictments on them as a human or their ability to play the game, which sometimes has nothing to do with that. So to give you an example, I may take an injury. Let's say my corner gets injured. So "I may take my starting running back and say, Hey, you're a really good athlete. "I need you to go play corner. So to me it's a compliment. I'm saying, you're so athletic and diverse, I'm gonna be able to take you from an offense position, put you on a defense position. That kid could be going home though cuz he internalized it, internalizes this as I'm not a good running back. So coach moved. I'm just giving that example of that coach to player communication that "I have been trying to work on. So anything you guys are doing beyond just the chalk talks, "I think that's a great idea to really, again, we keep saying be intentional. "I, "I, pause. I'm thinking of another word, but that's what it is like to be intentional and really think about how you communicate with your players.

Ryan: 21:08

I "I, guess my first thought is just like hearing you say that and some things that have happened this year. "I "I. First off, "I. Think "I Probably "I probably failed that quite a bit. and "I think part of it is the things that, like you said, what I'm saying and how the kid is interpreting it are totally on different wavelengths. you know, "I and one thing that just comes up, so "I, "I mentioned earlier that, so we're, we're really fortunate. We have three of our former athletes on, on our staff this year, and one of the one is our freshman coach. And we were talking after practice one day and she brought up something that "I, that "I said to the team, "I mean this is, you know, she graduated in 2016, "I, don't know some, somewhere around there. And she brought up something that "I said to the. and she kind of joked and she said, I'm, I'm still mad at you about that, like this comment that "I made to the team. And, and she said it and "I "I said, I have no recollection of ever of ever even saying that, comment to the team. and the reason why "I say that "I "I think "I can do a much better job of this is that "I think when, when you get caught up, you know, we're. towards the end of our season getting ready for the playoffs. "I think that that's where, really, where "I, "I lack personally, where just to make sure that I'm still checking in individually with each kid and just, just seeing where they are. you know, one of the things we did a couple years ago that "I thought was great is my, my assistant coach and "I, we would take a kid, uh, at the end of practice each day and we would just, uh, he and "I would just shoot free throws with that. and just, you know, it wasn't in the coach's office, like at the desk, it was just this like casual conversation, but gave everybody a chance to check in and "I think that, to me that would probably be the biggest one, is that you, you lose sight of that, you know, you're prepping for, for the playoffs, conference standings, all those kind of things. "I think kind of those individual check-ins is probably the biggest.

Luke: 23:02

"I like that, shoot and free throws. It's really twofold cuz that's such an important skill to work on. But more importantly, you're having a very organic conversation in that moment as well. Where the player may not even realize that it's a check-in because she thinks she's just simply working on a basketball skill. What about that non-verbal piece? Because that's another one that kids are just struggling with and "I, I'm sure we did when we were teenagers as well. Just that age. You just, sometimes you portray such a bad, your messaging is bad. So what are you doing with that nonverbal piece? Are. Having coaches demonstrate good and bad body language. Are you, reading articles? What are you doing to help with that nonverbal communication?

Ryan: 23:47

So "I "I know this is gonna be repetitive, but I'll, I'll go back to the PGC stuff because that's, had such a, a huge impact on me. And so they talk about this all the time about your eye contact when you're at for players, um, about being locked in and what your body positioning's li like about not taking extra dribbles or extra shots with the ball. And so the, what probably struck me most is "I went to this when "I went to this camp years ago. You know, they have this thing where they have players locked in and basically they're making eye contact and they're not supposed to move an inch. and once again, it doesn't mean you're a good kid or a bad kid if you can't stay locked in. Cuz some kids really struggle with that. And "I, remember "I was at this camp and there was probably a hundred plus kids in the gym You know, they're teaching kids these principles of locking in and you could just see, you look around the gym and there'd be, you know, a couple kids that just couldn't, you know, they're wavering back and forth, or they're just, they had a hard time focusing on who was speaking. And it just was like so striking because all the other kids were so focused and attentive I didn't really imagine that that's what a basketball practice could look like. And, and they're doing it with a hundred plus kids in the. and so that's what we've tried to, really initiate into our program. And now we even have our, our feeder coaches all do it with their kids and they always joke about locking in and it's, it's become kind of a, a principle to our program.

Luke: 25:11

Yeah, locking in an eye contact and man, you know, end of practice is very stereotypical of football coaches. We bring people in. At the end of practice, everyone takes a knee. and I'm, every day, I'm constantly reminding players, eyes up, please look at me and I'll stop. I'll stop "I, try my hardest. Not to be long-winded, but we are. We're all long-winded in this business. But I'll stop and be like, Jimmy, please look at me. And I'm constantly reminding our players, if you came and talked to me or you came and talked with my assistant coaches, "I, promise you one. We're going to have eye contact. We are gonna be locked in on what you have to say. We're not gonna have an earbud in our ears. We're not gonna have a phone in our hands because what you're saying to us is really important at that moment. And please show us that same respect and just something that "I don't know if I'm making a headway on it, but that's definitely a hill "I will die on. "I. Think it's really important that we teach kids in the high schools in the, at the high school age of how important eye contact. Truly listening with the intent to. Because walking down the hallway, how many times, I'll tell you, take your ear butt out, "I have to ask you something. Well, "I don't have music on. That's not what "I asked you. Please take your ear butt out and, and please listen with that intent of actually learning or what "I actually have to say, hearing what "I have to say. Um, Another thing "I want you to go a little bit deeper on was the concept of, of expecting to do more than your share. Now, "I understand what those words mean, but what's that look like? what exactly does that mean in your program expecting to do more than your share.

Ryan: 26:51

Yeah. So "I think that that is, you know, there's, there's obviously the on the court part of it, and you have those kids that, every day are putting in that extra time and getting extra shots and doing those things. and "I guess the part of that, that "I see where it's doing more than going beyond that is once again, are you bringing somebody else with you? do you show up and offer to help, the freshman team when we're outta practice, do you ever show up on Sundays and help out with the feeder program? "I just think that there's, there's opportunities. Um, you know, basketball is, if it's not a, a we sport, You are not gonna have a good team. And so we're trying to demonstrate how we can be. We focused on the court and off the.

Luke: 27:43

with the concept of, and "I, like the saying that you had in one of your PowerPoints. Uh, if you're not contributing, you are contaminating. And, I. "I like that, "I like that a lot. That, that's, that's really good. So how do you help your players to understand that they are important contributing members because, Football has a lot of kids on a team. Not everybody plays and there's no difference with basketball. You have five kids on the court, there's maybe 16 to 18 deep on the bench. You might go eight deep depending on the game. So everyone's important though, right? And And you're trying to constantly make sure kids understand that you are an important contributing member to this team. How do you make sure that everybody on your. First of all feels valued and two recognizes that although they may not be on be on the court scoring 30 points, they are contributing to the success of the team.

Ryan: 28:41

and once again, "I "I would say that that's probably a struggle that "I have many times and I'm sure you could get athletes that I've coached to, to say that about me. and so "I think, I think one of the things is, you have to find ways to celebrate those kids. And so one of the ways that we do that, this was a John Gordon idea of, um, he had the book, the Hard Hat. So, uh, we tried to do that throughout our program. Every couple weeks we have the Hard Hat Player of the week, uh, which is basically who has been, uh, without going through all the details, who's been the. Teammate on each of the levels within our program and try to find ways to celebrate that. and we, talk about it all the time. when we do film, we actually stop a lot when we get good angles. "I, I've heard about teams that actually film their bench separately during games, and so just, we don't do that. But when we get good angles of our bench and we look at what our bench looks. we, we just like, we stop and look at a play in film, we stop and we look at that about like how our, how our bench is engaged. And "I can tell you, we have been this year have been so fortunate. This has been, I know this is like a, for some people a strange thing to hear, but this has been one of our best benches that we've had of just kids that don't get a lot of minutes just being engaged all the time. And so "I just think you have to highlight those. and uh, like "I said, probably the thing, you know, like every coach, like I'm so focused on scouting report next opponent, like getting to practice that those, the other part of it is probably those individual check-ins, which "I can definitely do be doing a better job of those.

Luke: 30:16

"I, like that film and the bench. That's really, really good. "I "I have done the same thing, probably not enough. We're on a play. We will point out someone celebrating success of a teammate you know, look at Jimmy on the sideline. He's the first one to come off the field and High five Bobby for scoring a touchdown. "I think that's really important because what will reward. Gets repeated, and that's essentially what you're talking about there. So we have to highlight the behaviors that we want to see because then we're more likely to have that show up more and more often throughout our program. And it's all about having standards in your program. And we all have standards and a lot of our standards, regardless of sport, are those things like hustling and no excuses. Team before me and those types of things, which are all important. But one of your standards that "I really liked is joy. And you don't see that a lot in coaches' standards or mission statements, but the older "I get, the more "I realize that joy and happiness are really important if we're gonna do a good job in this profession. So why do you believe joy to be important enough that you include it in one of your standards?

Ryan: 31:26

Yeah, "I mean "I would just say the biggest thing when you have done this for, like "I said, I'm now on, you're 27 of doing this, and, uh, "I know you talked about ha having, uh, older kids, "I have two young sons. And you you're really dedicating a lot of time to sacrificing things with, you know, you're away from your family, you're missing out on like, quite a few things. And so, you know, if you're, if you're gonna dedicate that amount of time to, to doing something, and you know, as a head coach, it's a lot of time And so "I just think that if, joy is not part of what you're doing and you're not enjoying your time with the kids and what you're doing with the sport, then you probably should find something else to be doing with your time.

Luke: 32:10

How do you know as a coach If it's there, meaning joy "I, like how do you pay attention to it throughout the year that you, your coaches and your players are enjoying the game and enjoying the process?

Ryan: 32:27

Yeah. And "I "I think that's a great question. "I and "I, "I actually think it's kind of complicated in probably any sport, but "I. But "I know in, in basketball, you know, our kids had had. "I had a big upset win yesterday, and we were actually close on an upset win a couple weeks ago. And, and we kind of dumped it at the end. And, you know, we talked before the game about, there's so many emotions and ups and downs during a season, so it's not just joy in terms of like, you're smiling, you're goofy and you're happy all the time. to me it's about, and this is what we said to the kids before and after the. is can you get a team to be connected on the court and how you're playing and then off the court and "I think that that's the challenge and probably why "I "I love coaching so much. And I've had a lot of teams that have failed at doing that. And, and I'm not "I, we had two teams that played in state championships and I'll likely never have teams as talented as that, but I'm talking about, you have teams. regardless of the win loss record, if you can get them to be really connected to each other, and, you know, we, we had it for a, a day yesterday. And so the, the challenging part and the exciting part, and the part that "I think is joyful is like, can you be consistent with that? Can you build that year after year? And sometimes you do. And sometimes,

Luke: 33:45

It's one of the big challenges of coaches. You take a room of individuals at the beginning of the year and you hope by the end they leave a team and it's just so rewarding to see. Them gel and become one unit as opposed to as "I said, a bunch of individuals. And my last question before "I let you go, and we go enjoy s uh, championship Sunday, n f L football, the 10 80 10 rule, we all know this exists, it's something we talk about in education all the time. It's talked about in the business world, and it's a real thing. And the more I'm in this profession, the more "I recognize. You know, you have your players in a top 10%. You have that middle 80%, which is the bulk of everyone, and then you have your bottom 10%. And I kind of go back and forth on who do we need to focus on? Yeah, we gotta focus on all of 'em and every kid's important. "I. Get that. "I, totally get that. But as a coach right now, where you standing year 27? what would you argue is the group that you need to focus most on to help have the success that you want to have? Is it moving that 80%? Up towards the top 10%. Is it focus on the 10% and get them out of the bottom, Or is it focused on the 10% and hope that they could help cure you or their positive energy or their, talents could help trickle onto the rest of the team? What would you argue is the group that you think you need to focus on?

Ryan: 35:15

yes, "I. I'd probably go with the, if "I had to answer one of the groups "I, I'd probably go with that middle 80. because those are, those are probably the kids that can really go either direction, depending on, like "I said, you're gonna have all of these ups and downs during, during a season. And if you have kind of the momentum of your team, you know, in that middle moving, hopefully moving to that to be more like those top 10%, then regardless of your record "I, think you're gonna. A great season, you're gonna have a great time with your kids. So "I "I would probably go with that middle 80% to focus on.

Luke: 35:52

Yeah, and, and again, "I wanna stress. "I "I. Think you gotta focus on everyone. I'm not saying anyone is indispensable. But "I just think that, uh, sometimes there's only so much you can do. And unfortunately, there's some people that no matter what you do, they're just gonna be great they don't even need you. Sometimes you just gotta get out of the way and hopefully don't screw them up. And then there's some other people that we deal with in this business that for whatever reason, they're just not. Interested in listening to the message and they're not interested in believing in the values. And sometimes, no matter what you do, you're, you just cannot reach that person. And that 80% is being torn in either direction. And if too many get torn down as opposed to pulled up. "I "I. Think that's where it really could lead to some trouble for you a as a head coach. So thanks for sharing your thoughts on that and "I really appreciate all the great ideas "I know you've mentioned that you've taken this idea from this area, taken idea from this area we all have. So no need to be apologetic for it because. You're being humble and you make it yours. So it is yours. As soon as you put it into your program and you put your own touch on it, it becomes yours. So, "I, appreciate your humbleness, but "I just wanted to to point that out to you. So, uh, we all do it. And, uh, football's probably the worst. Like, we sit with notebooks and we watch a play on tv, like, oh, gotta put that in this week. So, uh, "I get it. And "I, "I just really enjoyed this conversation. "I really enjoyed learning about your program. "I, appreciate all those things that you sent to. There's a lot of other things "I like to talk about, you know, the green teams and what it means to play green and the positive touches. you know, the things that you have ideas on you haven't done yet, like the banquet speech and writing a letter to the sport. you're really a deep thinker on these things. So thank you for all you're doing. At Rolling medals. Thank you for making the world a better place by taking young people and having them leave your classroom and leave your program as better human beings, because that's really what our profession is all about. And thank you for sharing those ideas on the "I win today.

Ryan: 37:58

Thank you Luke "I "I. Hope to uh, connect again and look forward to, uh, listening some more to your podcast.