Mentoring Will Never Go Out of Style
The single act of mentoring has changed the world. It will never go out of style, even though the word itself has lost some of its “pizazz”. It is a core principle that PFP was founded on. We exist to be mentor-leaders for the student-athletes we serve.
Every single one of the most successful and impactful people in the world who have CHANGED the world attribute their success to the advice, guidance, challenges, love, and wisdom they received from their mentors.
So listen up...this is going to get good.
According to the National Mentoring Partnership, more than eighteen million young people need a mentor, but only three million are involved in mentoring relationships.
Young people who have mentors are:
1. Far more likely to stay in school
2. 46% less likely to use drugs
3. 27% less likely to use alcohol than their non-mentored peers
Mentoring Defined
A personal relationship between an experienced, knowledgeable person and a less-experienced person, involving conversations, instruction, guidance, and challenge.
When I look around at the sports world…
The relationships most coaches have with their players…
The relationships most athletic trainers and strength coaches have with their athletes…
And the relationships most teachers have with their students…
I see a massive opportunity. One that could transcend the ENTIRE sports world into one that helps every youth athlete strengthen their self-belief and become the successful, resilient leader they were meant to be.
That is the world I see. That is the world that God is working to build through PFP and other service focused youth organizations.
The opportunity to change the sports industry starts on the ground floor, the “frontline”, with the daily act of mentoring.
Real conversations, thoughtful instruction, unending guidance, and appropriate challenge.
Real conversations
Wind sprints and push-ups cannot help an athlete who is struggling to overcome mistakes quickly.
Better-run plays and drills will not help an athlete overcome their fear of disappointing their parents, coaches, or peers.
Harder tests and longer assignments will not inspire an athlete to take more risks and relentlessly pursue the greatness that is inside of them.
We must have deep, real, meaningful conversations with the individual students.
Thoughtful Instruction
This means spending time with the athlete until they’ve “got it”.
Most kids are afraid to ask for help not because they are lazy, but because for some reason they believe that they should “already get it” and they don’t want to look like the dumb kid who needs extra help.
Thoughtful instruction is a form of mentoring where the adult plans and prepares better ways to teach, and initiates further instruction by watching and observing when the person being mentored doesn’t quite understand.
Hold their hand and spoon feed them forever? No.
Become better “teachers” by investing more time, energy, and resources to learn how to teach it better? Yes!
Unending Guidance
As I’ve mentioned, we have over 50 athletes that are playing collegiate sports who train at PFP.
They learn during their first year away that the guidance doesn’t stop. We reach out to them multiple times per week individually and with community groups we have formed for them. Why?
Because better guidance is needed the older you get.
College problems are less petty but more serious than high school problems.
I had a mentor for my last 2 years of college and it was the most pivotal time in my life to have one. It changed everything for me.
As a coach, teacher, or mentor, you cannot have the mindset that you “did your part” after having one fifteen minute meeting with the kid's life you are supposedly changing.
Mentoring means unending and unfailing guidance. It never stops.
Appropriate Challenge
Most of us, aside from Navy Seals and some other insanely motivated people out there, need a mentor to challenge us to be our best.
What a blessing to have in your child’s life... Someone who will challenge them appropriately to take risks, step outside their comfort zone, and experience the fullness of their potential.
Coaches, parents, teachers, trainers…we can all, myself included, step up our mentoring game.
Don’t forget the mission.
Remember that mentoring is the key factor in building our young men and women into confident, successful leaders on and off the field.
Real conversations, thoughtful instruction, unending guidance, and appropriate challenge.
Building a better future for our youth,
Coach Andrew Simpson and the PFP Team
P.S. Do not forget to intentionally fill YOUR emotional tank by having a mentor yourself. It is the circle of mentoring.
Mentor others→ Receive Mentoring→ Mentor others→ Receive Mentoring
