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The Ideal Qualities Of A Youth And High School Sports Culture

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Heather Woody, a 2017 Double-Goal Coach® Award Winner, coaches for the Iowa Speed Track and Field club. Woody and her coaching staff serve about 220 athletes, mostly residing in or near Iowa City, but some arriving from two hours’ driving distance. “Anybody can be a part of this,” she said. “We don’t care if they’re fast. We don’t care if they’re talented. We just want kids to do things that are healthy and positive."

Woody says that the ideal qualities of a youth and high school sports culture are: positive, uplifting, focused, and energetic. She goes on to say that she teaches lots of different lessons to her athletes, such as learning from winning and from losing. Another point of emphasis for Woody is that every athlete gets better every day. The most important overarching lesson that happens in an ideal youth sports culture is that ideally, the experiences athletes have will carry over into the world for the rest of their lives.