Joe Ehrmann (@JoeEhrmann76), a PCA National Advisory Board Member and winner of PCA's Ronald L. Jensen Award for Lifetime Achievement, is a former NFL Pro Bowl defensive lineman, founder of Coach For America and author of InSide Out Coaching. Ehrmann gained additional prominence when Parade Magazine dubbed him “the most important coach in America” for his unorthodox, but highly effective, coaching at Gilman School in the Baltimore area. Ehrmann was also the subject of Season of Life by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jeffrey Marx.

In this video, Ehrmann focuses on how the unique environment of youth sports helps coaches and parents teach relationship skills to athletes. When guided by adults who focus on these aspects, youth sports can help kids learn how to connect and develop empathy toward others, critical lessons and character traits or future interpersonal relationships.

Sports also provide a platform to learn about diversity within relationships. It’s an environment in which kids are interacting with people of different races, religions, family types and more. This is one of the highest values of team sports. This “wonderful diversity” in sports, as Ehrmann suggests, is a vital platform for teaching diverse relationships to the impressionable youth.