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Positive Coaching Means Taking A Step Back And Seeing Athletes As People

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Steve Kryger (@coachskryger) is an Athletic Director at Menlo-Atherton High School in Atherton, CA. Kryger has been at M-A since 2008, also teaching math and coaching boys' lacrosse. Prior to M-A, he coached basketball at Hillsdale, Palo Alto, and San Mateo highs, and was named San Mateo County Girls' Basketball Coach of the Year in 2000 and again in 2008. In 2017, Kryger and Co-AD Paul Snow were named the Northern California Girls and Boys Athletic Directors of the Year by the California Coaches Association (CCA).

In this video, Kryger talks about how coaches should be able to understand their players. Coaches need to be able to see them as people before they look at them as athletes. They need to see that these are students who have a lot going on outside of sports that may affect how they are performing on the field. A coach who takes interest in player's lives outside of sports shows the coach truly cares about them. The players are much more likely to trust a coach who cares about them. This trust allows the team to run smoother and be more successful.