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Positivity Means Helping Kids Grow And Improve

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Paul Snow is one of the Athletic Directors at Menlo-Atherton High School (@bearsathletics_) in Atherton, CA. Prior to arriving at Menlo-Atherton in 2005, Snow coached both the varsity boys and girls soccer squads, and served as the Athletic Director at Thurgood Marshall Academic High School in San Francisco. Snow also teaches history at M-A and served as the head girls' varsity soccer coach. In 2017, Snow and Co-AD Steve Kryger were named the Northern California Girls and Boys Athletic Directors of the Year by the California Coaches Association (CCA).

Snow talks about how he keeps his team competitive while staying positive. He creates a culture of positivity so that when he has to be critical or fix a part of the team, he can do so in a constructive manner. He will start with something positive the team does whether they win or lose, and then talk about what they need to get better at. He never singles a player out because that would be a negative and embarrassing thing to do to that player. This constructive criticism allows the team to create a culture of growth and improvement.