The Double-Goal Coach and Second-Goal Parent
Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA) has developed a trademarked approach to youth and high school sports coaching known as The Double-Goal Coach--whose first goal is winning and whose second, more-important goal is teaching life lessons through sports.

Just as PCA trains coaches to use sports to teach life lessons, we urge parents to be Second-Goal Parents, who leave concerns about winning to the players and coaches, while focusing on the ‘second goal’ of teaching life lessons through sports.

Coaching and Parenting Principles
Underlying these philosophies is world-class research in sports psychology and educational psychology that informs a Mental Model of three principles at the heart of Double-Goal Coaching and Second-Goal Parenting:

Redefining “Winner”
Not every player can achieve a scoreboard win in every game. But coaches and players who pursue mastery of their sports, rather than measuring themselves solely by the scoreboard, are still winners.

Filling Emotional Tanks
Each person has an “emotional tank” equivalent to the gas tank of a car. When the tank is empty, we go nowhere. When the tank is full, we can go a great distance. Youth athletes should have their tanks filled with a ratio of five specific, truthful praises to each constructive criticism.

Honoring the Game
Victory without honor is not victory. A positive, character-building sports environment entails organizational leaders, coaches, parents and athletes respecting their ROOTS, an acronym for respecting Rules, Opponents, Officials Teammates and Self.

Click here to read more about PCA’s Mental Model for coaches and parents.

What is Positive Coaching Alliance?
PCA is a non-profit founded within the Stanford University Athletic Department in 1998, with the mission to “transform youth sports, so sports can transform youth” so that all youth and high school athletes can have a positive, character-building sports experienc e.

To that end, PCA has conducted roughly 5,000 face-to-face workshops nationwide for more than 1,100 youth sports organizations, cities and schools, training more than 200,000 youth sports leaders, coaches, parents and athletes, and impacting more than 3,000,000 children. Click here to learn more about PCA and how you can bring Positive Coaching to your school or youth sports organization.