Dear PB Readers,

Research indicates that one of the most important people in a child's life is their coach. Children and teenagers often respect and value their coach's opinion and feedback more then their own parents. Canada has over one million registered coaches who donate literally millions of hours of volunteer time to improve the quality of the lives of children and adults in their communities. This past week I had the privilege of being invited to speak to three different groups of coaches around Ontario. On Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday evening I spoke to over 250 hockey, soccer, figure skating, lacrosse, baseball, basketball, track and skiing coaches from New Liskard in the north to Harrow in the south. Some of the coaches were teenagers just beginning their contribution to society and others were over 60 years of age and have spent over 75% of their lives passing on their knowledge.

For anyone who has ever watched THE AMAZING RACE on TV they will be able to appreciate the way my Friday unfolded. After a sold out Thursday night talk in New Liskard (Northern Ontario) I returned to my hotel room, packed and called the front desk for a 6 AM wake-up call. In horror I awoke on my own Friday morning at 7 AM (the hotel had forgotten to wake me) and I had a 120 mile drive ahead of me to the North Bay Airport. Add in a snow blizzard and it became obvious I was likely going to miss my 9am air flight to Toronto. Once at the airport I was informed that the flight had been cancelled due to weather conditions but a 4pm flight was still available. Not one to give up easily, I rented a car in North Bay and started my 1000km trip to Harrow/Windsor for my 6pm coaches talk that night. Add in a flat tire near Orillia and two accident delays and you have the ingredients to test your internal fortitude. With minutes to spare, I ended up in the same small gymnasium that I had spent thousands of hours during my high school days. Looking out at the motivated faces of the 120 coaches in the room, I knew the long trip was worth the extra effort.

The coaching association of Ontario (CAO) were incredibly excited to see the interest for our coaching information sessions. The CAO believed that if we could bring the information to the coaches, they would consume the information and take it back to their teams. Research indicates that one teenager who gets locked up in jail will have nearly $50 000.00 spent on their rehabilitation. For the same amount of money, two Kinesiology graduates could be employed for a year running free camps and basketball leagues to keep teenagers focused and away from drugs and violence. One coach can accommodate 20-30 kids a season and change their lives forever. One coach can make an economic impact on their town (by running a tournament or setting up a race). One coach can develop the next Daniel Igali or Marine McBean. One coach can make such a difference.

One of the finest books on the market is written by sport researcher Jim Thompson. The California based writer was disappointed to see the direction sport has been heading in the last decade and has helped create the POSTIVE COACHING ALIANCE (PCA). The goal of the PCA is to positively impact children's experiences in sport. Thompson's book "THE DOUBLE GOAL COACH" recognizes the importance we all place on winning (not a bad thing) but the PCA would like to ensure that we leave children in a better state than we found them. There can only be one OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST and only one NHL CHAMPION (well zero this year). Thompson believes that the greatest thing a coach can do is to FILL UP A CHILD'S EMOTIONAL GAS TANK. Good coaches pass on knowledge, great coaches inspire children to dream and strive to be better then they ever believed possible.

Thompson and his colleagues looked at two types of coaches/players/parents. One group is called "SCORE BOARD WATCHERS". These are parents/players who really only care about winning. If the score says 4 to 3 for their team, they have won and are happy. If the score says 21 to 18 for the opposition then, regardless of how well they have played, are unsatisfied due to a loss on the score board. The second group consists of coaches/athletes and parents who are more interested in MASTERY OF THEIR SKILLS. Research from the Sydney Olympic Games indicates that athletes who focused on MASTERY (doing what they have seen trained to do rather then worrying about the score board or their competition) were significantly more successful in terms of winning medals. My sense is that most of you would likely believe the opposite, but research clearly indicates that focusing on becoming a great athlete rather then winning will ultimately lead to more victories. SCORE BOARD WATCHERS have higher anxiety and greater fear of making mistakes. MASTERY COACHES and ATHELTES worry more about controlling their own effort and performance and less on what their competition does. Any parent or coach interested in learning more should go to Thompson's website at www.positivecoach.org.

Welcome to our many new coaches and readers in our 234th consecutive Personal Best Weekly Newsletter. Our goal each week is to be a positive source of information and thinking in a busy world and life. For those who would like to see our many past issues, all of the past newsletters are archived at www.personalbest.ca I encourage you to sign up your family, friends and co-workers for their own free weekly copy. Lastly, I greatly appreciate each of you who send contributions, stories and ideas for "our collective newsletter". Have a great week.

APRIL 4th PB HIGHLIGHTS

* NEIL SIMON QUOTE ON TAKING A RISK
* SHELDON PERSAD'S ARTICLE ON BEING INEFFICIENT
* READER'S LETTER ON ACHIEVEING EXCELLENCE # 1
* READER'S LETTER ON ACHIEVEING EXCELLENCE # 2
* READER'S LETTER ON ACHIEVEVING EXCELLENCE # 3
* JOIN BARRIE & FRIENDS FOR JUNE 2ND CALEDON GOLF FUND RAISER
* THIS FRIDAY EVENING FREE AQUAFINA NUTRITION TALK WITH C3
* THIS SATURDAY MEGA TRAINING DAY IN CALEDON WITH BARRIE/CARON/GREG

NEIL SIMON QUOTE ON TAKING A RISK

"If no one ever took risks, Michelangelo would have painted on the Sistine floor."

SHELDON PERSAD SAYS BEING INEFFICIENT CAN BE A GOOD THING!

Our society is fixated on time. The most common reason given for lack of participating in a fitness program is "I don't have any time." Granted, some of us are so busy and there are so many things that we put ahead of our own health, that spending time exercising is unrealistic. For most of us our family is our number one priority. I know that if my 3 year old daughter asks for a puppet show just before I want to go out for a run, well, the show must go on!

With our crazy busy schedules why not try to fit some activity into our daily lives? It is so easily said but sometimes not as easy to follow through. Often, we just need gentle reminders. If you have a busy day ahead, with little to no time for exercise, why not think of it as "inefficiency day"? Try to walk as much as you can around the office. Take a break from the computer to walk to the water cooler more often, stand and stretch after every 15 - 30 mins. If going to a meeting in a public place, try to park a little further away and take the stairs if possible.

There are so many ways we can become a little more active during our busy days but sometimes we just need a little reminder. For example, in a study of escalator vs. stair use researchers placed a sign of a cartoon figure shaped like a heart in front of the escalators at a shopping mall. The cartoon depiction was of a heart that was out of shape, sad looking, holding on to the railing and obese. Next to the out of shape heart was a cartoon of a fit heart trotting up the stairs with the caption "Your heart needs exercise, here's your chance." The researchers observed more than 21,000 people and found that these simple cartoons increased stair usage in the shopping mall by 13% to 16%. Most interesting is that obese people's use of the stairs quadrupled.

We don't always have time for a workout, but perhaps we can be more active by squeezing in little breaks to stretch or walk for short periods. Give yourself little reminders to take the long way around every once and a while. A little inefficiency can be a good thing.

Sheldon Persad is a co-founder of Personal Best, one of Canada's most sought after high performance strength consultants and the proud father of a beautifully active three year old! Sheldon can be reached at Sheldon@personalbest.ca

OUR READER'S THOUGHTS ON ACHIEVEING EXCELLENCE

Those of you who have been following the column for the past few weeks will know that I asked people what they believed it took to excel in sport/business/school/arts. I started with my own formula, but realized I was likely missing out on a few key elements. If you missed past articles on the subject go to our website at www.personalbest.ca and look at articles # 232 and #233. This week I am continuing to print some of the vastly different letters that you have sent in. I find each one fascinating and next week intend on summarizing my observations over the four week journey.

ACHIEVING EXCELLENCE LETTER # 1

Hi! Barrie I would like to suggest that you need to add another parameter to your definition of excellence and that is love. I don't mean physical love (although that is nice if you have it) but the love of your sport, job or occupation. I believe that if you don't have this it is hard to have the passion and belief that you can excel at whatever you are involved in. Many of our youth are pushed into some sports that they don't really love and therefore rarely succeed, I have three daughters and when they were growing up I tried to get them interested into different sports but they were not the athletic type so i just backed off and let them do what they really loved (doing crafts). I am currently 78 years old and I continue to swim, skate and bicycle, while I do not excel at them, I go out and do the best I can do and feel that I am successful. To excel in something I believe you need to love what you are doing. K.M.

ACHIEVING EXCELLENCE LETTER # 2

Hi Barrie It's good to see that you're still stimulating people's thoughts on performance. Clearly a person's drive to succeed is important and quite often the longer the person stays passionate and works at a specific discipline, the greater their chance of outperforming others (excellence).

I think that the real interesting question is why do some people have that passion and why will they work so hard and so long at excelling in one area. I think that quite often the answer is that they are unhappy with their lot in life and not the most well adjusted, content people. While this may sound like a negative viewpoint on the highest performers in the world it is really an opinion that the high achievers are those who have decided to channel their discontent into a socially acceptable direction for the purpose of becoming better than others. Once they have excelled, they are no longer so discontent. Do you think that Lance Armstrong would have done what he did in the cycling world if he was a well adjusted happy young man? Anger and unhappiness can take a person a long way in our society if channeled in the right direction.
So in summary, when looking for a high performer, in my opinion, don't look for the happy well adjusted kid but look for the one who doesn't like their life as is and has something to prove to themselves and others. The hotter that deep burning, the greater the likelihood that they'll work the hardest at relieving it. If it's in a socially acceptable direction then the outcome will be excellence! D.R.

ACHIEVING EXCELLENCE LETTER # 3

Hi Barrie, I just read your article about excellence. I think part of the equation might include support/ mentorship/coaching. It's hard to accomplish great things all on your own. I know my best Ironman result came from reading about mental training from Terry Orlick and training with friends. My success came from my boss allowing me a little more flexibility in my work hours to do that early morning swimming or long afternoon workout. My husband making me late dinners while I stretched helped me excel and coaching from a friend or fans cheering me on at the race was key... I had the pleasure of hearing Jim Hayhurst talk about his life changing Everest expedition. He had trainers to prepare him for the physical aspects, the support of his wife for a drastic change in their family schedule, expedition leaders... Lance Armstrong has a coach, a chef, team mates, sponsors, doctors, a mom who believed in him...So support/mentorship/coaching is not genetics, is it part of what fuels passion? Is it lucky to have a supportive family or find a good coach? Or is it another part of the equation? A.S.

JOIN BARRIE FOR JUNE 2ND ATHLETE FUNDRAISING GOLF TOURNAMENT

Once a year I host a non-profit golf tournament to help athletes who have world class talent and little financial resources. This year's tournament is Thursday June 2nd at the beautiful Caledon Golf and Country Club. The afternoon tournament includes lunch, 18 holes of golf, draw prizes, silent auction gifts, a great post-day supper and a motivational speaker. Often this is my only 18 holes of golf for the summer. Please consider joining me in this fun, motivational, and important fund raising day. To register for the tournament, or the evening only supper, or to donate some draw prizes for the day please contact Judy Riseborough at golf@c3online.ca.

FREE AQUAFINA TALK FRI APRIL 8TH

Can't lose weight? Want to put on muscle? Running out of energy in the middle of the day? Sport Nutritionist Tania Persad will be putting on a free Aquafina Talk at Robert F. Hall High School this Friday evening from 7-9pm. Details on how to RSVP a free seat and directions to the school are on the C3 website www.c3online.ca

LAST INDOOR MEGA DAY THIS SATURDAY APRIL 9TH

While the weather is improving it can still be nasty outside in early April. Join Barrie / Caron and Greg Pace for the last indoor Mega Training Day at the Bolton Arena. 9-12 indoor biking with Greg Pace. 1:30-2:45pm Power Yoga With Caron Shepley. 4-5:30pm swim lessons or hard workout with Barrie Shepley. Limited spin bikes and windtrainers are for rent. Register by going to the C3 website www.c3online.ca

HAVE A GREAT WEEK AND TRY TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN AT LEAST ONE OTHER PERSON'S LIFE!