#Mudita Mondays
For anyone who’s listened to the podcast on a regular basis, you know that having great assistant coaches is one of the biggest keys to being a good head coach. One of my assistants, a complete boss named Patrick Frost, came up with an idea that we first implemented this week: #Mudita Mondays.
Every Monday, I send out a newsletter to all of our current players, their parents/guardians, our coaching staff, and anyone else who wants it. Like some other programs, we often refer to mudita, the idea of having vicarious joy through the success of others. (Not easy to root for the guy who beat you out for the starting spot, but mudita - and team culture - requires it.)
Coach Frost then came up with an idea recently: to provide an opportunity for mudita in each newsletter I send out. A chance for everyone to share in the success of each other’s accomplishments. We plan to use #Mudita Mondays as a way to celebrate not only sport successes, but life sucesses.
For example, last year a couple of our freshmen cleaned a school restroom that had been left extremely messy, without prompting, and got caught in the act by an administrator. We had a senior break up a fight between some students in the hallway, while others stood around and filmed it on their phones. We had kids passing IB exams on full IB diplomas.
These are the types of things we’re on the lookout for. Here’s what this week’s #Mudita Monday listed in the newsletter I sent out to our program:
Cole Weiland (2023) helped his squad win the Baseball Northwest Championship for the Class of 2023.
Carter Nelson (2024) had the top curveball spin rate (2441 rpm) among his class at Baseball Northwest.
Noah Scharer (2025) had the 7th highest fastball velocity (83 mph) among his class at Baseball Northwest.
Gavin Price (2025) hit a walk-off single in a game as a member of The League at the University of Portland.
Teagan Scott (2026)verbally committed to Oregon State University shortly after earning MVP honors en route to helping Oregon Metro win the Baseball Northwest championship for the Class of 2026-27.
So, assuming you send out some emails to the people invested in your program, could you do a #Mudita Monday? Obviously the name can be different, but the goal should be the same: to celebrate what your student-athletes do!
Other tidbits:
Jaeger Sports recently updated their mental practice plans. Can’t recommend them enough!
Ian McDonald shared an absolute gold mine for recruiting tips on Twitter. I’ll do a deep dive on this in next week’s newsletter, but if you want to go down the rabbit hole on your own, have at it!
Our sponsor, Netting Pros, is doing a ball cart giveaway! Check it out for a chance to win a ball cart for FREE, with no strings attached!
There’s a job opening for an S&C coach in Tyler, Texas, with some of the most amazing athletic facilities you’ll see in the country. If you’re looking for a spot, this might be the one.
Justin Brown shared six things about being a head coach he wishes he’d known before becoming a head coach.
