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My Mom, The Football Coach
Moms Tackle the Opportunity of a Lifetime
By Gwen Morrison
Thanks to an innovative program created and offered by the National Football League (NFL), a group of eager moms tackled the task of coaching 12- to 14-year-olds in the game of football. Taking on the role of youth football coaches, these moms from Somers, N.Y. learned the basics of the sport through classroom sessions and on-field training.
Scott Lancaster, the senior director of the Youth Football Programs for the NFL is the mastermind behind the Junior Player Development Program (JPD), which initially began as a quest to get more children involved in sports. The JPD program is designed to teach children life skills, such as responsibility, goal setting and self-control. His ultimate goal was to give the game back to the kids, disposing of all the negatives and making the game fun again.
Lancaster, who lives in Somers, N.Y., enlisted about 16 moms from his town. These moms received 60 hours of training, both on and off the field. Lancaster believes that by converting soccer moms into football moms, these women will teach the game in a way that will foster a lasting love of the game and instill values of sportsmanship and fair play.
"Moms are one of the greatest missing resources in coaching," says Lancaster. "Their approach is very nurturing, very inclusive, but the most important thing is that they listen. They are much more aware of what the kids need in order to make for a better learning experience."