November 8, 2017
WYC 134 – Youth Football – Anthony Stone talks Every Kid Learning 2 things
Anthony Stone is a Physical Education teacher at Gregory Elementary School and Quarterbacks Coach at Boylan High School in Rockford, Ill. He is also the Defensive Coordinator and Assistant Head Coach for the 2017 Women’s Australian National Outback Team & writes blogs for “Hudl” & “Firstdown Playbook.”
In July 2016, he was named to the Hudl 100 list. He has presented at IAPHERD, the top physical education convention in Illinois, on how to get students moving with his Games Galore presentations. He has also presented at the Chicago Glazier Clinics on quarterbacks & special teams. He was the Defensive Coordinator for the 2010 U.S. Women’s National Tackle Football Team, winners of the IFAF Women’s World Championship in which Team USA did not allow a point in three games with an overall score of 201-0.
The rest of his coaching experience involves coaching in the CIFL and the IWFL Leagues as well as Beloit College (Linebackers/Special Teams Coordinator) and Rockford University (Quarterbacks/Wide Receivers). As well as coaching football at the youth, middle school and high school level.
He will be putting on fundamental youth football camps around the world in 2017, with his “Back to the Basics Football Camp” coming to a city near you.
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Quote
‘If you’re still teaching your quarterback the day before the game, you’re in trouble’
Coaching your own kids
- Why not? You can learn what you don’t know, go do it if it interests you
Cringe moments
- ‘I was a yeller’. Anthony has learned the value in being positive
Teaching Skills – Great games
- 100 acre words & Cone Island
- Free games: coachstonefootball.com/enasco-physical-education-free-activities-lesson-plans/
- One good strategy is to come up with games where kids don’t get ‘out’- have a danger zone and a safety zone – if they get tagged, they have to leave the danger zone and go to the safety zone and do some exercise before they return
Practice Planning
- Use notecards/notebook – keep it with you in practices and games and note things you need to work on
- When teaching skills – visual analogies comparing the motions to real-world activities work great.
Mental toughness
- Practice reading situations – so your players know what to look for and don’t panic when they see something new
- ‘If you’re still teaching your quarterback the day before the game, you’re in trouble’
- Mondays through Wednesdays are work/teaching days
- Monday – introduction
- Tuesday/Wednesday – work day
- Thursday – the players should be teaching it back to the coach
- Friday (gameday)- just be there to chit-chat with the players, not teach them anything new. Ask them if they have any questions – if they do, have them try to answer their own question.
Coaching up the parents
- Moms of football – go from a fan, to a team mom, to a coach on the field
- Have a teaching day – start with your coaching philosophy. Then make a one-page cheat sheet that explains the basic rules. Then take them on the field and have them try it out a bit.
US Lacrosse soft stick program
- Free sticks/balls for P.E. programs – uslacrosse.org/programs-grants/soft-stick-program
Culture
- Start with a team motto i.e. #CloseTheGap
- Have the kids create the team standards and the motto
Connecting with and impacting kids
- Anthony mentioned several stories of guys he has connected with who have become lifelong friends
Favorite Quote/Book
- Quote: ‘Work smarter not harder’
- Quote: ‘Don’t make a bad play into a worse play’
- Quote from Lou Holtz: ‘You need 4 things in life: Something to do. Someone to love. Someone to believe in. Something to hope for.’
Coach Stone Football resources
- Games, books, blog, and other great resources
- Website/books: coachstonefootball.com
Parting Advice
- Have fun. Make sure every kid learns 2 things, and has fun and wants to come back next year
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