Building a Team Culture in the Digital Age: A Program for New Hampshire Athletic Directors and Coaches

Building a Team Culture in the Digital Age: A Program for New Hampshire Athletic Directors and Coaches

Tuesday, April 30, 2019 6–8 p.m.

Victory Club, UNH Wildcat Stadium, 155 Main Street, Durham, N.H.

FREE for all N.H. Athletic Directors and Coaches!

No matter what the sport, young people today—from middle school to Division I—are lacking in two areas: the ability to really bond and create old-school camaraderie and accountability and to generate and enjoy even basic confidence. Coaches are often at a loss how to connect—or even just communicate—with these “Digital Age” kids. Even high-functioning student-athletes today need confidence training that literally gives them the skills and habits of mind to have that ability to shed stress, connect, and behave with true, organic confidence on game day and in life.

In this program, we explore these Digital Age kids and provide concrete techniques for how to communicate with them, motivate them, and get them to bond with each other and your coaching staff.

Speakers Include:

Jeff Levin, Jeff Levin Coaching
Sean McDonnell, Head Coach, UNH Football
Jimmy Lauzon, Merrimack Football
…and others to be announced!

This program explains why modern kids are so different from the players we coached even just a few years ago. The old-school coaching mentality doesn’t always work, and we’ll explain how that came to be. We’ll discuss the issues holding these kids back, what’s keeping teams from building unity, and what adjustments coaches can make to relate better with their players and to get players to relate better with each other. Learn how to build team camaraderie and commitment, and how, by dealing with these Digital Age issues, you can build a team that has as much, if not more, dedication than the teams of old.

Many thanks to Coach Mac and UNH for allowing us to use the Victory Club!

This program is presented by The Reconnection Project: A Jeff Levin Coaching Program.

An RSVP would be appreciated, but isn’t required. RSVP by text or phone call to Jeff Levin at 603-496-0305 or use this contact form:

What is the Weekend Intensive Program?

What is the Weekend Intensive Program?

COVID Update: I continue to work with individuals and families using the Weekend/Family Intensive program. I will work in-person with families within a reasonable driving distance when COVID protocols can be followed. Also, many families are now coming to me to work in person and stay at a nearby hotel. If in-person is not possible, using Zoom is a bit tougher for new clients, especially Weekend/Family Intensive families, but it’s working just fine for many families who need help now and can’t wait for the pandemic to be over. As always, I am happy to work for as many hours as it takes for your family to make progress, and if we have to use Zoom we can arrange as many Zoom sessions as are needed for me to work with all the people involved.

Please feel free to contact me to discuss your situation with you to see if I am a good fit for your child and family.


We designed the Weekend/Family Intensive program for families who are really struggling and need immediate help.

With the Weekend/Family Intensive, Jeff comes to you (or the family comes to him) or uses Zoom to work with the entire family over the course of a weekend. He gives you an evaluation and a lot of feedback, and then works with all parties involved to develop a plan for moving forward.

The Weekend Intensive also works well for families who are not close enough geographically for weekly sessions. Usually, after an intense weekend of work, everyone is comfortable enough with each other for work to continue via Zoom, phone, text, email, etc.

Below is a video where Jeff explains the Weekend Intensive in more detail. As always, feel free to contact Jeff to discuss whether this program can help your teen or 20-something and your family.

Finding Common Ground: A Program for School Administrators

Finding Common Ground: A Program for School Administrators

Finding Common Ground:

Partnering with Parents, Educators, & Students

to Reduce Anxiety & Stress in the Public Schools

March 4, 5-7pm, Puritan Backroom, Manchester, New Hampshire

Sponsored by The Reconnection Project/Jeff Levin Coaching

School administrators are invited to enjoy complimentary hors d’oeuvres and a relaxing, solution-focused forum with your colleagues on the new challenges caused by the epidemic of increased stress and anxiety. The discussion will include:

  • The increasing number of parents seemingly at cross-purposes with school staff.
  • Breaking down the seeming vastness of the anxiety issue into manageable, conquerable steps.

5-5:30: Registration and Introductions

Remarks by Stephen Sierpina, Windham H.S. principal
Jeff Levin, Reconnection Project Founder

5:30-6: Discussion of the issues: How pervasive is the stress/anxiety in your school community?

6-7: Solutions: How can we work over time with parents, our staffs, and, of course, the students to reconnect the school community and reduce student stress, anxiety, and all of the negative behaviors they engender?

Preregistration would be appreciated, but drop-ins are also welcome: Contact Jeff Levin at (603) 496-0305 or at jeff@jefflevincoaching.com.

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Failure-to-Launch Young Adults: A New Approach

Failure-to-Launch Young Adults: A New Approach

When school started, I heard about several kids who went to college—very good colleges to which the students had happily anticipated going for months—and after only a few days, called their parents to pick them up and take them home.

I see this more and more. Some will go back to school. Others will sit in their parents’ basements playing video games, with their parents wringing their hands because they do not know what to do. This can go on for years, and failure-to-launch young adults make up a large part of my business.

What I find when I talk with these teens and 20-somethings are young people who have never faced adversity, are full of shame and doubt, and lack a sense of themselves or autonomy. When I talk with the parents, I find adults who thought they did everything right and are mystified about where things went wrong.

How did they get there? And, more importantly, how to get them past this? Read more

The Importance of Mission

The Importance of Mission

“Our own life has to be our message.” – Thich Nhat Hanh

The recent school shooting in Parkland, Florida, terrible tragedy that it was, also ended up bringing to the fore something positive that is sorely lacking in many of today’s young people: a mission. Although I wish it weren’t mass shootings that were the reason, the way students around the world rallied around the cause of “no more school shootings” couldn’t have been a better demonstration of how kids are brought to life around a mission. Read more

Massachusetts Football Leadership Summit for High-School Players & Coaches

Massachusetts Football Leadership Summit for High-School Players & Coaches
Jeremy Cameron

Join Coaches Jeremy Cameron of Mass. Maritime, Dan Buron of Bridgewater-Raynham High School, Ryan Brown of St. Thomas Aquinas, and yours truly on Saturday, May 5, 9AM–1PM,  at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts, for a unique program on leadership for high-school players and coaches.

Coaches, you are invited to bring your top leaders, captains, or leadership council for a half-day workshop where you and your players will learn how to empower your leaders to be the engine for change on your team. Experience new methods to motivate and communicate better with modern, “digitized” kids so they can be more confident, resilient, team-centered athletes who learn to embody the virtues required to drive a great football program from within.

Kids are hard-wired the same as they have always been; in today’s “Digital Age” we just have to learn new ways to reach th

Dan Buron

em. We will take you and your players through a step-by-step methodology so your team leaders can learn hard, concrete skills to

  • Shed stress
  • Let go of mistakes
  • Develop confidence, mental and physical toughness, and resilience
  • Improve focus and accountability
  • Think and behave like leaders – be great teammates and highly coachable athletes.
Ryan Brown

You and your players will build confidence together and then take that home to motivate the rest of your team.

We will provide specific techniques so you can incorporate what you learn in your off- season workouts. Our blueprint will help you develop a culture of confident, high-performing student-athletes who take pride in striving to be great!

Here is more information and registration information.

New Hampshire Football Leadership Summit for High-School Players & Coaches

New Hampshire Football Leadership Summit for High-School Players & Coaches
Sean McDonnell

Join Coaches Sean McDonnell of UNH, Joe Adam of St. Anselm’s, Ryan Brown of St. Thomas Aquinas, and yours truly on Saturday, March 10, 9AM–1PM,  in the Victory Club at the UNH Wildcat Football Stadium for a unique program on leadership for high-school players and coaches.

Coaches, you are invited to bring your top leaders, captains, or leadership council for a half-day workshop where you and your players will learn how to empower your leaders to be the engine for change on your team. Experience new methods to motivate and communicate better with modern, “digitized” kids so they can be more confident, resilient, team-centered athletes who learn to embody the virtues required to drive a great football program from within.

Joe Adam

Kids are hard-wired the same as they have always been; in today’s “Digital Age” we just have to learn new ways to reach them. We will take you and your players through a step-by-step methodology so your team leaders can learn hard, concrete skills to

    • Shed stress
    • Let go of mistakes
    • Develop confidence, mental and physical toughness, and resilience
    • Improve focus and accountability
    • Think and behave like leaders – be great teammates and highly coachable athletes.

You and your players will build confidence together and then take that home to motivate the rest of your team.

Ryan Brown

We will provide specific techniques so you can incorporate what you learn in your off- season workouts. Our blueprint will help you develop a culture of confident, high-performing student-athletes who take pride in striving to be great!

Here is more information and registration information.

 

What Dreams Are Made of

What Dreams Are Made of

“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”
– Eleanor Roosevelt

I talk about making dreams come true a lot. That sounds so…frivolous, so hokey—so why do I keep saying it?

Because it is so important to kids’—and adults’—mental health, that’s why. Read more

Mastering the Mental Side of Hockey—Or Anything Else

Mastering the Mental Side of Hockey—Or Anything Else

I was working with a Division I hockey team when an assistant coach asked the D men to stand up. “Now, boys,” he said, “Sit down when I hit the right number. Ready? Hockey is 20% mental.”

No one sat.

“Thirty percent.”

“Forty.”

He kept going: 60, 70, 80… at 90% his guys started to sit down.

The coach went on to say, “We spend 90 to 100% of our time on our bodies, lifting, conditioning; on our hockey skills, shooting, skating; and so on. But how much time do we spend on our mind and our emotions?” Read more

Are We Having Fun…Ever?

Are We Having Fun…Ever?

One thing I ask parents frequently is how much fun their family has. The reply is often that their child loves their organized athletics, or music, or whatever afterschool activity that their child does, and that is fun for their child.

It is true that some children love those activities. But some children don’t. They do them out of a sense of duty. They do it because their parents make them. Or they do them because it has been impressed on them, either consciously or unconsciously, that they have to do it to get into college—for their résumé, in other words. And many of them never tell their parents that they would rather not do them, or do them quite so much. When you have Outcome Fever, it becomes very hard for your kids to be honest with you.

But even if your child loves their extracurricular activity, that is different from plain fun. Unlike organized activities, fun has no responsibilities, such as practicing, attached. Most importantly, the fun I’m talking about has no outcomes attached. Read more