Swell Spotlight: Kern Egan
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We'd like to know your favorite sound, a sound that brings you to light. You can either sample the sound or just describe it to us. And we look forward to getting to know you through the sound that you love. So again, thanks for being here and I'm going to take it away. You're going to take it away. You've got the floor and looking forward to hearing all the things you have to share with us. And people will obviously join in
I guess I'll answer your first question the standard one I'll have to probably answer in two ways. One very close to family, and then one maybe more closer to my job. I absolutely love. I've got three little kids, three, five, and eight, and the sound of their laughter, usually when I'm tickling them, is by far my favorite sound in the world
Growing up just had a tremendous and long lasting impact on me as a child. I think when I got reengaged and officially as a coach some two decades later, that little spark that I forgot I had grew a lot bigger quickly. It was clear to me early on I was going to really dig into the youth side of flag football and do all I could to prepare my team to be the best other could be. So the researching began to be clear
The question was whether to make this more of a project. Meaning is flight football big and interesting enough space to spend time on it. Beyond simply coaching my kid. And I think this is where some of the facts and figures I came across and found really interesting. Some others might as well. First on the participation front, New York Times wrote an article titled The Future of Football has Flags a couple of years ago. More American children ages six to twelve now play flag football than tackle football
phil spade
@Phil · 2:04
And so I can't thank you enough for being a volunteer because I've had enough organizations where I was just begging people to volunteer to be coaches. And the reason I got into it is the same reasons that you just said you learn so much in sports that carry through to your real life no matter what you do. And I think you said that you don't make any money doing this, but then you spend a lot of time because you realize how much it means to the kids
So with that kind of personal story of how I got into the sport, and then I think some statistics that really back up why the future of youth like football is worth worth potentially spending more time on. I sort of said, okay, well, I've already done all of this organization
Phil, thanks for those comments and those questions. I think I answered quite a few of them in one of those swells. I did want to point out you mentioned volunteer coaching and how hard, hard that is and how appreciative you are of those that do it. It reminded me of another stat I didn't mention. And there are many of them something like and there's a rationale for why not to start tackle football until at least age 14
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 2:20
And how do you see that moving forward so that kids don't feel like they're playing the Sissy version of football? And how can we change or how do you see this being a transformative time for football where flag does not mean Sissy? And I come from a perspective of what it felt like when I was a kid playing it versus the big boy team of tackle football. So it's an important part of a young person's life specifically
I just have to believe kids should eat longer before playing it. I swell also, say, an unintended consequence of all this is some parents I know haven't let their kids play flag football because they think it's a quick gateway to tackle football. They know kids who played flag in kindergarten, first grade, and by fourth grade they were playing tackle, and some parents want to avoid that conversation or decision altogether
Deborah Pardes
@DBPardes · 1:50
Given all that you've discussed, I think it's an incredibly important success story that we have to contribute to wholeheartedly so that we can't make this a win win for everybody who wants the sport to thrive
There's also a group that not many people know about called the National Football Foundation. They're sort of like the invisible hand of all things amateur football, mostly, I guess you'd say tackle, but they're actually based in the Dallas area, and I know them and need to catch up with them soon to kind of see what their point of view is on it. At a younger age, we did a bit of research on who the influencers are in this space
Hi, coach. Thank you for sharing your time and thoughts with us. It's been great listening to you. I have a question about the current times we are living in and this whole covered 19 crisis. What are some of your kind of tips or acts, if you will, that you're recommending parents do with their kids to keep them engaged when they're not getting the necessary amount of sporting sporting activities?
It was all about gamifying and giving him the opportunity to do better than what he did the last time quantifiably and that's what's made all the difference. Other are other apps out there in terms of virtual training, one that I'm involved in called bology specifically for basketball. It's got lots of skills drills, games where you can easily record in an app how your son's doing at different parts of the game of basketball. And again, you give them games. You give them competition
phil spade
@Phil · 4:09
How has this helped the relationship that you may have with the parents of the kids that you're coaching? And in my experience, there were a lot of parents that were quick to criticize, quick to throw their opinion in very slow to actually help. And I had a way of dealing with that
phil spade
@Phil · 0:17
Kurt, I also have to ask Deb, mentioned at the start of this that you have done five Super Bowl half time shows. And I was wondering if you could talk more about that. That sounds super interesting
Howie Rubin
@Howie · 3:03
So it was just a ton of fun and a great experience with regard to coaching. I really appreciate what you guys do in coaching. I believe that athletics are very important to kids, and I do believe that kids should participate in physical activities as they are just as important to me as the book Learning Activities that they go through. I think that playing in a sport especially competitively, teaches kids at an early earner age to have a great work ethic
Howie Rubin
@Howie · 1:31
I don't think you have to be coaches, too, but I do think you have to be supportive of your kids, and if you get the chance to drive them to and from, you will find that you've created a great time to have a great experience with your child. Highly recommended
The only thing I had to say on that entire subject of how to deal with parents is, and I'm hoping that we can get climb to this point is to make clear what your strategy is up front. Everybody has to understand what you're doing and why you're doing it. What is the purpose of the season and of the team and stay aligned with that? If there are people that end up disagreeing with that over time, that's fine
So the Thursday night before the Super Bowl Sunday, there would be a rehearsal where you'd have Bruce Springsteen alone in a Stadium with just his production crew and go through his twelve minute set four, five, six times. And Bridgeton is title sponsor. Got to bring, I don't know, 50 or 100 guests into that NFL Stadium as the only people there for basically their own private show where you got to sit and watch 4560f the Super Bowl halftime performances being rehearsed. It was really special
Howie Rubin
@Howie · 0:26
I hate to break this to you, but it's going to be more than a three or four year experience with your children. And the one word answers. That's why I think it is so very important for you to be there. I you don't have to talk. You just have to listen. And one word will turn to two to three to four to five when it's important for them to let you know how they feel
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