On October 31, thousands of girls, coaches, running buddies, families, volunteers, and community supporters came together at Hy-Vee Arena for the Fall Girls on the Run 5K. The event marked the culmination of weeks of learning, goal-setting, teamwork, and personal growth. 

Coaching is challenging.  Coaching is a mountain that is moved, climbed, stumbled up, conquered, and defeated.  Each season is a new season with new girls, returning girls, veteran girls, new coaches, returning coaches, and veteran coaches.  Coaching is challenging.

Coaching is about being resilient.  It is about having a level of resilience to keep our team moving forward.  It looks like us using our strongest coaching skills to pause, problem-solve, and persevere.  It is about regulating, reflecting, and reframing.  We build our resilience when we lean on a team/partner and take risks.  We build our resilience by accepting what is out of our control and reaching out to someone for help.  In this episode of IGNITE we will discuss five ways to ignite our Champion Resilience.

Coaching is more mental than it is physical.  We spend more time thinking during a practice than we do actually moving our bodies.  We are problem-solvers, observers, and researchers.  We are making numerous split-second decisions.  We are communicating in various ways.  We are retaining knowledge and giving knowledge.  We are reading emotions, motivation levels, and curriculum pages.  The mental work we put into every practice moves mountains and changes the world one girl at a time!  In this episode of IGNITE, we will explore the ways we use our Champion Minds in every practice and beyond.  

Coaching is about modeling.  It is about setting an example.  Being the person someone can learn from by watching, listening, and conversing.  Being a coach requires being in the limelight to show your girls that we all struggle with the same negative self-talk, the same tiredness, and the same flaws that make us beautifully unique.  

This year, Girls on the Run Kansas City is celebrating a special milestone: 10 years of leadership from our President & CEO, Gina Lichte.

Coaching is about connections.  It’s about relationships.  It’s about creating space for our girls to struggle, grow, and soar.  Every practice holds the space to listen, question, awaken, and strengthen.  We listen to our girls and awaken confidence.