E529 Kids and Sports with Coach Frank Tristan

Frank Tristan, head football coach at Glendale High School, husband, and father, talks about the rewarding aspects of coaching and his "ABC" technique (Ask, Balance, and Competitive).

Frank has been teaching and coaching for the last 20 years and loves the opportunity to invest in young people. He and his wife Natalie were married in 2008 and have two children, Hays and Taylor. They are regularly involved in church and love experiencing new adventures with their family. As a dad and an educator, it is easy to see how important the role of a father is in raising successful young people. When dads lead well, generations are impacted. This passion has led Frank to work with the Good Dads organization to see more families and communities impacted for good.

 

Show Notes

(1:16) Guest Introduction 
(3:00) In high school and college both my coaches were influential. My dad was obviously so important, but those guys cemented who I wanted to be in life, and I was like ‘Man, I could do that, that would be awesome and rewarding.’
(5:22) Definitely the homerun I think in coaching or any coach would say that kid that maybe doesn’t have the support at home and you connect with him and you see him develop. That’s been the most rewarding. 
(8:43) It’s the growing pain you have as a parent, the same thing. You want those kids to do so well, like “What are you thinking?”
(9:10) At the end of the day, it’s a marathon, not a sprint. Once you’ve done it a little bit with some length to it, you realize ‘it’ll all work out.’ We just have to be consistent. 
(10:04) ‘A’ stands for ‘Ask.’ We just ask our kids… 
(11:36) ‘B’ stands for ‘Balance.’ We want to keep balance in it…
(12:50) ‘C’ stands for ‘Competitive.’ … If you’re going to do something, you’ve gotta be your best… you’ve gotta work hard and want to compete. 
(16:21) One of the things I’m working at, but my wife is very good at, is the ability to say no
(19:00) You’d better be in it for the kids, because that’s gonna be a lot more rewarding than just “hey, I want to win a game.”

 

(21:20) What’s the hardest thing you’ve ever had to overcome? 

 

(22:07) I think it’s so important that kids understand their identity is not in a sport, and that’s a scary thing when kids get wrapped up in only their approval of how good they can hit a baseball or kick a soccer ball or spike a volleyball. That gets really dangerous. 
(23:53) That’s why sports are so great, you have so many great qualities come from being in a sport. A lot of employers are going to hire employees that have been in sports. They know they can overcome adversity. It’s incredible. 

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