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Notre Dame’s Play Like a Champion Today Education Program – Gameplan

I’ve been coaching at my alma mater, Bishop Kelly High School, for the past four seasons. I’ve learned plenty in my time as a coach by I’m certainly no Bill Tierney.

However, this season I was  presented with a great opportunity to further my coaching knowledge. This past spring I was fortunate enough to attend a Notre Dame Play Like a Champion Today coach’s education program.

If you don’t know about the most famous 5 words in college sports, take a little stroll through history…


I saw the program as a great opportunity that not many have to receive some great insight from a well respected institution. The four hour clinic was lead by Lynn Kachmarik who has an incredibly impressive resume.

Before moving to Indiana, for 19 years Lynn held multiple aquatic coaching responsibilities at Bucknell University (PA), including Head Coach for the Men’s and Women’s Water Polo teams, Head Coach for the Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving teams and Director of Aquatics. At Bucknell, she was the first woman to ever coach a Men’s NCAA Division I team sport. She was a member of the U.S. Women’s National Water Polo Team for 12 years and Team Captain for 6 years. She was named to the All-World team in 1978 and competed in the 1980, 1984 and 1988 World Aquatic Championships and seven FINA World Cup competitions. Lynn was among the first group of women to be inducted into the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame and the first woman inducted into the Collegiate Water Polo Hall of Fame. Lynn was a six time All-American selection in water polo and swimming at Slippery Rock University (SRU) from 1976-80 where she received both her Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in Education.

That being said, her extensive background in athletics made her a perfectly qualified clinician. The clinic began with something every coach should be familiar with, formulating a coaching game plan.

Play Like A Champion Today Coaching Game Plan

1. Your Coaching Philosophy

  • What do you hope your coaching legacy will be?

2. Coach as Minister

  • Name two ways you will commit to be a coach minister this season:

3. Sport is Play

  • How will you make your practices more playful and fun?

4.  Goals

  • How will you work with your team to set goals this season?

5. Relationships

  • How will you build relationships with your team this season?

6. Ownership

  • How will you give your team ownership this season?

7. Moral Discussion

  • Make a commitment to engage in a moral team discussion this season. What topic will you focus on?

8. Parents as Partners

  • What will you do to build a positive partnership with your sport parents this season?

This is just a small taste of the Play Like a Champion Today education program. The four hour clinic was jam packed full of knowledge and I was able to learn a lot.

I’m still digesting some of the material and will have plenty more to share. So be on the lookout for more content from the Play Like a Champion Today education program.