Editor’s Note: This story is a part of Peak, The Athletic’s new desk covering leadership, personal development and success through the lens of sports. Peak aims to connect readers to ideas they can implement in their own personal and professional lives. Follow Peak here.
More than anyone, professional athletes have been exposed to a wide range of leadership and coaching styles. When they leave professional sports behind and start coaching young athletes, they have plenty of experience to draw from.
We checked in with three former professional athletes who now coach youth sports to gather their advice for other coaches and parents.
Remember why you’re there
Drew Stanton was an NFL quarterback for 14 seasons and now coaches his son’s football and baseball teams, as well as helping run a youth football organization.
He said he’s noticed that kids are harder on themselves now than they were when he was a young athlete.
As youth sports become increasingly intense, he often reminds kids why they’re playing in the first place.
“We just become so wrapped up in the results of it as opposed to, ‘What is the intentionality behind what you’re trying to do?’ ” Stanton said. “Control the controllables. You get wrapped up in somebody else’s success, or you start comparing yourself, and you start to rob these children of their childhood because we’ve become hyper-focused on making them professionals at such a young age.
“I think the ability to teach life lessons through sports has always been my approach.”
He encourages his athletes to focus on setting their own goals and acknowledge that mistakes are learning opportunities.
“We have to stick to the process,” he said. “Sitting there and yelling or trying to break them down to build them back up, that doesn’t need to happen. These kids already break themselves down enough, or they look to social media to gain their understanding or worth from how many likes they get.”
Travis Snider, a former MLB outfielder, now leads a youth sports company that offers resources and education for parents and coaches. It’s essential, he said, that adults remind athletes that failure isn’t a bad thing.
“We’re trying to teach kids more skills, but with that understanding of where they’re at emotionally and physically,” he said. “These are just experiences that give us an opportunity to learn and grow, and oftentimes failure is a much better vehicle to learn these lessons and grow and become a better version of yourself.”
Know what you value as a coach
Matt Hasselbeck spent 18 seasons as a quarterback in the NFL. He spent one season playing for Pete Carroll, someone he viewed as completely authentic. It’s what he admired about Carroll. But now, after coaching high school football, he realizes just how important it is to find your own identity.
“Put in some speed bumps for yourself,” Hasselbeck said. “Maybe even write some stuff down. Like, here are some non-negotiables — who I am as a coach.”
Hasselbeck, who has non-negotiables like no cursing and putting health and safety above all else, has picked up a few examples. When his son, Henry, played for former NFL quarterback Trent Dilfer, Dilfer had a rule that no one was allowed to sit at a new table during a meal unless all the other tables were full.
“So if you just picture there’s 10 seats at a table, it’s not a table of four, then somebody else starts a table of 10,” he said. “No. Every table has to be full before you can start another table. That’s just community. No one gets left out. No one’s not valuable. No one doesn’t have friends.”
Understand who your players are as people
One year, when Hasselbeck coached high school football, a lot of “mental mistakes” happened along the offensive line, he said. When Hasselbeck approached his offensive line coach and suggested they simplify a few things, the coach, who was also a math teacher at the school, replied, “No. No, that’s not the issue. This is one of the smartest kids I teach. He’s capable. This is just a teenage boy having a focus problem.”
That’s when Hasselbeck began to understand the strong link between learning the little things about his athletes and improving their play.
“Like, ‘Hey, we know this guy struggles learning. Let’s make his menu a little smaller so he can do less better. It’ll help him succeed. He’s got enough on his plate,’ ” Hasselbeck said. “I think just doing less is better.”
To him, even small things, like knowing what someone’s commute from home or family structure looks like, can make a significant difference.
Being uncomfortable can be a good thing
Stanton feels strongly about the lessons we can learn from sports, including trust, respect, and effective communication. But to him, embracing adversity is one of the most important lessons he wants to pass along to his athletes.
“I’m telling the kids, ‘I want you to be comfortable when it’s uncomfortable,’” he said. “Because we’re all in different situations. If you can learn to deal with adversity, if you can learn to deal with all these other things and be able to find a way to persevere, that’s how you grow. Eventually, you’re going to find something or somebody that’s better than you. And what do you do? How do you respond?”
To Stanton, it can be as simple as changing the way you speak to an athlete when they make a mistake. Encouraging them, rather than reprimanding them, can help a young athlete develop a better outlook over time.
Be mindful as a parent
Youth sports require more specialized training, travel, and equipment than ever before. Snider said parents and coaches can’t let the time and money they invest in young athletes turn into added pressure.
“It’s tough to differentiate your child and their experience in sports versus the time, money and energy that you’re investing in and what that return on investment looks like,” he said. “We built a culture that is geared towards performance and achievement. But your failure and success are not going to define who you are.”
Snider believes that if parents and coaches can work on themselves and gain a deeper understanding of how their experiences influence their responses, it can be the difference between a positive experience for a young athlete and a negative one, which is particularly important at such an impressionable age.
“We don’t recognize how our past experiences show up in those moments when our son or daughter strikes out or misses the kick and how that perpetuates something inside of us that we haven’t processed or we weren’t aware of,” Snider said. “We’re a product of our childhood and what that generation of parents and coaches did and did not do during that experience. What can we do? It’s making child development a priority.”
Elise Devlin is a writer for Peak, The Athletic’s new desk covering leadership, personal development and success. She last wrote about how to deal with failure. Follow Peak here.
(Illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic; Photos: Nick Cammett / Diamond Images, Rex Brown / Getty Images)
The Goochland Sports Complex, located at 1800 Sandy Hook Road, is an eight-acre county-run facility that functions as a hub for athletics, fitness and Recreation Division operations. The complex includes a fully irrigated and lighted football field, a lighted baseball field with a grass infield, and a lighted softball field. Scoreboards, press boxes, a public address system, and a concession stand with restrooms support spectator events and organized league play.
Inside the main building the complex houses the Recreation Division’s administrative offices alongside a range of indoor amenities: a dance studio, cardio room, weight room, classroom and lounge areas, and a full-sized hardwood gymnasium. The property also features picnic tables, meeting rooms and internet access. As the county’s only public skateboard park, Skate 522 adds a unique recreation option for older youth and teens.
The Complex is a primary venue for Goochland Middle School baseball and softball and for activities organized by the Goochland Youth Athletic Association. Those partnerships underscore the facility’s role in youth development and local sports programming, where scheduling, lighting and irrigation allow for extended seasonal use and evening games. The presence of administrative offices on site centralizes permitting, programming and oversight for county recreation services.
For Goochland residents the complex serves multiple public functions: it provides structured athletic opportunities for school-aged children, outlets for adult and family fitness, and public space for weekend events and informal recreation. The combination of indoor and outdoor amenities also supports year-round programming that can contribute to public health, volunteer engagement and local economic activity tied to sporting events.
County management of the complex carries budgetary and policy implications. Maintenance needs for irrigated fields, lighting and the skate park demand consistent funding and oversight if the facility is to remain safe and available for scheduled youth athletics and community use. Residents seeking access, reservations or current hours and facility policies should consult the county Parks & Recreation page for the most up-to-date information.
As a visible municipal asset that hosts school teams and community leagues, the Goochland Sports Complex remains a focal point for civic participation in recreation planning, volunteer coaching, and attendance at local events that shape county programs and priorities.
Bernalillo County, N.M. – Today, BernCo Fire & Rescue (BCFR) welcomed a new ladder truck into service with a traditional push-in ceremony at Fire Station 36, located in the North Valley.
The new ladder truck offers state-of-the-art communications and extended vertical and horizontal reach, allowing crews to more effectively operate multi-story incidents and complex rescue scenes. In addition, the shorter wheelbase will allow for easier maneuvering through North Valley neighborhoods.
“On behalf of Bernalillo County, we would like to extend our sincere gratitude to Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s Office, our state lawmakers, the International Association of Firefighters and the BernCo Board of County Commissioners for their support and commitment in approving the purchase of the new apparatus,” says Bernalillo County Fire & Rescue Chief Zach Lardy. “The new truck not only enhances BCFR’s operational capabilities but also reflects the department’s ongoing commitment to providing reliable, high-quality emergency services to the community.”
The approximately $1.9M truck was purchased utilizing a combination of capital outlay monies, public safety tax dollars and county general fund monies.
The push-in ceremony honors a long-standing fire service tradition dating back to the late 1800s, when firefighters manually pushed horse-drawn fire wagons into their stations after returning from calls. During the event, firefighters pushed the new ladder truck into the station bay by hand, officially placing it into service.
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About Bernalillo County
Bernalillo County is 1,160 square miles and is New Mexico’s most populous county with more than 676,000 residents. Bernalillo County government provides a wide range of public services to residents who live in Albuquerque, Los Ranchos and Tijeras with approximately 106,000 residents living in unincorporated areas of the county. Bernalillo County employs approximately 2,800 people and has an annual operating budget, capital investments and other funds of more than $1 billion. Elected officials include five county commissioners, assessor, clerk, probate judge, sheriff and treasurer.
Good Shepherd Food Bank, Maine’s largest hunger-relief organization, has hired former Unum finance executive Camilo Echanique as chief financial officer.
Camilo brings nearly two decades of experience in leadership, financial management and strategy to the Auburn-based nonprofit.
Camilo Echanique PHOTO / COURTESY GOOD SHEPHERD FOOD BANK
“After an extensive search, we are excited to welcome Camilo Echanique to the Food Bank team in this important leadership position,” said Heather Paquette, president of Good Shepherd Food Bank. “In addition to his strategic expertise, Camilo brings a proven ability to lead through change, a focus on learning and collaboration, and a passion for talent development that make him an excellent fit for the Food Bank.”
Camilo’s experience includes more than a decade at Unum, a Tennessee-based insurer with a large office in Portland. Most recently, he oversaw the finance and actuarial functions for a key business segment.
A Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and a member of the American Academy of Actuaries, Camilo was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador. He moved to New England as a child and attended the University of Connecticut, where he received a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and economics.
Outside of work, the Yarmouth resident coaches youth sports and serves on the board of LearningWorks, a Portland-based nonprofit focused on education and community support.
“I am honored to join the team at the Good Shepherd Food Bank and collaborate with such dedicated people to advance our mission of promoting food security in Maine,” he said.
“The strength of our organization, the commitment of our partners and the generosity of our donors — especially in recent events — highlight the undeniable impact that the Food Bank has on Maine’s communities. I am eager to begin this journey and dedicate myself to advancing our mission.”
Good Shepherd distributes food to more than 600 partner organizations across Maine, including food pantries, meal sites, schools, health care centers and senior programs. It also engages in advocacy and nutrition education.
Eleven-year-old Amy was about half way through her haircut Monday afternoon but paying little attention to what stylist Amanda Lee was doing with her blond locks. She was too busy working on a piece of yellow putty in her hand.
At one point she shaped it into a heart. Later, it was something else. But when Lee was finished cutting and unbuttoned the smock pinned at her client’s neck, Amy had molded her putty into a miniature hand. With it, she grinned and high fived Lee in thanks for her new look.
Across the hall, stylist OmarAntonio had just finished cutting and styling a teen’s long, black hair. Moments later, she came back smiling and interrupted a conversation to tell him she loved it.
“There is something very important about our responsibility as hairdressers to really read the client, to really see them,” he said. “I want to reintroduce my clients to themselves, so a good haircut is so important.”
These seemingly small moments — a smile into a hand held mirror, a flip of the ‘do, a handshake — were happening Monday across the donated space at Church Unstoppable. For three hours, about 60 stylists and barbers volunteered their time and skill to give free cuts and styles to an almost equal number of children and young adults from 10 to 25, all of whom have been touched by foster care or social service programs.
There were three DJs on stage. There were two live singers. Along one wall were tables lined up and loaded with brand new backpacks for the taking. At the entrance to the hall were hand-painted trucker hats created by Dom Chi Designs in Sebastopol, also for the taking. In yet another room was free food and drink. Throughout the three-hour event raffle prizes were given out: Apple headphones, Beats headphones, a JBL speaker, tickets to a Santa Rosa Growlers hockey game, Amazon gift cards, restaurant gift cards and jewelry.
It was all the brain child of KT Maggio, a barber at Daredevils & Queens Salon and Barbershop in Santa Rosa. And it was born of a seemingly simple ask.
It started with an annual holiday giving event held by nonprofit Our Village Closet, a group that runs a full-scale, foster care support operation out of thousands of square feet of space at St. Lutheran’s Church on Mendocino Avenue in Santa Rosa. Under the direction of executive director and co-founder Amanda Kitchens, foster care providers can pick up, for free, necessities for kids and young adults in their care, everything from strollers to socks to bathing suits and winter coats.
There are 1,000 individual kids or young adults registered with OVC, but the number of people who access their free services typically hovers around 5,000, Kitchens said.
Our Village Closet for the past five years has held a holiday giving program that has grown from 167 youth in 2021 to 769 kids this year. It was for that event that someone at OVC reached out to Maggio and asked if she could provide gift certificates for hair cuts.
Maggio said she would do one better. One a lot better.
She put out the call to the wider stylist and barber community in Sonoma County and asked for folks to show up for three hours on Monday, donate their time and skills, and send young adults back into the world looking sharp and feeling good.
“I didn’t even say much,” Maggio said of the invitation to her peers. “They just said ‘We’re in, we’re in, we’re in.’”
To say people rallied for the event would be underselling what unfolded Monday.
The top shelf cuts, the next level raffle prizes, the DJs, the food — it was a full-scale experience.
“I wanted them to feel special today,” Maggio said.
Kyle Corbin, owner of Chuck’s Barbershop, cuts John Coolidge’s hair during an event for foster youth at Church Unstoppable in Santa Rosa on Monday, January 5, 2026. (Christopher Chung/The Press Democrat)
Barber Jesus “Chuy” Dominguez helped with perhaps the most obvious transformation Monday when a young man with sandy hair falling down to his shoulders sat down in Dominguez’s chair and said he wanted it all off.
“He asked for a five guard on top which is less than half an inch and then he wanted a rat tail in the back,” Dominguez said. “I always triple check when it’s a transformation that big but he was on it and I was like, ‘Alright, bro.’”
“He knew exactly what he wanted,” he said. “It was cool.”
And it was. After Dominquez tapped a stylist to braid the rat tail in the back, the young man cracked a small smile into the mirror.
“Things like this just fill my heart,” Maggio said, noting that Daredevils & Queens regularly supports haircuts for the homeless events and community outreach efforts. “I just wanted to come together and make these kids feel like number one.”
Christopher Chung / The Press Democrat
Nicolai Lisiukoff, right, thanks Daredevils & Queens barber KT Maggio for the haircut and shave at the homeless shelter run by West County Navigation Center in the Guerneville Veterans Memorial Building in Guerneville Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (Christopher Chung / The Press Democrat)
In addition to her colleagues at Daredevils & Queens, she tapped friends at Chuck’s Barbershop in Santa Rosa and Oak and Ivy Salon in Rohnert Park, who brought folks on Monday. She also tapped longtime friend Jose “JayTee” Tapia who, in addition to his 293,000 Instagram followers, runs the 15-chair Visionz Barbershop in Santa Rosa and, to Maggio’s way of thinking, is a star in the barbering world.
That would explain the small crowd of fellow barbers that gathered around Tapia when he pulled out his scissors and began to ply his craft on the dark locks of a young teenaged boy Monday.
“For men, for boys, it’s like our make up,” Tapia said of a haircut. “For me, being able to build confidence in a kid, there is nothing like it. People come to us before a first date, before a wedding, before any special day because a haircut alone can make anyone feel that much more special and that much more confident.”
That is what moved OVC’s Kitchens on Monday — the gift of confidence, the gift of being seen.
“It’s the fact that this many stylists and barbers showed up and showed up with heart,” she said. “It’s ‘You matter.’ Not necessarily you matter because of what happened to you but you matter just because of who you are…A haircut for so many of us, especially in this age group, it’s about how we show up in society. To be able to show up like everybody else and blend in is such a gift.”
To find out more
To find out more about the services provided by Our Village Closet and for ways to support the work, go to www.ourvillagecloset.org.
Alexandra Montoya feels this.
Montoya is raising her 12-year-old granddaughter, Irie. Irie is bi-racial, her hair looks different from her grandmother’s, and that has made finding a stylist tricky. On Monday, Montoya was emotional about seeing her granddaughter pampered.
“Somebody needs to know her hair,” she said. “The truth is, I don’t.”
But the people who volunteered Monday did.
Irie Fisher, 12, has her hair cut and styled by Natalie Dixon, of Sparrow Hair, during an event for foster youth at Church Unstoppable in Santa Rosa on Monday, January 5, 2026. (Christopher Chung/The Press Democrat)
“This is wonderful, this makes a difference,” Montoya said. “It’s the mix of people. The cutters, the stylists, they volunteered their time. We understand what that means. They put heart into it.”
As stylist Natalie Dixon finished cutting Irie’s hair, they had a brief conversation. Irie decided she wanted her hair straightened on this day. Dixon got to work. Nearby, Montoya watched, deeply moved.
“All of these kids have lost someone, in one way or another,” she said. “That’s what makes what they are doing here a thing of beauty.”
You can reach Staff Columnist Kerry Benefield at 707-526-8671 or kerry.benefield@pressdemocrat.com. On Instagram @kerry.benefield.
