Coach to Coach
A Holistic Conversation on Coaching Youth Sports
by James Avery

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More than just wins and losses, sports build character and relationships, promote personal growth, and provide purpose. James Avery’s Coach to Coach brings a fresh and holistic approach to coaching the athletes at all levels of sport. Based on 25 years of personal experience, both successes and failures, this reflective and practical guide is written from the perspective of a longtime high school football coach and former player. With an engaging and faith-based take on coaching that goes beyond strategy and physical training, Coach Avery emphasizes the importance of nurturing the whole athlete. Players are not just physical performers but also emotional, mental, and spiritual beings. With Coach to Coach, he shares a dynamic, evolving coaching style that is compassionate, thoughtful, and grounded in foundational values. Whether new to coaching or a longtime expert, this book offers any coach a deeper, more meaningful approach to the profession and how it affects the lives of athletes.

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James Avery has been a coach and mentor for more than 25 years, and a respected pastor for 18 years. With a Master of Divinity (MDiv) and extensive leadership training in both the spiritual and practical dimensions of coaching, he’s developed and launched sports ministry programs for two organizations. From playing football for several years to building relationships with people in all levels of sport over more than two decades, Pastor Avery has a calling to help others coach with faith, wisdom, and purpose, and has earned the trust of athletes, families, and fellow coaches. He continues to coach and serve as a pastor in Sherwood Park, Alberta, where he lives with his wife, Tamara and they have three children and four grandchildren.

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Contributors

Author

James Avery