Adirondack Coast Sports is working to create programs that encourage teamwork, sportsmanship, dedication, hard work, accountability, and respect.   We seek to provide experiences that align with the following 10 principles:

1. We exist in the gap between town ball and travel/club ball. There are high value experiences that a child can get from "town ball" (community and volunteer-based programs). Likewise, there are high value experiences that a child can get from travel/club ball.  Adirondack Coast Sports seeks to be the next step for town ball players and a resource, or an assistive organization, to any travel/club ball organization.  Our goal is to fill the gap between the two by providing value to both, without interfering with either of these opportunities.  Eventually we may be able to provide opportunities that are a precursor to town ball or a next step to travel/club ball.
2. We seek to elevate our quality of programming by continually asking, “what more can we do to improve the player experience?”, Rather than “How little can we offer and still operate?”
3. We seek to integrate learning into all aspects of program delivery.
4. We will use our in-house officials as teachers-of-the-game.  This can mean that we stop play at younger levels to explain a rule or show a technique.  At older levels, we will collaborate with coaches to focus on specific teachable aspects of the game.
5. We use a “Three Teams Approach.”  We believe that there are always three teams on the field: Team A, Team B, and Team C.  Teams A and B are the opponents, while Team C is made up of our coaches, officials, and spectators.  The role of Team C is to create a positive experience by working together to ensure that the players on the field are playing hard, playing fair, learning the game, winning with grace and losing with poise.
6. Unfair play happens.  We seek fairness and equity at all levels, though we know no one on the planet will get there entirely. We expect our coaches, players and officials to strive for perfection. Yet, no one will play a perfect game, coach a perfect game, or officiate a perfect game.  In fact, a sport is just a series of physical or mental mistakes within the confines of arbitrary rules set up to guide arbitrary physical competition. As athletes and teams improve, they make less and less mistakes. Winning teams will make fewer mistakes than the losing teams, and all throughout the process perfection remains elusive. For us, when a bad call or bad luck are present in a game, how we all respond defines what type of value sports will bring. These are what we call “teaching moments.”  Let's celebrate those.
7. Ensure Joy.  We want our players to work hard and push through their own personal boundaries to see for themselves what is possible.  Sometimes that is a tough process.  But we need to ensure that what we provide is enjoyable above all else.  “Enjoyable” may include difficult or uncomfortable lessons designed to reinforce teamwork, sportsmanship, dedication, hard work, accountability, and respect. Joy can also include “type II fun.”
8. Positivity matters.  The world has enough negativity.  Sports is a place where we celebrate our players to show them what is possible in sport and in life.
9. Losing matters.  Losing is a healthy part of the process. 50% of all games end with one team losing (unless there’s a tie). That’s a high number. Understanding the value of loss is fuel for players to redouble their efforts in practices and place focus on skill development and the value of hard work, teamwork, and accountability. There's no better teacher.
10. Winning Matters.  The world is defined by those who hone their skills and apply them to the betterment of humanity.  In sports, we place a value on a person’s ability to compete and achieve status because it demonstrates advancement—not just for the player, but for all of us.  As mental and physical limits get tested and boundaries get pushed, we celebrate the achievement.  It doesn’t matter what that achievement is in, but it does matter that we create an environment that allows the achievement to happen.