This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
03/24/2016 12:00 AMScott Markovich has been making a positive impact on the lives of young athletes in Guilford for the past several years and he recently received one of the nation’s highest honors for his efforts.
Originally from Latrobe, Pennsylvania, Scott moved to Connecticut in 2006 and settled in Guilford, where he’s spent the past five years as a youth sports coach in 5th-grade travel basketball, football, and Little League. On March 11, Scott was announced as one of only 50 winners among more than 2,400 applicants across the United States for the National Double-Goal Coach Award that’s given by the Positive Coaching Alliance—a national organization that annually recognizes coaches throughout the country who provide their players with a positive, character-building youth sports experience. Scott, who was nominated for this distinction by a parent of one of the basketball players he coaches, was initially named the New England chapter winner for the Double-Goal Coach Award before learning he was one of the final 50 to receive the honor on the national level.
“After those over 2,400, there was another round of selection that dwindled it down to 135 chapter winners and then the 50, so I was completely overwhelmed by the honor, but just to have the ability work with these kids and have validation of your work with this honor, I can’t believe it,” Scott says. “I think about the number of youth and high school coaches in the country, in Guilford alone, and it’s an honor to be selected.”
Scott was one of the coaches on a 5th-grade Guilford Youth Football team that won the Shoreline Youth Football Conference championship in 2013. It was the first Indians’ squad at any level of the gridiron to accomplish that feat in five years. Scott also guided his basketball team to a tournament victory in Branford, plus a runner-up spot for a tourney at East Haven during his first season with Guilford last year. Scott says his coaching approach has been largely influenced by four people who conveyed the essential aspects of playing a pivotal role in a young athlete’s life.
“The first coaches my kids had were Frank McDermott, Mark Chapman, Joe Ametrano, and Brian Hill, and I learned some things about coaching through them,” says Scott, who was a three-sport high school athlete in football, basketball, and golf. “I also thought I had a positive attitude and could lend myself well to the kids. I love the technical aspects of sports, plus I like to teach. Watching the kids grow, that’s the true reward, though.”
One of the keys to Scott’s coaching success is that he takes a compartmentalized approach to mentoring his athletes by emphasizing five key components that help develop their maturity.
“One principle is to honor the game—to play fair and do your best. The second is to be a good person and help others. Thirdly, take responsibility for your actions. The fourth is that you win, lose, and play as a team, and, finally, attitude. Ninety percent of anything in life is the attitude you have when you walk in the door,” says Scott. “When I see someone struggling with something in the beginning of the year, but then they get it in a game, I take pride in that. You also get to know them on a personal level, so watching these kids grow into young men is great, along with watching them grow in confidence.”
Bruce Freeman, the president of the Guilford Basketball League in which Scott coaches, says that Scott makes connections with his athletes that go well beyond the wins and losses.
“To be a great youth coach, it is essential that you form strong and positive relationships with your players. What makes Scott an exceptional youth coach is that he is not only able to create those relationships with his players, but also with the parents of his players, as well,” says Freeman. “The result is a cohesive unit that is much stronger than the sum of its part—a true family. The positive energy and contagious enthusiasm that Scott brings to his coaching has been of great benefit to the players who have been fortunate to have him as their coach.”