Sam Jackson
Sam Jackson, Vermont Elite Basketball Coach of Burlington, Vermont has won Positive Coaching Alliance’s coveted National Double-Goal Coach® Award presented by TeamSnap for his positive impact on youth in sports.
Jackson is one of 50 national recipients of the Double-Goal Coach® award, named for coaches who strive to win while also pursuing the more important goal of teaching life lessons through sports. The award includes a $200 prize, a certificate, and recognition within the websites and newsletters of Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA), a national non-profit developing Better Athletes, Better People through youth and high school sports. Jackson and the other coach winners will be recognized at PCA’s National Youth Sports Awards Dinner and Benefit Sponsored by Deloitte to be held on April 28th, 2018 at Maples Pavilion on Stanford University’s campus in honor of their 20th Anniversary.
“Jackson helps his players win on and off the court” said Beth O’Neill Maloney, Executive Director of PCA- New England, the local Chapter of Positive Coaching Alliance. “By creating a positive, character-building youth sports experience and serving as a Double-Goal Coach®, Jackson helps youth develop into better athletes and, more importantly, better people.”
Jackson coaches kids from all over the world in Burlington Vermont at the VT Elite and VT Dawgs programs as “One Family” and sets a standard for the way players are expected to behave on and off the floor, his players are “All In.” Jackson leads his teams to success on the scoreboard by having all his players embrace the core values of Appreciation, Positivity, Accountability, Sportsmanship, and Pride, rewarding players who live those values, and by living those values himself. As one parent says, “Jackson’s motto, One Family is what drives this magic. The players know they are loved and supported on and off the court.” Jackson helps his players set and meet goals, and guides them so that “everyone has a chance to shine.” With “animated enthusiasm, love and energy,” Jackson nurtures his players, their siblings, and their families by highlighting their individual strengths.
Jackson believes that a coach can help a kid reach their potential only when there are “no barriers” and “no fear.” Jackson removes barriers by providing free clinics to reach girls and by providing all kids with the opportunity to play, regardless of financial resources, in the VT Elite and VT Dawgs program. Having experienced a negative “guns and blazes” football coach who made him want to quit as a kid, Jackson has adopted a “no fear” approach to coaching. His philosophy on mistakes? “We all make mistakes, I just ask my players to do three things when they make a mistake--acknowledge it, learn from it, and forget it,” says Jackson.
Jackson goes the extra mile for his players, attending everything from special education meetings to funerals, Jackson supports his players, their families, and his community in a way that makes him a powerful role model for many. As Jackson tells his players, “life is bigger than basketball.”