As the team podiatrist for Brown University athletes, Dr. Peter Sardella has had an opportunity to examine a lot of talented feet over the last 10 years. But he's also had a chance to find out what's going on upstairs a little bit, too.

As a youth coach and the father of three, Sardella has become very interested in learning what makes athletes tick and how best to connect with them.

He says that after working at Brown for a while, he began to notice something. Each September, a new group of freshmen athletes would arrive on campus filled with energy and enthusiasm for their respective sports. But 3 or 4 years later, while some of those players would still be just as eager to step on the field each day, there were others who had lost that sparkle in their eye. Some had even quit their team completely.

Why is that? Sardella wondered. And how, as a youth coach, can I make sure I am creating the type of positive experience for my players that will make them want to continue playing long into adulthood?

So he would ask some of the Brown athletes he treated, particularly some of the women soccer players, why they thought they had remained passionate about their sport and what they remembered most about their athletic experiences. The answers were almost inevitably the same.

"I asked a lot of them about burnout, said Sardella, 44, of Cranston. "And the common thread [among the players who continued playing] was that they loved soccer. They had that passion in them, rather than because they had parents who kept pushing them or dragging them to tournaments all over California or New Jersey or Pennsylvania.

"They would never talk about their personal achievements or the championships they had won," he added. "They would talk about the friendships they had made. And I think with youth sports, it's the same thing. It's the friendships that they're making now, their camaraderie together and the sportsmanship that carries through."

When his first two children, Alex and Mia, who now are 15 and 9, became old enough to be involved in organized sports about 10 years ago, Sardella says he decided to help coach their CLCF soccer and basketball teams for a few reasons:

It gives him an opportunity to spend quality time with his children, an experience he regrets having missed with his own father, who was forced to work long hours to support his wife and six children.

"I've got this window of time to be with my kids, and I would say being part of this experience that your child is going through is so important, said Sardella, who also has a 5-year-old son, Steven.

"Coaching soccer just gives me one greater chance to be a positive role model for my daughter, giving her guidance on the field, which makes our bond together even stronger. This will hopefully translate into more confidence and stability in her life, and that she never will be afraid to ask me for my guidance in other situations.

Coaching gives Sardella -- a three-sport athlete at Agawam (Mass.) High School, including an All-Stater in track, as well as a former standout soccer player at Springfield College -- a chance to stay active in sports he enjoys.

"It's such a breath of fresh air, getting out of the office, throwing on the soccer boots and, bang, you're out on the soccer field, said Sardella, who also played for a year as a walk-on for the Hatfield Town Football Club in England. "It's just a great feeling."

Coaching also gives Sardella an opportunity to create for other children the same type of positive experiences through sports that he once had as a youngster.

"I was very fortunate to have some tremendous mentors, said Sardella, who still remains in frequent contact with some of his former coaches. "My love for runners and triathletes and what I do in my practice is a reflection all the way back to youth sports and high school.

Sardella follows a few basic principles when he is coaching a team:

1) Keep it positive and fun.

2) Teach the fundamentals.

3) Instill a spirit of healthy competition while always stressing good sportsmanship.

Even though the emphasis is on fun, practices still should be orderly and productive. Before a practice, Sardella, who holds an "E soccer coaching license," jots down on an index card all of the areas he plans to cover. Get creative with the drills, he says. "You've got to bring it to their level. Demonstrate everything. Maybe do it in slow motion at first. Then, once it's sunk in, they can go perform it.

"You've got to remember that you're going to have a big mix on these teams, he adds. "Some 8-year-olds really are 10 in stature, and some are 6 or 7, so you've got this huge pool of physiologic ages. You've got to find ways to motivate these kids.

"Even if the kids aren't doing it right, keep encouraging them, keep positive, and hopefully at the end of the year they've learned it and they'll be ready to move to the next level. For the better players, to keep them on their toes and interested, have them demonstrate. That helps keep their attention."

If there is a challenge to coaching youth sports, it would be "overzealous parents," says Sardella. He often will have a sit-down with all of the parents or send out an e-mail at the beginning of the season to let everyone know the ground rules and what types of behavior will and will not be tolerated at games. He's even passed out a code of ethics.

Sardella understands that every parent wants to see their child do well and wants to see him or her get their fair share of playing time. However, what parents need to understand, he says, is that while the parent is concerned about the well-being of one player, the coach must look out for the well-being of every player on the team. That can be an extremely tricky juggling act; and although Sardella admits he is not perfect, he tries his best to send every player home with a smile on his or her face.

Coaches must realize that they hold a great deal of power in their position, and that they must use that power responsibly.

"As the coach, you're really the parent representative on the bench," Sardella said. "So you have to be setting the tone. You've got to be a good role model all the way around. If you're ranting and raving and screaming, that's just going to become a lightning rod for other parents to join in."

All adults involved in youth sports would benefit from taking their cues from the children, Sardella adds, because if left to their own devices, it's really not the scoreboard the youngsters are looking at.

"Once all is said and done, none of that matters," he said. "Kids quickly forget after games whether they won or lost. They're more excited about going to their friend's house afterward. In the end, it's the friendships that really matter."

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the seventh installment in a regular series on Sports Parenting in which we will explore the many challenges faced by families involved in youth athletics.

cthorn@projo.com / (401) 277-7340