Recognition Is Step One. Interruption Is Step Two

A few days ago, I saw the work of TeamsOfMen tested in real time.

And when I say “the work of TeamsOfMen,” I’m referring to all of our collective efforts to use spaces with male athletes to teach escaping the manbox and embracing a new version of masculinity—one rooted in emotional fluency, curiosity, and self-reflection.

I won’t go into names or specific scenes, as I don’t have permission from everyone involved. But I will say this:

We encountered a situation where manbox tropes were being modeled in our immediate vicinity. And I could see it on my guys’ faces. They saw it. They recognized it. They knew what they were witnessing.

Later, when some time had passed, I asked them:

“Yo… was that a manbox moment right there?”

Their response was immediate.

“Yeah coach. That was SOOO manbox.”

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel vindicated in that moment. Not because of what happened—but because they had developed the recognition skills to see it clearly.

That’s the first level of growth: awareness.

But it also made something else crystal clear.

Recognition is not the final step.

Courage is.

They saw it—but they didn’t interrupt it.

And because they’re teenagers, I’m not assigning failure to that moment. That’s not how growth works.

That’s how training works.

It’s now on me to give them tools. To give them language. To give them reps in interruption.

Because seeing the manbox is one level of evolution.

Naming it—and calling it up to something better in real time—is another level entirely.

And that level doesn’t happen by accident.

It happens through practice.

Coach Prompts

• Where have your players shown recognition of unhealthy behavior—but not yet interruption?

• What phrases have you explicitly trained your athletes to use when something crosses a line?

• Are you teaching awareness, or are you teaching action?

Player Prompts

• Have you ever noticed something that didn’t feel right—but stayed quiet? Why?

• What makes it hard to speak up in the moment?

• What would make it easier for you to interrupt something that doesn’t align with who you want to be?