I saw an impressive thing today: a player who is discouraged and doesn't want to come back, parents who are concerned reach out to the coach. Coach shows up the next day and talks with player. Player is nervous about the discussion, but coach makes him feel comfortable.
It seems simple. But it's more than the game, it's about ministry, helping a boy to grow to be a man. That conversation on the back porch may have significant pay back in the future. Fruit we may never see.
Saturday, September 5, 2015
Wednesday, July 15, 2015
Summer Conditioning
I was reading an article about the women's US team with the following:
"The Americans have outscored opponents 7-0 in the second half. That sort of late domination only has one explanation: The Americans, from the top of the roster to the bottom, have simply been fitter than every team they have faced, and as everyone knows, there are no shortcuts when it comes to being fit."
This is true for a World Cup team and it's true for a home school team. The problem is that once the soccer season starts in the fall, there's not enough time for the coach to get them in shape. Time is very limited, so the coach relies on players working on their conditioning over the summer. A coach needs to focus on high end speed work once the season starts, but that's not effective if the player can't handle that level of work. The summer is about getting the strength and endurance needed to start effective speed and skill work in the fall. So here are some guidelines:
Motivation to do conditioning over the summer is hard to come by. I've found that out of a group of 25 guys, maybe 5 will put in solid work. Once summer hits, so do summer jobs, vacations, hanging out. Who has time to run with that? :-) But summers become a good character building time, challenging a player to take responsibility over a long time period.
Buddy system: getting guys to be accountable to each other is critical. There's a lot of web resources that can be used to track workouts and share with friends, like Map My Run or Run Keeper.
Coaches Can't do everything. I don't think I've been effective in summer conditioning because I just can't do everything. My summers get jammed too and I know the amount of work that's coming in the fall, so I got work I got to get done now. Hopefully you can do better than me by delegating and getting someone to help you organize the guys over the summer.
Anything is better than nothing. If a player can get out and bike or swim on some regular basis, that's better than nothing. It helps to keep some perspective.
More time is better, but be realistic. Obviously if a player can have a block of 2hrs per day to work out, that's awesome, but usually not realistic. Life happens. So we need some basic principles
Distance training vs. soccer training. Some guys train like their distance runners. I had one guy that was doing 3-5 miles a day. While that's impressive, it's the wrong kind of work out and actually hurts performance during the season. During the season we could keep him on the field all day, but he had no speed. Players shouldn't be doing more than 3 miles
Mix it up, keep it interesting. Face it, running can be boring. So mix it up, such as road biking, mountain biking, swimming, roller blading, etc. These kinds of activities keep things interesting, are a treat, and also work different groups of muscles. The key is to do it deliberately. Going for a bike ride should be putting in 30-45min, not just riding the bike down the street to a friends house.
Interval work: If you do nothing else, do this. This is the core of what players should be doing over the summer. You want to be a great player, do this. Can't emphasize this enough. A great workout is phone poles: put in 80% effort for 3 phone poles, then very slow jog for 3. Repeat this for 20-30 minutes. It's a killer but does two things, first it keeps the fast twitch muscles in shape for speed, and second, doing this for 20-30 minutes gets the right amount of cardio. We can get the same effect by running around a soccer field - work hard half way up the field, jog the rest of the way, work hard across the field, and repeat up the side. Recovery is KEY. Work HARD on the speed, super slow on the recovery. Can't emphasize that enough.
Strength training: if players can make 15-20 minutes a day as part of their wake up or evening routine, that's great. Keep it basic: pushups, crunches, squats, planks, super mans, etc. If weights can be added, that's a bonus. So do 10-30 push ups, 10-30 bicycle crunches, 10-20 squats, 10 pointers, repeat.
Some workout programs, such as the CXC cross country ski program or different training camps do agility training over the summer. I've found that this is only effective if they are repeated several times per week all summer. Great if the player has time, if not, focus on something else that will give more benefit.
Distance: players should throw in an easy 1-2 mile run once per week. The change from the phone poles is good. Don't train like a distance runner, but do get some easy distance in.
Soccer Ball: players need to get time on the ball. A lot can be said about what to do over the summer. There's a continuum of what a particular player has time for, on the light end, the player should be working their weak foot. This can be done by simply kicking a ball against a wall while alternating feet. This takes lots of time and the summer is the best time to work it. Once the season hits, the coach is going to focus elsewhere. And go play soccer! Small sided pick up scrimmages with friends is fun and teaches a lot.
Bottom line: Focus on how to make players accountable for their summer work, train for long interval work outs, get lots of basic strength training in.
"The Americans have outscored opponents 7-0 in the second half. That sort of late domination only has one explanation: The Americans, from the top of the roster to the bottom, have simply been fitter than every team they have faced, and as everyone knows, there are no shortcuts when it comes to being fit."
This is true for a World Cup team and it's true for a home school team. The problem is that once the soccer season starts in the fall, there's not enough time for the coach to get them in shape. Time is very limited, so the coach relies on players working on their conditioning over the summer. A coach needs to focus on high end speed work once the season starts, but that's not effective if the player can't handle that level of work. The summer is about getting the strength and endurance needed to start effective speed and skill work in the fall. So here are some guidelines:
Motivation to do conditioning over the summer is hard to come by. I've found that out of a group of 25 guys, maybe 5 will put in solid work. Once summer hits, so do summer jobs, vacations, hanging out. Who has time to run with that? :-) But summers become a good character building time, challenging a player to take responsibility over a long time period.
Buddy system: getting guys to be accountable to each other is critical. There's a lot of web resources that can be used to track workouts and share with friends, like Map My Run or Run Keeper.
Coaches Can't do everything. I don't think I've been effective in summer conditioning because I just can't do everything. My summers get jammed too and I know the amount of work that's coming in the fall, so I got work I got to get done now. Hopefully you can do better than me by delegating and getting someone to help you organize the guys over the summer.
Anything is better than nothing. If a player can get out and bike or swim on some regular basis, that's better than nothing. It helps to keep some perspective.
More time is better, but be realistic. Obviously if a player can have a block of 2hrs per day to work out, that's awesome, but usually not realistic. Life happens. So we need some basic principles
Distance training vs. soccer training. Some guys train like their distance runners. I had one guy that was doing 3-5 miles a day. While that's impressive, it's the wrong kind of work out and actually hurts performance during the season. During the season we could keep him on the field all day, but he had no speed. Players shouldn't be doing more than 3 miles
Mix it up, keep it interesting. Face it, running can be boring. So mix it up, such as road biking, mountain biking, swimming, roller blading, etc. These kinds of activities keep things interesting, are a treat, and also work different groups of muscles. The key is to do it deliberately. Going for a bike ride should be putting in 30-45min, not just riding the bike down the street to a friends house.
Interval work: If you do nothing else, do this. This is the core of what players should be doing over the summer. You want to be a great player, do this. Can't emphasize this enough. A great workout is phone poles: put in 80% effort for 3 phone poles, then very slow jog for 3. Repeat this for 20-30 minutes. It's a killer but does two things, first it keeps the fast twitch muscles in shape for speed, and second, doing this for 20-30 minutes gets the right amount of cardio. We can get the same effect by running around a soccer field - work hard half way up the field, jog the rest of the way, work hard across the field, and repeat up the side. Recovery is KEY. Work HARD on the speed, super slow on the recovery. Can't emphasize that enough.
Strength training: if players can make 15-20 minutes a day as part of their wake up or evening routine, that's great. Keep it basic: pushups, crunches, squats, planks, super mans, etc. If weights can be added, that's a bonus. So do 10-30 push ups, 10-30 bicycle crunches, 10-20 squats, 10 pointers, repeat.
Some workout programs, such as the CXC cross country ski program or different training camps do agility training over the summer. I've found that this is only effective if they are repeated several times per week all summer. Great if the player has time, if not, focus on something else that will give more benefit.
Distance: players should throw in an easy 1-2 mile run once per week. The change from the phone poles is good. Don't train like a distance runner, but do get some easy distance in.
Soccer Ball: players need to get time on the ball. A lot can be said about what to do over the summer. There's a continuum of what a particular player has time for, on the light end, the player should be working their weak foot. This can be done by simply kicking a ball against a wall while alternating feet. This takes lots of time and the summer is the best time to work it. Once the season hits, the coach is going to focus elsewhere. And go play soccer! Small sided pick up scrimmages with friends is fun and teaches a lot.
Bottom line: Focus on how to make players accountable for their summer work, train for long interval work outs, get lots of basic strength training in.
Monday, June 1, 2015
Position: Chairman
I was at a basketball board meeting the other day and asked about the structure of their board. They separate their boy's and girl's programs, so the boy's have 2 coaches (varsity, JV), treasurer, secretary, athletic director, and volunteer coordinator. The athletic director serves as the lead of the board. This is different from what soccer did, where we had a chairman. It's interesting to see the differences - got me thinking. I was the chairman of the soccer board for several years, so here are what those responsibilities were:
On the soccer, the chairman focuses on the policy direction of the board and the program. This is opposed to the details of what the coaches focus on.
Schedule/Facilitate Board Meetings: The chairman will pick a recommended schedule of meetings for the season. They come up with the proposed agenda for each meeting. When meetings are in session, they actively facilitate the meeting, making sure that everyone gets their input in.
Parents Meeting: The chairman will run the parents meeting, reviewing the goals of the program, introducing the coaches and letting the coaches explain the program.
League Meetings: The chairman will attend all the league meetings, take notes, and be a conduit for questions/concerns from the program to the league. The chairman needs to develop relationships with other coaches and teams. This is really important because when problems happen, and they will, those relationships will smooth the way to solutions.
Parents: The chairman should make an effort to meet and talk with as many parents as possible. Again, when problems happen, and they will, those relationships will be key.
Problem Point of Contact: If a family has a problem with the program, they should go to the coach if it has to do with coaching things, like game time, work outs, player relationships, etc. Issues with the program go to the chairman, like cost, schedule, policy, etc. If the family doesn't feel like they can go to the coach, they go to the chairman. Sometimes the problems are on the board and the chairman needs to help mediate the discussion. This can be tricky since the chairman may have their own opinions. They need to be fair.
Coach Selection: Every year the board should make a deliberate decision on who the coach will be for that season. The chairman should manage that process. If the coach from last year was good and available this season, then it's an easy discussion. If there are issues with the coach from last season or there are better options for the new season, then the chairman needs to guide that process with a graceful hand.
Policy: The chairman needs to be thinking about how the program is run and how it can be improved. Any policy needs to be written down for future boards. That write up sometimes needs to be clarified or modified. It's up to the chairman to coordinate that.
General Point of Contact: There are always questions that come up and the chairman needs to help guide those questions to the right people.
On the soccer, the chairman focuses on the policy direction of the board and the program. This is opposed to the details of what the coaches focus on.
Schedule/Facilitate Board Meetings: The chairman will pick a recommended schedule of meetings for the season. They come up with the proposed agenda for each meeting. When meetings are in session, they actively facilitate the meeting, making sure that everyone gets their input in.
Parents Meeting: The chairman will run the parents meeting, reviewing the goals of the program, introducing the coaches and letting the coaches explain the program.
League Meetings: The chairman will attend all the league meetings, take notes, and be a conduit for questions/concerns from the program to the league. The chairman needs to develop relationships with other coaches and teams. This is really important because when problems happen, and they will, those relationships will smooth the way to solutions.
Parents: The chairman should make an effort to meet and talk with as many parents as possible. Again, when problems happen, and they will, those relationships will be key.
Problem Point of Contact: If a family has a problem with the program, they should go to the coach if it has to do with coaching things, like game time, work outs, player relationships, etc. Issues with the program go to the chairman, like cost, schedule, policy, etc. If the family doesn't feel like they can go to the coach, they go to the chairman. Sometimes the problems are on the board and the chairman needs to help mediate the discussion. This can be tricky since the chairman may have their own opinions. They need to be fair.
Coach Selection: Every year the board should make a deliberate decision on who the coach will be for that season. The chairman should manage that process. If the coach from last year was good and available this season, then it's an easy discussion. If there are issues with the coach from last season or there are better options for the new season, then the chairman needs to guide that process with a graceful hand.
Policy: The chairman needs to be thinking about how the program is run and how it can be improved. Any policy needs to be written down for future boards. That write up sometimes needs to be clarified or modified. It's up to the chairman to coordinate that.
General Point of Contact: There are always questions that come up and the chairman needs to help guide those questions to the right people.
Friday, May 22, 2015
Stay or Go?
Every season, a coach should ask themselves if they should continue to coach that season. It's a good time to reflect on personal objectives, and the objectives and opportunities of the team.
When to Stay: It may seem obvious, but there are a couple reasons to consider for staying.
Growth: every year that a coach stays with a program should result in personal growth. Learning from others, situations, etc is a big investment by the program and individual. Really big.
Player relationships: a new coach coming into a team is usually greeted with a certain amount of skepticism by the players. Some new coaches are accepted quickly, others take time. Making that investment in time, builds that trust.
Personal blessing: there can be great personal reward, which is the result of positive fruit. That personal feeling of accomplishment is no accident. That blessing shows that things are right.
Resources are hard to find: small, volunteer based organizations are always challenged to find new coaches. Sticking around can help the organization out.
When to Go: there is a book titled "Necessary Endings" which makes the point that life is fully of cycles, which includes endings. Endings are okay and necessary, and coaching is no different.
Family: If the family asks you not to coach, you'd better listen. They may not come right out and say it because they see that you're personally invested and not want to create waves, so make sure it's safe for them to express that. Your family comes first. Your family may also have cycles where you may need to direct your attention to some other activity that will help other members of the family grow.
Better options: Believe it or not, there may be better coaching options out there than you :-) You should be looking for those options early on and help to mentor. There may also be new options that appear on the scene. Be gracious.
Burn out: Coaching is a lot of working and you might be getting burned out. You need to take care of yourself.
Personal Differences: there may be people in the program that are just difficult to work with. Repeated issues may be a sign to move on. It may be time to break the cycle of problems. Maybe it's you, maybe it's them. Either way, think about what your needs are and their's. They may have a bigger stake in the program at that point.
Sometimes it's hard to make the decision to go. You'll have invested yourself with the players and want to be part of what comes next for them. You feel the investment of time, and that will be significant. You'll have hunger for one more win! I totally get that. But change can be good and open up more opportunities.
Bottom-line: every year, in the spring, ask the question - should I go or stay?
When to Stay: It may seem obvious, but there are a couple reasons to consider for staying.
Growth: every year that a coach stays with a program should result in personal growth. Learning from others, situations, etc is a big investment by the program and individual. Really big.
Player relationships: a new coach coming into a team is usually greeted with a certain amount of skepticism by the players. Some new coaches are accepted quickly, others take time. Making that investment in time, builds that trust.
Personal blessing: there can be great personal reward, which is the result of positive fruit. That personal feeling of accomplishment is no accident. That blessing shows that things are right.
Resources are hard to find: small, volunteer based organizations are always challenged to find new coaches. Sticking around can help the organization out.
When to Go: there is a book titled "Necessary Endings" which makes the point that life is fully of cycles, which includes endings. Endings are okay and necessary, and coaching is no different.
Family: If the family asks you not to coach, you'd better listen. They may not come right out and say it because they see that you're personally invested and not want to create waves, so make sure it's safe for them to express that. Your family comes first. Your family may also have cycles where you may need to direct your attention to some other activity that will help other members of the family grow.
Better options: Believe it or not, there may be better coaching options out there than you :-) You should be looking for those options early on and help to mentor. There may also be new options that appear on the scene. Be gracious.
Burn out: Coaching is a lot of working and you might be getting burned out. You need to take care of yourself.
Personal Differences: there may be people in the program that are just difficult to work with. Repeated issues may be a sign to move on. It may be time to break the cycle of problems. Maybe it's you, maybe it's them. Either way, think about what your needs are and their's. They may have a bigger stake in the program at that point.
Sometimes it's hard to make the decision to go. You'll have invested yourself with the players and want to be part of what comes next for them. You feel the investment of time, and that will be significant. You'll have hunger for one more win! I totally get that. But change can be good and open up more opportunities.
Bottom-line: every year, in the spring, ask the question - should I go or stay?
Wednesday, April 15, 2015
Position: Coach
Now this may seem kind of obvious, but you'd be surprised the confusion this can create! The coaches primary responsibility is to prepare the players, but there's more to consider:
Define the Goal: is the goal to have a winning team? Fair game time for everyone? The coach and the board need to make sure everyone is clear on this.
Prepare for and Run Practices: The coach is responsible for running the practices. This means that they need to come to practice ready to go, not trying to figure out what to do once they get there. The focus is: conditioning, team building and tactics.
Leadership Development: At a minimum, this starts with picking team captains, but captains don't magically appear and know what to do. Guiding the captains in their responsibilities and preparing future captains.
Coordinate Support: Usually a coach can't do it all. There may be times when they need someone to work with the goalies or new players. Identifying those skills takes time - getting to know the parents and building those relationships is where it starts. Once they have some people selected, they need to define the goals, pick times, and monitor progress. It's important to understand a coach as a manager of resources that will improve the players and equip them to meet the goals of the program.
Get to Know Coaches: It's super important for the coach to get to know the other coaches in the league. This happens at games, league meetings, emails in off season, etc. Building these relationships helps to smooth any problems that they will encounter later. And there will be problems.
Player Feedback: There is, of course, constant feedback to players, but a formal assessment of the players mid season is highly recommended. This way they can know what their strengths and weaknesses are. Writing out a player assessment and giving this to the players is very valuable.
Track Metrics: The coach needs to figure out what to measure - goals, assists, player time, endurance, speed, etc are all numbers to track. You can improve what you don't measure.
Protect Players: Make sure the players are safe in games or practices. This is a very physical sport and these are teenagers, so there is risk here beyond the control of the coach.
Understand Rules: The coach should know the rules of the game, seems obvious, but newer coaches may not be up on them. At least get the rule book and look up rules as situations arise. It's recommended, if possible, take a referee class.
Character Development: This is not the coaches responsibility, it's the parents. That said, there opportunities to influence this development by providing timely feedback, setting the tone at the start and end of practices, etc. Make prayer a priority at the end of practices. Also, the coach should take the opportunity to share their testimony.
Schedule Review: The coach will need to review the draft season schedule that's being worked with the league. The scheduler usually has questions about number of games per week, should we schedule games near tournaments, what vacation is the coach taking, etc.
Who does the coach need to coordinate with?
Athletic Director: This is probably the most important working relationship. The primary focus here is schedule for the week, specific and special equipment needs.
Scheduler: Usually more at the start of the season when the season calendar is being developed.
Board Chairman: Focus will be on status of program and any special issues.
A recommendation about the relationship between the coach and the board: the coach is not a voting board member, there are meetings where the board should have time to discuss issues without the coaches present. Get your board to discuss this and write down how this should work. You'll want to coaches there sometimes and not others. Just be clear about it.
Define the Goal: is the goal to have a winning team? Fair game time for everyone? The coach and the board need to make sure everyone is clear on this.
Prepare for and Run Practices: The coach is responsible for running the practices. This means that they need to come to practice ready to go, not trying to figure out what to do once they get there. The focus is: conditioning, team building and tactics.
Leadership Development: At a minimum, this starts with picking team captains, but captains don't magically appear and know what to do. Guiding the captains in their responsibilities and preparing future captains.
Coordinate Support: Usually a coach can't do it all. There may be times when they need someone to work with the goalies or new players. Identifying those skills takes time - getting to know the parents and building those relationships is where it starts. Once they have some people selected, they need to define the goals, pick times, and monitor progress. It's important to understand a coach as a manager of resources that will improve the players and equip them to meet the goals of the program.
Get to Know Coaches: It's super important for the coach to get to know the other coaches in the league. This happens at games, league meetings, emails in off season, etc. Building these relationships helps to smooth any problems that they will encounter later. And there will be problems.
Player Feedback: There is, of course, constant feedback to players, but a formal assessment of the players mid season is highly recommended. This way they can know what their strengths and weaknesses are. Writing out a player assessment and giving this to the players is very valuable.
Track Metrics: The coach needs to figure out what to measure - goals, assists, player time, endurance, speed, etc are all numbers to track. You can improve what you don't measure.
Protect Players: Make sure the players are safe in games or practices. This is a very physical sport and these are teenagers, so there is risk here beyond the control of the coach.
Understand Rules: The coach should know the rules of the game, seems obvious, but newer coaches may not be up on them. At least get the rule book and look up rules as situations arise. It's recommended, if possible, take a referee class.
Character Development: This is not the coaches responsibility, it's the parents. That said, there opportunities to influence this development by providing timely feedback, setting the tone at the start and end of practices, etc. Make prayer a priority at the end of practices. Also, the coach should take the opportunity to share their testimony.
Schedule Review: The coach will need to review the draft season schedule that's being worked with the league. The scheduler usually has questions about number of games per week, should we schedule games near tournaments, what vacation is the coach taking, etc.
Who does the coach need to coordinate with?
Athletic Director: This is probably the most important working relationship. The primary focus here is schedule for the week, specific and special equipment needs.
Scheduler: Usually more at the start of the season when the season calendar is being developed.
Board Chairman: Focus will be on status of program and any special issues.
A recommendation about the relationship between the coach and the board: the coach is not a voting board member, there are meetings where the board should have time to discuss issues without the coaches present. Get your board to discuss this and write down how this should work. You'll want to coaches there sometimes and not others. Just be clear about it.
Friday, April 3, 2015
Basketball Banquet
Last time I shared something about my experience with working with other coaches in other sports. Think I mentioned that last week I attended the basketball team's banquet and wanted to share some random observations. I love the end of season sports banquet! Eat great food, talk with cool people and wrap up the season on a positive note. So here are my observations in no particular order with no particular agenda:
Pot luck dinner: Yum! It's funny: have people bring what they want and you'd think you'd get too much of the same thing - but this banquet had a wide variety of foods. Taco salad was a big hit.
Coaches really spoke from the heart about the players - they really understood the players. Very articulate. Sometimes when I've presented participation awards to the players, I struggle with getting the words right. These guys didn't have that problem.
Each player got a participation award.
Coach wasn't afraid to talk about what the player struggled with that season - was a challenge to them for the next season.
No trophies were handed out. Certificates were handed out for: Rookie of the Year (best first year player), Excellence in Conduct, Leadership, Most Improved, Most valuable. These were handed out for JV and Varsity.
The JV coach has a tradition, going waaaaaay back, for handing out chocolate milk after games and practices for good effort. He does it a lot and the players really work for that milk! At the banquet he hands out quart size chocolate milks for special efforts - the kids eat that up!
The coaches really track performance metrics. The players will do free throws, dribbling drills, etc. before or after practice and have the players record the numbers. The coaches track the progress and acknowledge that at the banquet. Really good idea. I keep lots of numbers, but not metrics on things that show improvement in skills. Need to do that.
Varsity coach has a quick talk on advice to seniors. He had five points: (1) Be a veracious reader, read you bible, (2) Reject passivity, don't be a spectator, (3) Serve your king with valor, (4) Find time for silence and reflection, and (5) don't just do what everyone else is doing.
Seniors have to give a speech at the end of the banquet.
Varsity coach gave the seniors two books.
Everyone loves a good video of the season. Having the right lens for taking indoor basketball pictures is key. The lens is expensive, but worth it.
Have a video of a game to play during the meal. Plan on having 1-2hrs of video.
There was a special table for the coaches and their wives. Lots of honor and acknowledgement given to the wives. These coaches have coaches for years without kids on the team. That's a lot on a family and that honor was well done.
When going for dinner, the senior got to go first, then families, then the players.
Pot luck dinner: Yum! It's funny: have people bring what they want and you'd think you'd get too much of the same thing - but this banquet had a wide variety of foods. Taco salad was a big hit.
Coaches really spoke from the heart about the players - they really understood the players. Very articulate. Sometimes when I've presented participation awards to the players, I struggle with getting the words right. These guys didn't have that problem.
Each player got a participation award.
Coach wasn't afraid to talk about what the player struggled with that season - was a challenge to them for the next season.
No trophies were handed out. Certificates were handed out for: Rookie of the Year (best first year player), Excellence in Conduct, Leadership, Most Improved, Most valuable. These were handed out for JV and Varsity.
The JV coach has a tradition, going waaaaaay back, for handing out chocolate milk after games and practices for good effort. He does it a lot and the players really work for that milk! At the banquet he hands out quart size chocolate milks for special efforts - the kids eat that up!
The coaches really track performance metrics. The players will do free throws, dribbling drills, etc. before or after practice and have the players record the numbers. The coaches track the progress and acknowledge that at the banquet. Really good idea. I keep lots of numbers, but not metrics on things that show improvement in skills. Need to do that.
Varsity coach has a quick talk on advice to seniors. He had five points: (1) Be a veracious reader, read you bible, (2) Reject passivity, don't be a spectator, (3) Serve your king with valor, (4) Find time for silence and reflection, and (5) don't just do what everyone else is doing.
Seniors have to give a speech at the end of the banquet.
Varsity coach gave the seniors two books.
Everyone loves a good video of the season. Having the right lens for taking indoor basketball pictures is key. The lens is expensive, but worth it.
Have a video of a game to play during the meal. Plan on having 1-2hrs of video.
There was a special table for the coaches and their wives. Lots of honor and acknowledgement given to the wives. These coaches have coaches for years without kids on the team. That's a lot on a family and that honor was well done.
When going for dinner, the senior got to go first, then families, then the players.
Friday, March 27, 2015
Coaches, Relationships
I was at my son's basketball banquet and was impressed with the style and class of the event. The coaches were very articulate in their recognition of the boys - they really knew the boys, their strengths and weaknesses. They weren't afraid to mention the boys weakness, but did it in a way to encourage and challenge. I love sports banquets and this one was no exception.
I've gotten to know the basketball coaches over the past couple years and have made an effort to talk with them about their lessons learned, specific players, and have invited the coaches to come to soccer practices and games. I can't emphasize enough how important this is. Time is tight and if you don't have a child playing in the other sport, this can be a challenge, but the advantages can be great:
Player feedback: every coach has multiple players that have challenges. Being able to talk with another coach will always bring a fresh perspective or confirmation of particular situations. I remember sitting in McDonald's after a basketball game talking with the coaches about a player. He sat a pondered a moment then shared his perspective - one that I had never considered. In a Christian context, this is even more important, since we have a common base from which to talk about the heart of a player - very important.
Situation feedback: coaches face all kinds of situations with referees, facilities, finances, equipment, parents, other teams, etc. Getting their perspective may give you a heads up and keep you out of a sticky situation!
Coaching Practices: find out how they condition their players, what kinds of drills they do, etc. Even though they're different sports, there is a lot that can be learned.
Prayer: knowing what their going through will help you to know how to pray for them and how they can pray for you. There's more to this than doing sports.....
Bottom line is that a coach needs to be teachable and needs help, and what better place to get that help and provide help than with other coaches.
I've gotten to know the basketball coaches over the past couple years and have made an effort to talk with them about their lessons learned, specific players, and have invited the coaches to come to soccer practices and games. I can't emphasize enough how important this is. Time is tight and if you don't have a child playing in the other sport, this can be a challenge, but the advantages can be great:
Player feedback: every coach has multiple players that have challenges. Being able to talk with another coach will always bring a fresh perspective or confirmation of particular situations. I remember sitting in McDonald's after a basketball game talking with the coaches about a player. He sat a pondered a moment then shared his perspective - one that I had never considered. In a Christian context, this is even more important, since we have a common base from which to talk about the heart of a player - very important.
Situation feedback: coaches face all kinds of situations with referees, facilities, finances, equipment, parents, other teams, etc. Getting their perspective may give you a heads up and keep you out of a sticky situation!
Coaching Practices: find out how they condition their players, what kinds of drills they do, etc. Even though they're different sports, there is a lot that can be learned.
Prayer: knowing what their going through will help you to know how to pray for them and how they can pray for you. There's more to this than doing sports.....
Bottom line is that a coach needs to be teachable and needs help, and what better place to get that help and provide help than with other coaches.
Monday, March 16, 2015
Position: Athletic Director
Well, our board had it's first meeting of the year, even with several feet of snow on the ground! Which is a good time to think about team responsibilities. Let's talk about the athletic director....
They are the primary interface between the coach and the rest of the world. Their position allows the coach to focus more on coaching.
Post the week's schedule: at the start, things are pretty consistent - practice M, T, Th, Fri from 4:30 to 6:30. But later when games start getting added, it's important to give everyone a heads up on what's happening that week. We use a Facebook group and people really appreciate that schedule for the week.
Verify Games: they call the other team's AD to make sure the game is still on, confirm time and location. This is very important! Are there any tricks to finding the place? Clarify who will verify that the referees will be at home games. It may be the scheduler, may be the AD, or someone else.
Equipment assessment: usually our equipment manager takes care of all things equipment, but there are special cases where the AD will review special situations. For example, review the goalie equipment: does each goalie have their own gloves, what condition are they in, have they grown and need new pants, are there extra pants floating around, etc.
Scheduling Games: We usually have someone to do scheduling for the team, but we did have a situation where we needed to have JV games scheduled and the scheduler couldn't do that, so the AD did.
Attend League Meetings: The league will usually have a couple meetings per year and it's good to have another set of eyes and ears present.
Schmooze: It's good for the AD to get to know other AD's in the league. This smooths the way for any future issues that will come up.
Who does the AD coordinate with?
Coach: Probably the most important working relationship.
Scheduler: Will want to be aware of any schedule changes or discussions.
Equipment Manager: do an initial discussion at the start of the season to see if there are any special equipment needs.
They are the primary interface between the coach and the rest of the world. Their position allows the coach to focus more on coaching.
Post the week's schedule: at the start, things are pretty consistent - practice M, T, Th, Fri from 4:30 to 6:30. But later when games start getting added, it's important to give everyone a heads up on what's happening that week. We use a Facebook group and people really appreciate that schedule for the week.
Verify Games: they call the other team's AD to make sure the game is still on, confirm time and location. This is very important! Are there any tricks to finding the place? Clarify who will verify that the referees will be at home games. It may be the scheduler, may be the AD, or someone else.
Equipment assessment: usually our equipment manager takes care of all things equipment, but there are special cases where the AD will review special situations. For example, review the goalie equipment: does each goalie have their own gloves, what condition are they in, have they grown and need new pants, are there extra pants floating around, etc.
Scheduling Games: We usually have someone to do scheduling for the team, but we did have a situation where we needed to have JV games scheduled and the scheduler couldn't do that, so the AD did.
Attend League Meetings: The league will usually have a couple meetings per year and it's good to have another set of eyes and ears present.
Schmooze: It's good for the AD to get to know other AD's in the league. This smooths the way for any future issues that will come up.
Who does the AD coordinate with?
Coach: Probably the most important working relationship.
Scheduler: Will want to be aware of any schedule changes or discussions.
Equipment Manager: do an initial discussion at the start of the season to see if there are any special equipment needs.
Wednesday, January 7, 2015
This Day in Football...
Found this great web sit that's got a fun fact about soccer, er football, history every day: http://tdifh.blogspot.com/
Oh, and about that football vs. soccer thing.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sD_8prYOxo
Happy New Year!
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