Motivation 101

Motivation is necessary for developing and performing athletic skills. It is what drives an athlete to successfully acquire a skill through through long and hard practices. Although motivation can be difficult to achieve, attention to social influences and using techniques of reinforcement, feedback and goal setting are ways that can instill motivation in a young athlete. Adolescents are influenced by their peers, parents, and the social factors that surround them. These aspects shape the behavior of these youths and affect their motivation towards athletics. Some of the main reasons why female adolescents engaged in sports activities were to make friends, keep existing friends, or a combination of both. However, it is important to note that the athletes who had a greater history of sports participation were more strongly oriented towards their performance. These athletes also required less support and reinforcement from coaches and team mates than did athletes from a less sports oriented background. This indicates that less experienced players require extra encouragement and support than do more experienced players. Therefore, some emphasis on the social aspects of being on a team should be encouraged.

Handling Off the Feild Issues

When you are working with young athletes nothing seems to go smoothly. You can always expect some kind of off the field issue to come up at the worst possible time. Learning to deal with these unfortunate and often unavoidable situations is a skill every successful coach must do.

The key to handling any kind of off the field situation is communication. Properly communicating with the people involved will allow you to better understand the full extent of the situation and to decide what needs to be done about it. It is always best to handle these instances promptly, because the faster action is taken the faster the issue is resolved.

When disscussing the siuation with the athletes involved there are a few guidelines to follow, to ensure nothing gets out of control and the problem is solved quickly.

1. Schedule a meeting with anyone involved ASAP, even if it takes away from practice time
2. Keep all details confidential, this is important to the privacy of the people involved
3. Listen to all sides of the story seprately, this will help you determine what really happen
4. Take time to think and discuss with your staff, to determine the severity of the situation and how best to handle it
5. Meet with everyone involved and let them know the plan of action and what they need to do
6. Take action and fix the problem as soon as possible!

Use these steps as a basic guideline next time an off the field issue comes up, and the problem will be solved in no time. Allowing you to get back to doing what you love the most about coaching, the game!

Best of luck,
Coach Nich

Player to Player Communication and Relationships

Player to player communication and relationships can make or break a team. Team chemistry plays an important role on and off the playing field. A team that plays as a team wins as a team. Whether it is positive support from your teammates in motivation, or constructive criticism in order to critique or make you better, it is important to have a good relationship with your teammates. We have all been on a team where there is that one bad apple who tends to bring down the teams morale. He’s the guy that argues with the team captains and talks back to the coach. It doesn’t matter how talented the player is, the team is better off without him.

During my experience as a player I have had coaches who were great at building team chemistry and relationships. It seemed like road trips were the best ways to build relationships with other players. We would take long bus trips that would either have us all communicating and having a good time, or having us all wanting to kill each other by the end of the trip. Coach would also room us in the hotels with a different player each weekend to help build relationships between all the players. Greater friendships will flourish greater relationships on the field.

Communication between players in order to build team chemistry and relationships can play a big role in how your team performs. As a player I have always felt more comfortable around my teammates when we all got along and played as one. When we did have to deal with that one bad apple we would find ways to straighten him out, or in one case a guy was released from the team. So remember a team that plays together wins together.

Team Functions are Vital to Success

Having a team dinner before every football game, or an end of the year pool party at the end of softball season are two examples of team functions. They are important because all of the coaches and players can relax in a stress free environment and just be themselves. Team functions are great place to build relationships with your players and their parents. It is an environment where everyone can just let their hair down and relax.

Here are some examples of team functions that you may try out with your team:

• End of year party
• Team dinner on game days
• BBQ at a local park
• Pool party at coach's house
• Friendly parent/player game of softball
• Bowling
• See a movie

All of these activities are great ways for your players to bond with one another which ultimately leads to success on the field. Players will put in more effort if they don't want to let down people they have strong relationships with as opposed to teammates that they barely even know.

Student-Athlete not Athlete-Student

I've personally seen how many high schools around the country give special treatment to their athletes. I've seen class credit given for football practice, baseball players skipping class to hang out in the gym with their coaches, and cheerleaders getting passes to leave school by their coach to go eat lunch. Some friends of mine have even lost college scholarships due to poor grades and low SAT scores. To some, school has taken a backseat to sports and this shouldn't be the case. I feel it is my duty to encourage all of you coaches out there to stop giving your players special treatment and let them focus on their studies during school hours. If this doesn't apply to you, congratulations as you are one of the few doing the right thing and putting your players education.

If you know a player on your team has poor grades or skips class often, it should be your duty to meet with them face to face and tell them the importance of being in the classroom. If they don't listen and poor behavior continues then punish them by sitting them out a game. This will get them to realize that their is more to life than just sports, and sports won't take them everywhere in life. Education goes longer than athletic ability for most.

I just wish there were more players like Myron Rolle, the football player from Florida State University. He graduated with a dual major from FSU in just 3 years and was awarded the Rhodes Scholarship at Oxford University. He has bypassed the NFL draft to study at Oxford. Rolle has aspirations to open up his own cancer research center in the Bahamas eventually. Myron Rolle truly is a Student-Athlete and is a great example that every young person should try to follow. Take action, do some research on Mr. Rolle and make a powerpoint for your team to watch. Show them about what this great athlete has accomplished in the classroom as well as on the field and you will forever change some lives for the better.

Creating A Request Letter

During your experience as a coach you may run into a time when you are in need of equipment in order to compete. Every sport needs specific equipment which can often be rather expensive. In order to request equipment from your athletic department or whoever may be in charge of your funds, you may need to create a request letter. This letter is often typed and should consist of the following:

• You must know who you will be writing the request letter to. Include their address and date of the letter in the top left corner. After you include the date and address of course follow with a greeting (Dear Mr. or Mrs. Smith).

• After your greeting you will include your main point, which in this case would be the need of equipment.

• Once you have informed the reader of what you are requesting, it is time to give an explanation of why you are in need of the equipment. This is when you can include the amount of jerseys that include rips and tears, or whatever the explanation may be in which you are in need of the new equipment.

• After you have stated you explanation it is time for the closing. Always be positive in the closing in the hopes that the reader will fulfill your request. Conclude with a thank you and sign the letter if you choose. Also include your contact information so that the reader can get back to your request.

Hopefully with the following information you will be capable of obtaining those new uniforms you were hoping for, or the new and improved gear that all the other teams are wearing. Whatever your request may be, always remember to stay positive.

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Using the Media To Your Advantage

Last week we discussed how the media can destroy your reputation if you don't properly communicate the right information to them. Today I'm going to take that concept a step further and show you how to use the media to your advantage. As we established before the media is your main connection to your community and good press can bring in tons of support.

The problem most coaches have is figuring out how to get good press, which is much easier than you probably think. The key to getting good press is building goodwill with the press, in other words if you are polite, professional, and supportive towards the media then in most cases they will return the favor. Despite the common beleif the media is made up of normal human beings just like us and they respond to disrespect the same way we do, being disrespectful back. So if you develop a good relationship with the press, that both of you can benefit from, they will be willing to help you out when you need them.

Remember the basis of any prosperous relationship is balance, so if they help you out be sure to return the favor. Plus it never hurts to send your favorite reporters a free tee shirt or an inside scoop on a compelling story, every now and then to just let them know you care. Little things like that go a long way towards building goodwill with the media.

Once you have the press on your side, then getting them to do you favors becomes much easier. For example, the big fund raiser you've been planning to help buy your team new equipment would receive much more support if an article promoting it somehow got published in the sunday paper. Of course this is just an example, the possiblities are limitless as to how you use the media to your advantage, but it all starts with a little goodwill.

Coach Nich

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Non Verbal Communication Between Coaches and Players

I created this cartoon in relationship to communication between a coach and their players. Communication in general while coaching young athletes can be difficult, but trying to teach them nonverbal signs can be even harder. Obviously this cartoon relates to baseball and a coach giving his player the steal sign. Doesn’t literally mean to steal, which we all know, but displays a funny interpretation by the child.

Although baseball is not the only sport that uses nonverbal communication, I chose to comment on this sport because I’m more familiar with this game. Some of the nonverbal communication by the coaches is evident, while others are not.

The most recognizable signs are given by the 3rd baseball coach (the coach shown in the cartoon). Everyone recognizes these signs, but “hopefully” your players are the only guys who can interpret them. If the other team picks up on these signs then u might as well be letting the entire field know your strategy.

These nonverbal signs in baseball can range anywhere from the signs given from the 3rd base coach to the pitching coach relaying signs to his catcher on which pitch he wants his pitcher to throw, the catcher then nonverbally relays the message to the pitcher by a number system in which he uses his a specific number for a specific pitch.

It may all sound more complicated than it really is, but it can and will be a vital part of your teams success. However, keep in mind that baseball isn’t the only sport in which these types of nonverbal techniques are used.

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