Six Competitive Environment Necessities
Establishing a culture of compete is the foundation for developing a successful program. You are dead in the water without this, especially if you can’t roll out superior athletes for each and every contest. Kids want to be part of something good. It’s a coach’s job to provide an atmosphere and environment of good.
1. I know this may sound simplistic but…
It’s more about ‘How are you doing?’s and ‘Hello’s than it is about Xs and Os.
2. Accountability
There must be an atmosphere where everyone from the head coach to the assistant coaches to the individual classes to the position groups to the managers to the kids holds one another accountable. On and off the field of play.
3. Trust
Before you drive a kid to get better, he or she must trust you have their best interest at heart. TRUST (in all caps)
4. Relationships
A coach can’t effectively yell at a kid they haven’t developed a relationship with. As one of my favorite coaching resources, Baseball Excellence, touts, “Don’t screech if you don’t teach.”
5. Humility
If you think you know everything, you know nothing. Check your ego at the door and do the work to improve yourself as a coach. And never be too proud to admit to your players you’re wrong or made a mistake. They know when you’re feeding them a line of bull because a bullshit meter is one of the greatest teenage powers.
6. Direction
There is great satisfaction in being part of a group working toward a common goal. HINT: The correct common goal is not “Winning”. The common goal that works for the long term is to do your job to the best of your ability every play, every day.
THE COACH HAYS 