A core concept of Responsible Coaching is teaching youth athletes’ teamwork. Their ability to work and play as a team is critical to their success in sports and grows even more important throughout their lives as sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, friends, employers and employees.
As a Responsible Coach, you will want to make sure your players understand their roles and responsibilities during game action. Like in a weave attack in hockey, the better your players know their teammates, the more likely they are to execute properly.
Knowing teammates, as well as coaching, goes beyond X’s and O’s of the ice. While it’s important for players to know when and where their teammates should move in a given situation, it’s even more important that they know what moves their teammates as people. Players who feel connected to each other personally feel a responsibility to pick their teammates up and are therefore willing to sacrifice for their teammates and the overall betterment of the team.
Watch the accompanying video, “Buddy System,” and see a hockey coach explains to his team how each player is responsible for encouraging and “picking up” their buddy after a mistake or great play, and then execute on the ice!
Players who know their teammates as people are more patient with each others’ learning curves in practices and games and more likely to fill each others’ Emotional Tanks. Emotional Tanks are like a car’s gas tank, when it's full we can go anywhere we want; when it's empty we can't go at all. Additional tips on “Filling Emotional Tanks” are available for parents and coaches.
So, how can Responsible Coaches build this sort of teamwork? Here are a few tips:
Bonding experiences in training. Steve Clegg, the cross country coach at Lake Forest (IL) High School, earned his 2008 Positive Coaching Alliance National Double-Goal Coach® Award, in part, for innovative techniques, such as early-morning team runs to a pancake breakfast. He also implemented Midnight Runs, the first day athletes could train together by Illinois High School Association rules, where an experienced cross country runner guided her younger teammate, helping both runners recognize their interdependence and responsibility to each other.
Getting-to-know-you drills. Routine warm-up drills can incorporate chances for players to share information about themselves. For example, in hockey, during a zig-zag passing drill, where players form two lines and pass diagonally across to each other up and down the ice, each player can yell out her favorite color when he passes; then, the next time the puck moves up and down, the line players call out their favorite school subjects.
Potluck meals. Have a team meal where each player is responsible for bringing a dish. All the better if the dishes reflect the athlete’s ancestry, prompting conversations about the similarities and differences of teammates’ cultural backgrounds.
Structured Competitions. Consider conducting a mock Olympics, where players compete in teams in activities that are not specific to their sport.
Sharing stories. Set aside some time in practice for players to share personal reflections on a given topic. You may want to make it easy at first, for example, asking players who is their favorite pro athlete and why. As players get excited about telling these stories, open up to each other and get more comfortable among their teammates, you can get them to explore deeper, more-challenging topics in future practices, such as hopes and fears attached to sports or other aspects of life.
These five tips, and many others you may think of on your own, can create team bonds that contribute to success in sports and can last a lifetime.
