Posted on December 18, 2009: Player Discipline
A Responsible Sports Fan suggested the following Scenario Question:
While coaching a girls youth hockey team, several of the girls have been using some inappropriate language in the locker room, singleing out one person and talking and swearing about them. How do I discipline these players?
Dear Greg,
It sounds like it's time for a conversation with your players about your team's culture. We have a simple definition for culture: "The way we do things here." Depending on how old they are, I might start by asking them, "What do you think is the ideal environment in our locker room?" "What kind of team culture will help us play to our top potential?"
If possible, I'd try to have this conversation be about what the ideal environment looks like (rather than a list of don't-do's). You might even try to make a list of the main points that come up in the conversation and post them in the locker room.
If the conversation is not generating the type of replies you want to see, you might want to add a few bullets to the list yourself. These might be things like:
- We are 100% supportive of our teammates (through the good and the bad)
- We give 100% effort in practices and games
- We constantly aim to learn and improve
- We conduct ourselves with class on and off the ice.
Having this list sets a foundation for your team that you can refer back to when problems arise. You can ask the players, "Is that sort of comment in line with the kind of culture we want for our team?"
You might even have a team discussion where you talk about what sort of consequences should be in place for violations of the team culture. This way they "own" the team culture as well as the consequences for violations.
Learn more about creating a supportive team culture in the Responsible Coaches Guide
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