A Pre-Season Note to the Student-Athlete

Dr. Cory Dobbs, The Academy for Sport Leadership

People want to matter.  Every member of your team has a yearning to matter.  Unfortunately it’s almost guaranteed that a teammate or two, on your team right now, feels like they don’t matter.

Mattering is a motive.  When we feel that others depend on us, we know we matter and respond accordingly.  When others are interested in us, we feel like we matter and enjoy the benefits of their attention.  And when others are concerned with our future, we feel like we matter and appreciate their guidance.

Mattering matters.  Mattering is a powerful influence on our actions.

Do you promote mattering or do you keep people on the periphery?  Draw a series of three concentric circles, expanding from small to large (you know, like waves moving outward), on a piece of paper.  Place your name in the middle circle.  In the next circle outward place the names of those on your team that you spend more time with.  Then on the outermost circle place the names of those you spend little time with.  This outer circle is the margin.  These are teammates that might matter less to you.  Do the same for playing time: Starters in the inner circle, bench players in the outer circle—on the margins.  Often the patterns (of status?) reveal an in-group and an out-group, with those in the out-group excluded from close interpersonal relationships with those in the in-group.

Marginality matters too.  It’s just that living life on the margin sucks.  When we marginalize others they’re likely to feel like they don’t matter.  In fact, they’ll probably tell you they know they don’t matter.  Those on the margins usually have ample evidence that informs them that they don’t matter.  They come to see the world from a perspective that they have little to contribute.  And this is very dangerous.

Like mattering, marginality too is a powerful influence on our actions.

When I speak to college teams I always ask the group of student-athletes if there was someone on their high school team (their senior season in high school) that did not play in games.  Or if they did play, it was the “marginal” minutes when the outcome of the game was already determined thereby the playing time didn’t really “matter.”  I’ve yet to find a group of collegiate student-athletes that isn’t curious as to why the last player on the bench was glad to be there.  It’s common to hear, “Ya, I’m not sure why they stuck around.”

Chances are, college or high school, you’ve got players on your team that are of lesser talent, perhaps “marginal” talent at best to qualify to be on the squad.  It’s easy for the star player to see that he or she matters. They know that others depend on them, are interested in helping them, and are concerned with their future.  Their contributions to the success of the team are quite visible.  They matter.  And of course they should.

We get that.

However, why is it others don’t matter?  Do you really want to marginalize people?

Sports participation involves many diverse interpersonal relationships.  Whether you are a top player or a role player, you come into contact with many people.  Developing quality interpersonal relationships with all of your teammates is a valuable team goal.  When you relate to others in a positive way, they’ll feel like they matter.  And mattering does matters.

So, here’s the big question you need to answer.  Ask yourself “what in my world am I willing to notice?

So often, those that are marginalized go unnoticed—that’s why they’re on the margins.
If you want to accomplish something worthwhile this year, make sure no one on your team goes unnoticed.  Set the standard.  Let others know they matter.

 

About Cory Dobbs, Ed.D.

Cory Dobbs is the founder of The Academy for Sport Leadership and a nationally recognized thought leader in the areas of leadership and team building.  Cory is an accomplished researcher of human experience. Cory engages in naturalistic inquiry seeking in-depth understanding of social phenomena within their natural setting.

Cory’s coaching background includes experience at the NCAA DII, NJCAA, and high school levels of competition.  After a decade of research and development Cory unleashed the groundbreaking Teamwork Intelligence program for student-athletics. Teamwork Intelligence illuminates the process of designing an elite team by using the 20 principles and concepts along with the 8 roles of a team player he’s uncovered while performing research.

Cory has worked with professional athletes, collegiate athletic programs, and high schools teaching leadership and team building as a part of the sports experience and education process.  As a consultant and trainer Dr. Dobbs has worked with Fortune 500 organizations such as American Express, Honeywell, and Avnet, as well as medium and small businesses. Dr. Dobbs taught leadership and organizational change at Northern Arizona University, Ohio University, and Grand Canyon University.

“Tell me and I’ll forget. Show me and I may remember. Involve me and I will care.” -Your Student-Athlete The world of coaching is changing. In Coaching for Leadership you’ll discover the foundations for designing, building, and sustaining a leadership focused culture for building a high-performance team. To find out more about and order Sport Leadership Books authored by Dr. Dobbs including Coaching for Leadership, click this link: The Academy for Sport Leadership Books

This post was provided by Coach Dawn Writes

By Dawn Redd-Kelly,

If you’re not happy with the culture of your team, how are you working daily to change it around? Here are five Tips

As was said over at Leadership Freak, “Toxic environments are the result of neglecting culture-building and tolerating toxicity.”

When we find ourselves with a negative team culture, it’s easy to blame the athletes, but we hold some accountability as well.  We’ve both neglected the culture and tolerated the things that are counter to our beliefs.

So what now?

5 quick tips for building a culture of positivity:

1. Encourage your athletes to express gratitude: for practices, for getting coached hard, for their teammates, etc.
2. Find ways to honor culture builders: if you’ve got an athlete who has bought in, whether they’re a starter or bench dweller, point them out!
3. Reward those who are on board: perhaps you can create a weekly team award for the athletes who best represent the qualities you’re trying to instill with your team.
4. Remove the worst offenders: if you’ve worked and worked with them…sometimes they just have got to go.
5. Show interest in your athletes as people: crazily enough, our athletes have other interests besides our sport…find out about them.

Be a culture hawk for your team!  Not only will your athletes enjoy coming to practice more each day, I’d bet your outcomes in the win/loss column will also turn from negative to positive.

This article was provided by Coaches Network

By Dr. David Hoch, CMAA, CIC

With everything else that’s on your plate as a coach, you may not have thought a lot about how to increase attendance at your games. And in all reality, recruiting fans probably shouldn’t be at the very top of your list of most important things to do.

However, getting more bodies in the stands should be on your list somewhere. It’s important to build support for your team within the community. For one thing, connecting with more fans could eventually develop into financial help, either through a larger budget or fundraising. But the biggest reason to work on game attendance is that a good, enthusiastic crowd creates a great environment for your players.

Obviously, a winning season creates interest, and this alone normally attracts more fans. But not every season is a winning one. The good news is, there are concrete steps you can take to encourage fans to attend your games, whether your team is having a stellar season or not. Try the following ideas.

Invite younger players. Ask middle school or youth teams to attend a game. This has the dual benefit of engaging future players. However, don’t undertake this initiative without the approval of your athletic administrator, and be sure to require parents or coaches to accompany the younger players. One adult for every three to four young people would be suitable.

Honor specific groups. Designate an armed service evening in which any current or former service members will be recognized. With your athletic administrator’s approval, wave the cost of the ticket and ask military members to attend as guests. You could make the game even more inclusive by including first-responders such as police, firefighters, and emergency medical personnel. If hosting both groups together might be too large, hold a separate, additional evening.

Involve cheerleaders. Enlist the help of your school’s cheerleaders. Have them create and hang posters around the school promoting upcoming games. If your school allows it, these young people can also go into lunch periods in uniform to promote that evening’s contest.

Use daily announcements. Write a message encouraging students to attend the game and have it read during your school’s daily announcements. If your school has an in-school television station to broadcast the day’s news and activities, star in a brief spot to promote the game. Include a minute or two of filmed game highlights in the broadcast to really make it shine.

Go into the community. Ask to visit monthly meetings of your town’s Chamber of Commerce and community service organizations to update them on the progress of your team. Any time you can positively promote your team, take advantage of it.

Work with the media. Always call in game results and provide statistics and comments for your local newspapers and radio stations. This step is important in order to create a good working relationship with the media. Once they know you, your team will be more likely to get promotional coverage of upcoming contests.

Play for a cause. Designate a game in which you raise money for a charity such as the American Cancer Society. Not only will you be teaching your athletes the importance of good deeds, you will attract more fans. This becomes a win-win situation for your team, the community, and the charity. I highly recommend making this an annual event.

Increasing attendance has real value. It takes time and effort, but it can be done. By starting with these steps, you will be on your way to making game night a great environment for your players.