You need some awesome ideas to make your fundraising efforts a little more interesting to you and your team? Nothing makes working for something better than knowing you’ll be rewarded along the way. Kids and adults alike need to be able to take a break and enjoy some good times while they work towards something. If you didn’t catch the first blog post on fun incentives to do while going on with your fundraiser, be sure to check it out.
What are some other incentives you can do for your team besides some recess games instead of practice?
Throw a house party
There’s something wildly fun about being invited to your coaches house for a party. Most of your students or kids on your team will find you, naturally, a little intimidating. It’s good to have a sense of respect coming from the team, and I’m sure there are moments when being a little scary can be a good time, but I do not think you will regret showing your fun side as a coach. It’s always good to show your team that you are, indeed, human and that you can, indeed, destroy them in a game of HORSE or Mario Kart.
Throwing a house party can be as simple or as complicated as you like. For coaches of larger teams like football, this might be a little harder to execute. Getting 100+ kids in your house is a nightmare–let’s face it. You might need to see if you can work any favors of schmooze your way into renting out a larger hall or recreation area for everybody. It’s a little more work, but it can certainly be done!
What to do at a house party
The great thing about hosting a party is that it can be exactly what you want it to be. Long, short, super involved, super laid back; you are in the driver’s seat and you get to determine how it goes down.
If you’re looking for something more relaxed with less effort but still a larger payoff, order lots of mediocre pizza (which is still good pizza… like Little Caesar’s) and put on a movie. The movie can be one of the sports classics like The Sandlot or Remember the Titans. You can wrap up the movie with an inspirational speech about how coming together as a team and not making enemies with each other will make them better as individual players and better as a team.
If you want to do something a little more involved, bust out some party games! Have one of your teammates bring over their Nintendo Switch and have everybody play Mario Kart. You could have a tournament and even have the coaches all go against each other! Your team will be ecstatic to watch their coaches battle it out in Super Smash or Mario Kart.
Besides video games, do some party games! You can break them up into smaller groups and do games that easier done or have everybody play a game together. Got a dog? Tape balloons to everyones ankles and see who can be the last man standing with the dog trying to bite all the balloons. Play some charades or do a trivia night (and let the nerdier athletes shine) or do a wiffle ball home run derby in the backyard. There’s hundreds of things you can do!
Why throw a house party??
You might be feeling uncomfortable with this whole idea. I get it–there’s a slight feeling of vulnerability when you show more of your personality. It’s probably why coworkers never become great friends! We get this silly idea that we need to close off our personalities in school, work, sports, etc. It’s awfully hard to connect with anyone this way, and connection is what makes teams incredible.
Do you think Klay Thompson and Steph Curry avoid each other at all costs outside of the basketball court? Do you think Tom Brady rejects all of his teammates from his home and doesn’t do anything fun with them on the side? Of course not. Finding these moments outside of practice and games and watching film allows you and your team to bond, which will help them feel more confident, ready to work, excited to be there, and feel more competitive.
