Why does the team getting along matter?
I was once on a baseball team in Colorado. I was 9 years old playing for a solid team that had been playing together for a long time. I was new to the team seeing that I had moved to Colorado from Ohio. I was never a fantastic ball player, but I could certainly hold my own. That was until I went on a team that kinda shunned me as far as being teammates go. I was the new kid and for some reason that meant that most of the teammates weren’t that cool to me. That was tough as a kid, and it’s tough on any team. That affected my game play. I was nervous at bat. I made bad mistakes because I overthought things. I certainly wasn’t having much fun. It affected my love for the game that was tough to get over.
Having a solid team comradery is crucial for every individual player and coach. It helps players relax and have fun. Being able to do this will make your team perform better and will encourage kids to stay in the sport longer. How can you help create a welcoming and fun environment for everyone?
Make practice fun
Unless you’re coaching the NFL or most college sports teams, many of your players will not be the best athletes you’ve ever seen. They might be playing because they have an intense love of the game, their best friend is playing, their parents want them to play, they want to try it out but they just haven’t found their footing yet, etc. Practice can be an intimidating time for these players. It’s tough to be the odd man who might not be very good at swinging the bat or shooting free throws just yet.
Whatever you do, never out a player for being bad. The few times I’ve witnesses a coach out a player like that, it was game over for that kid. There’s no coming back from when a coach personally tells you you’re not good in front of everyone.
Make practice fun. Give every kid a way to be successful. Get creative with your coaching and with your drills. You absolutely do not have to cater to the less athletic kids, but if yo throw them into the deep end and get annoyed when they don’t swim, you’re not doing a great job as a coach. Coaches, especially for younger ages, are meant to help kids practice the fundamentals and discover their love for the game. Anything more than that is awesome. Anything less than that is lame.
Take advantage of your time with Flex Fundraising
While you’re doing your fundraiser, be sure to create some fun incentives / awards for your players to be excited about! This will encourage them to actively participate in the fundraiser and will create a sense of unity as everyone is working towards a goal. “If everyone raises at least $25 dollars and the team races $500, we’ll have ice cream after practice and the coaches will race each other.” Doing small things like this during our fundraiser will make it engaging and help the team come together as buddies. You want buddies as teammates.
Use a game to bring them together
Don’t tell me you haven’t seen the new Top Gun movie yet… it’s very good. You need to go see it. I’m going to spoil something very unimportant in the grand scheme of the plot that pertains to this blog post: creating good comradely for the entire team.
Tom Cruise (Maverick) is having a difficult time getting the group of students to enjoy working together. Instead of spending precious time preparing for their mission one day, he decides to take them to the beach and allow them to play football. This act lightens up their spirits, gets them away from the terrible stress of the mission, and helps them create a unique bond that will later help them in their mission.
