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Post by coachwarner on Apr 20, 2008 11:42:45 GMT -6
I would like your opinions from a coaches stand point on what a positive youth football experience should be or what you think players want to get out of their youth football experience. For the last 20 years, I ask all the players on my teams to give me 5 reasons in writing why they signed up to play youth football. This is a mandatory football homework assignment for all my players. This assignment is handed out on the second night of practice. The kids answers are very elaborate and informative. If you wish you could answer a similar question. Give me 5 reasons why you as a coach think kids sign up to play youth football. You do not have to be a youth coach to answer the question
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Post by los on Apr 20, 2008 15:47:41 GMT -6
Hey.....this is cool.....was just wondering the same thing, while reading and discussing other topics. I'll give it a shot.....#1.= they wanna do something fun and challenging(compete) with their buddies(besides play video games indoors)? #2.= their dad/parent made them go out for football(get outdoors, make some friends, get some exercise)? #3.= they wanna play cause, the older kids, brothers, etc... that they "look up to"....play or have played, maybe on their local hs team..get lots of attention, status around town, the girls like them....etc...and they want this too? #4.= Since they did come out to be part of a team and "learn" to "play" football.....they wanna "play".....not just watch from the sidelines......#5. = they're angry....mean....bully's.... that "love" to beat up other kids and push them around.....this gives them a legitimate place to do it, without negative repercussions from adults?.....ooops...wait ...that was my reason for playing, lol sorry... .....or the reverse, may be true......they're really pampered softy's or introverts and someone thinks the football experience will toughen them up? #6= the always popular....its looks like fun, watching it on TV?
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Post by casec11 on Apr 20, 2008 18:03:27 GMT -6
good topic coach. I would beinterested in what are some of the common things kids put down, and some of the uncommon ones as well.
1. Have fun playing playground football and wants to play the real thing. "seems fun" 2. see people/parent watching football and realizes it's "cool" 3. allows a bigger/heavier kid to exel or be good at a sport 4. wants to get exercise and be part of a team 5. Likes the physical part of the game, agressive/ruffness of it...
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Post by davecisar on Apr 21, 2008 6:57:33 GMT -6
We have done exit interviews with the kids to ask those that left, why.
Doing this exercise on the front end makes a lot of sense.
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Post by coachwarner on Apr 22, 2008 22:29:27 GMT -6
Coach los and casec11 thanks for your response, although i would have thought more coaches would have responded to this thread. Topic must have been to scary for them. ;D Here are the top answers i have received over 20 years #1 answer - To have Fun #2 answer - Play with friends , meet new people #3 answer - Stay in shape, its good exercise, helps build mussels( they always spell this one wrong) ;D Its a work out. etc #4 answer - Like the contact, like to hit, like to hit people etc. #5 answer - Love football, like Football, like the sport of football, its my favorite sport, etc #6 answer - keeps me out of trouble, keeps me busy, like the disiplin( they always spell this one wrong too) ;D #7 answer - learn the game, learn about the game, understand the game,etc #8 answer -be a part of a team, to be able to work with others, to work as a team, learn how to be a team player, etc. The kids answer are very interesting its seem that they live for the moment, as they should. They do not seemed to be overly concerned with the future, unlike the parents" my son is going D1" I highly recommend this little exercise to all youth coaches. It will tell you a few things about each one of your players. If you do one thing listen to what your players are looking for in their youth football experience. by the way some answers i have never seen. To Win, Win a championship, my parents are making me (although as coaches we probably know that some parents are,but i dont think a kid would ever put that down as an answer) the age group I am talking about is from 7-14 ( even the older kids spell discipline wrong .) There looking for it but cannot spell it. ;D Somebody let the teachers know!!!!
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Post by coachdoug on Apr 23, 2008 1:01:29 GMT -6
coachwarner -
Great thread and a great idea. I will start doing this with my teams. I have done season-end surveys before, but it never even occured to me to ask this question at the start of the season.
Anyway, I intended to respond to the original question, but I was out of town and just didn't get to it. Nonetheless, I probably would have said (from your list) #s 1,2,4,5, and 7. I'm not surprised 3 is on the list, but it would probably have been #6 on my list. I would have guessed that wanting to be like the stars they've seen on TV would have made the list (I guess it's kind of included in #5).
I'm not too surprised that no kid ever said "To Win" or "To Win a Championship," but I think it is a byproduct of having fun (or maybe the other way around) - for most kids winning is fun. For instance, when I played as a kid, I had a friend that was mildly interested in hearing about my football team, but when I started telling him every week about how we won the previous weekend, he started to get really excited about it and signed up to play the following season. I think that sort of thing happens fairly regularly. I'm sure if he had been asked, he would have said he was playing to have fun or to be part of a team, but wanting to be a winner was a big part of it for him. Everyone wants to be part of a successful, winning organization, be it sports, or business, or whatever. I don't want to overemphasize the point (believe me, winning is far from my #1 priority), but it is also dangerous to underemphasize it - kids don't have to win every game to have fun, but they do need to be competitive or it's no fun for anyone.
JMHO
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Post by coachwarner on Apr 23, 2008 6:08:00 GMT -6
coachdoug good point, like to compete, to be competitive, I like the competition, the excitement, are in their answers but not as frequent as the others that were stated.
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Post by davecisar on Apr 23, 2008 7:42:24 GMT -6
What coach Doug is trying to say I think ( is consistent throughout all his posts) is that 'Having Fun" the #1 reason is difficult to do in most kids minds if their team is not competitive.
Ive never done this exercise, but we have done exit interviews with loads of kids and their #2 reason for quiting or not returning for the next season was because their teams were not competitive. They didnt use those exact words, we got hundreds of renditions of "not competitive" using a variety of words and phrases. There was almost always a reasonably high correlation of wins to drops and retention to the following season. Thats why in many leagues you see a downwarding spiral of teams that start off with 25 kids, get blown out a bunch of times and end the season with 15 kids etc or even in extreme cases have to forfeit a game. I think Brophy had 2 teams forfeit last year against him.
The #1 reason for drops in the exit interviews we did was "poor coaching" and that of course could include a " non competitive" team component as well, a pretty broad category. Unfortunately we used open ended questioning to get people to honestly open up rather than try and box people in. Maybe that was the wrong approach.
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CoachJ
Junior Member
Posts: 307
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Post by CoachJ on Apr 23, 2008 7:59:12 GMT -6
I think winning is important, but i think coaches place far more importance on winning than kids do. We try to apply our mentality as motivations behind kids' thoughts.
Kids want to be around their friends. They want to feel like they matter. Winning is the little extra that makes the experience that much more special.
For instance if a coach won 99% of his games, but treated the kids like machines and was not at all concerned with them, it would not lead to a high retention rate, IMO.
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Post by brophy on Apr 23, 2008 7:59:32 GMT -6
Does 'being competitive" mean the same thing to kids as it does to adults?
If a kid is pushed to be better than he currently is, isn't that the same result as the coaches interpret "being competitive"?
Making them "work" without being drudgery, to the point where they develop confidence in their own abilities? Is that the ultimate goal.....isn't that what builds "competitors", the appreciation of working toward a goal (championship,etc)?
I dunno, I'm guessing my 5 reasons would be; 1. excitement of being a part of something cool and studly 2. pal around with friends / make new friends 3. physically stimulating 4. being proud of accomplishments, create identity 5. work for public acknowledgement (family,friends,peers)
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Post by davecisar on Apr 23, 2008 8:45:35 GMT -6
Ive not done this survey, but we will with the 80 kids Im working with now. Excellent idea. WHat I can tell you from the several hundred exit interviews Ive done over 8-9 years, the results were pretty consistent as to why kids quit. Going from the beginning numbers of teams in the leagues weve played in and the numbers they have at the end of the season are a telltale sign. Pretty consistent factor around here. I would guess while there certainly are exceptions think of your own teams or the weakest teams in the leagues you play in and see if there isnt a correlation of competitiveness to drop/retention numbers. I read all the time in this forum and others," Down to X number of kids, Cant get kids to come to practice, only had 13 at practice last night, game day I was missing my starting RG, LT, LB, FB, QB". I've just not had those problems ever and never had a problem with kids coming to practice whether it was in the Suburban, Inner City or Rural areas I've coached in. Those problems do however happen in the leagues weve played in with non-competitive teams and were a consistent problem with the non competitive programs I studied. As someone that has started 2 Orgs these numbers and reasons are very important to me, so weve put quite a bit of effort into studying this and it's worked for us. Extremely low drop numbers. Zero last year coaching 2 teams and just 1 that didnt sign back up. Over 80% of the kids with perfect practice attendance etc. We grade our coaches based on drops and retention, weighted quite heavily in that regard. Matt, Competitive teams are the end result of coaches making practice fun while breaking down movements to teachable components and being able to effectively teach that to the kids, it's a function of getting kids to play better and together as a team and in my mind and experiences it's all about priorities. Those teams and coaches that had the right priorities did well, had fun and retained kids, and those that did not, didnt. Im not sure #4, #5 and #1 would really apply if the team was getting the stuffing beat out of them each week. If I can remember back to my first year of playing youth football, I made friends, learned the game some, was part of something bigger than me, but we got smoked all but 1 game, not so fun, not a lot of kids back on that team. Following season drafted by a different team, much better coaching, won all the games, a lot more fun. Maybe it's just me and the 200+ kids I interviewed
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Post by coachdoug on Apr 23, 2008 11:06:04 GMT -6
I hesitated to even bring up the point about the importance of being competitive because I didn't want to start this argument, but I think it's important. In general, I agree that more coaches make the mistake of over-emphasizing winning, and winning probably is more important to the adults involved than it is to the kids. However, I know some new coaches read this board and I think it's important that they understand that an attitude of "make it all fun, all the time," while not as common, is just as bad, or even worse. I've seen some "win-at-all-costs" type of coaches get enlightened and tone it down over time and become really good influences for the kids. OTOH, I've never seen a coach that errs in the other direction ever make it to a second season (and most of his players won't either), let alone eventually become a really good youth coach. In my experience, when coaches focus on nothing but "having fun," they tend to not enforce discipline, let everyone play QB or RB, give everyone close to equal playing time, only do "fun" drills in practice with lots of live hitting like scrimmaging, and a lot of practice ends up looking like a sandlot game with full pads. The end result is that the kids don't learn much about football, don't learn much about the values of sportsmanship, hard work, discipline, etc, no one learns any one position really well, there is no incentive to work harder or even come to practice (since everyone plays the same amount anyway), and the team is just not very good. Consequently, they lose most or all of their games badly and it's no fun for the players, the coaches, the parents, or even their opponents. The good players don't come back the next year because there was no recognition of or reward for their talent or hard work and it was no fun getting their butts whipped when no one else seemed to care about getting better. The weak kids don't come back because instead of being brought along slowly and protected so he could think, "Man, I know I could play more - I just need a chance to show what I can do," he has rather been put in a position he wasn't ready for, and his weaknesses have been exposed, and now all he can think is, "Man, I suck, this team sucks, and I'm never doing this again." The coach doesn't come back the next year and neither do most of the players and the team probably never recovers. I've seen this happen dozens of times over the years and I've never seen play out differently. At the beginning of every season I spell out for the players and their parents what my goals and objectives are for the season. It may vary a little bit by age group, but it generally goes something like this (in order): 1. Have Fun. This is absolutely the number one objective, but we will rarely actually actively focus on having fun during practice. Having fun will be a natural byproduct of doing everything else well. 2. Learn Values. Sportsmanship, Discipline, Hard Work, Conditioning/Physical Fitness, Perseverance, Integrity, Commitment. These things we will actively try to teach and instill in the kids on a daily basis. 3. Be Competitive. Winning is not the most important thing, but we are playing a competitive game and the object of the game is to win. We don't have to win all the time to be successful, but we do have to try to win to accomplish our goals and objectives. That's the important distinction - it's the will to win, the desire to win, rather than the actual outcome of winning that's important. 4. Develop of Understanding of and Love for the Game of Football. We love the game and we want to share that love with the players. Even if they never play a down at the next level, if they learn the game and appreciate it as a fan, then we've accomplished this goal. 5. Prepare for the next level. This doesn't apply to all the players - I'm well aware of the stats about how few youth players ever play in HS. Well, I think about 2/3 or more of our players play in HS (at least at the Frosh/JV level), and it's probably in part because we do take seriously our role in helping them prepare. We don't run the HS's schemes or anything like that, but we try to make sure we are teaching proper techniques and terminology so they can hit the ground running when they get to HS. So, getting back to the issue of being competitive. Again, it doesn't mean you have to win a championship. I was part of a team that went 2-6 or 3-5, but the kids had a great time and almost the entire team was back the next season. They weren't very big or athletic, so they were playing about well as they could more. Even though they lost, most of the games were close (scores were like 8-6, 14-6, 7-0). They won big a couple times and lost big a couple times, but all the rest of the games were close. They were competitive - they saw that they were close and if they could just improve a little, they could maybe get to the playoffs. That's all I mean be being competitive. Sorry so long - I just wanted to clarify my position as clearly as possible.
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Post by coachwarner on Apr 23, 2008 12:20:48 GMT -6
coachdoug, I dont think you started an argument. Thats exactly the point, it is important to be competitive! Kids want to compete. do they want to win sure, if they didnt then why play the game? Its about competing that excites them. Thats what makes sports exciting the opportunity to compete. I do feel as adults we far to often confuse winning with competing.
coachJ has a great point. "I think winning is important, but i think coaches place far more importance on winning than kids do. We try to apply our mentality as motivations behind kids' thoughts."
Winning comes from coaches and parents giving the players the right tools,preparation,organization,positive direction,making the learning experience fun. Its better to have try and failed, than those poor souls who no neither victory or defeat.
Coach Brophy great question "Does 'being competitive" mean the same thing to kids as it does to adults?"
I dont think so. one way to find out. I think I should ask the parents a similar question, give me 5 reasons why you signed up for youth football and parents no cheating do not copy your son or daughters answers ;D
This is some great discussion coaches. I hope the new or coaches who are just starting out are reading this thread.
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Post by coachdoug on Apr 23, 2008 12:25:03 GMT -6
I do feel as adults we far to often confuse winning with competing. I think you hit the nail on the head! Great thread & great discussion.
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Post by justryn2 on Apr 23, 2008 14:29:50 GMT -6
I really like this discussion; a lot a great points being made. However; for the past several years, I've been trying to figure out the whole "having fun" part of this. We have our players and coaches sign several documents before the season starts and most of them mention the importance of having fun. But what is fun for the players?
If the only reason to play is to have fun, then if there is something that seems like it might be more fun than football practice, what's to stop the player from ditching practice and doing whatever seems like it might be more fun at the time.
As a coach, what's fun for me is seeing 11 individuals work together as a team to accomplish something. It's seeing players learn new skills, practice them daily and then use them in a game situation to help the team. It is seeing kids that maybe don't have the best home life or do the best in school find something on the football field that gives them confidence and self-respect.
I guess what I'm getting at here is, saying they are playing "to have fun" is almost a non-answer unless you know what the players consider fun. And, I don't think anyone's idea of fun is spending seven or eight hours a week on the practice field just to end up getting clobbered every weekend in a game. Maybe you don't have to win EVERY game in order to have fun but you need to win your fair share.
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Post by davecisar on Apr 23, 2008 14:53:50 GMT -6
Coach, Despite what many think you can have fun, play everyone, teach great fundamentals, have off the chart retention and attendance numbers and do the evil horrible thing ( win) too, they arent mutually exclusive in any way. You can interject fun into many of the things you do without giving up anything. Fun is your friend, be creative, and you will get more out of your kids. Is it harder to design a practice that has "fun" as a major goal? Yes, but the kids will effort better and actually give you more focused attention when you do get down to brass tacks. And yes, it's more fun for them when they play well than when they play poorly and get trounced every week, that is true.
My retention numbers are off the charts and I think it has to do with the fact we have fun and play well.
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Post by brophy on Apr 23, 2008 14:56:44 GMT -6
My retention numbers are off the charts and I think it has to do with the fact we have fun and play well. what do you differently that makes it so much fun?
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CoachJ
Junior Member
Posts: 307
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Post by CoachJ on Apr 23, 2008 15:14:51 GMT -6
I must have missed the post that said winning and fun can't be done in the same practice.
We actually don't do a lot extra "fun" things in practice. We just make sure the kids know that they are more than a vehicle for our program's success. We take a vested intrest in the player and what is good for him and the team.
For instance I have two kids that were equal QB's last season. Both wanted to be and both can be good HS QBs. We rotated them. That isn't always the best situation for the team, because in our system, continuity of the QB makes a big difference in team success, but it was best for the players because they both got experience. In the end we didn't average 40 points per game, but we were able to win 8 of 11 games.
In my opinion, youth football is first and foremost about the player's experience. I could rack up 100 trophies, awards, and be a well respected coach by my peers, but it would be meaningless to me if my players didn't become better football players/human beings in the process.
It is a difference of opinion that I share with many coaches (especially most every youth coach), but I want to prepare my kids for their future in football. Sure there next coach can train them, but the more prepared you already are, the more they can do. If I don't train my players properly or with the right techniques, then a coach has to retrain them and it is a waste of my player's time and all of his efforts.
Now granted, I am in a completely different place then someone coaching an 6-12 year old kid. Most of my players do go on to high school. I openly admit that is a major factor in my motivations. I want and expect my players to go on and play at the next level. We don't suffer the 70% drop rate that I have often seen quoted, but never linked to an actual article.
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Post by davecisar on Apr 23, 2008 15:23:06 GMT -6
Every evaluation game we do is pure fun (towel game, deer hunter, rabbitt races, sumo, dummy carry races etc etc) All in competitive, rah rah team building format Every practice we have set aside 15-20 minutes of "game time" where we play specific fun team building games that the kids beg to do, they have football skill building and conditioning components to them. We waste zero time, very fast paced practices, no standing around. Not just sayin that like everyone does, Ive necer seen a faster paced practice than ours, All of our coaches sweat a bunch during practice. We consistently change drills and bolt on additions, so the kids dont get bored doing the same thing every day. Not a huge fan of daily drills. Almost every drill is a competition, with a winner and loser. Often in count out or king of the hill formet, EVERYTHING. Many drills are team competitions with winners and losers. No cals or set static conditioning Very little full scale full contact scrimmaging after "bloodying the nose" the first few weeks. The coaches are very focused that we will have fun, Starts with a simple 5 minute coaches meeting and prayer before we start along with handouts of the practice plan for the day Coaches smile and use the "sandwich" method of pointing out mistakes Kids are very attentive, use the Ready Focus method, we just dont have to waste time getting kids to be quiet when we need them to. We actually have to kick kids off the practice field and there are often kids waiting for me when I get there to set up 30 minutes before. It's not oen thing, it's many things. Part of the fun is seeing themselves improve and being able to execute consistently at a very high level after starting off so poorly. There is pride in excellence that usually puts a smile on kids faces as well. We do team pizza parties or watermelon weekly based on weekly grades. Personal attention to every single player. Fun "homework" assignments we talk about and get feedback from Weekly fun "character development" program e-mailed to each player weekly, Weekly theme and focus- All story and Video based We do things like water balloon wars during very hot days. Ive wathced scores of youth teams practice and quite frankly none were anywhere close to being as fun as ours.
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Post by coachtfry on Apr 23, 2008 15:25:53 GMT -6
I have had the kids write these pre-season letters for about 15 years. They are awesome for getting to know your players. The kids like it when you show a general interest in them as individulals. We use the information we get from the letters to start conversations off with the kids and build a relatinship whith them. I ask the kids to include something they would like to share about themselves that is not related to football in addition to asking them: Why they signed up for football? What positions they would like to try out for on Offense, Defense and Special Teams? What positions they played on previous teams? I also ask them to include a personal goal and what they think the teams goal should be?
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Post by brophy on Apr 23, 2008 15:29:34 GMT -6
summarizing? - be enthusiastic
- stay on schedule
- keep moving
- compete
- Outweigh critical comments with positive feedback.
correct? and a majority of coaches don't do this?
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Post by davecisar on Apr 23, 2008 15:35:19 GMT -6
summarizing? - be enthusiastic
- stay on schedule
- keep moving
- compete
- Outweigh critical comments with positive feedback.
correct? and a majority of coaches don't do this? No, not at all. read the post again. We conciously interject fun into each drill and set aside practice time every day to do pure fun type activities. No most of the youth practices I see (Ive watched about 120-150 different youth teams practice ) I dont see what we do being done to the extent we do at all. Ive never seen many of the fun games and drills we do in any of these practices. Ive spoken to over 1000 ( very conservative estimate) or e-mails etc of guys that swtiched to our practice methodology and most stated it was a 'total 180 culture switch" from what they were doing before. My guess is it has to do a lot with why our retention and attendance figures are so high. But I guess everyone is already doing all these exact things with the exception of the video examples in the other thread Even the teams with the 30-40-% drop rates too, or the teams where they have to beg kids to come to practice and games. Im sure everyone is doing all those things.
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Post by davecisar on Apr 23, 2008 15:39:08 GMT -6
I must have missed the post that said winning and fun can't be done in the same practice. We actually don't do a lot extra "fun" things in practice. We just make sure the kids know that they are more than a vehicle for our program's success. We take a vested intrest in the player and what is good for him and the team. For instance I have two kids that were equal QB's last season. Both wanted to be and both can be good HS QBs. We rotated them. That isn't always the best situation for the team, because in our system, continuity of the QB makes a big difference in team success, but it was best for the players because they both got experience. In the end we didn't average 40 points per game, but we were able to win 8 of 11 games. In my opinion, youth football is first and foremost about the player's experience. I could rack up 100 trophies, awards, and be a well respected coach by my peers, but it would be meaningless to me if my players didn't become better football players/human beings in the process. It is a difference of opinion that I share with many coaches (especially most every youth coach), but I want to prepare my kids for their future in football. Sure there next coach can train them, but the more prepared you already are, the more they can do. If I don't train my players properly or with the right techniques, then a coach has to retrain them and it is a waste of my player's time and all of his efforts. Now granted, I am in a completely different place then someone coaching an 6-12 year old kid. Most of my players do go on to high school. I openly admit that is a major factor in my motivations. I want and expect my players to go on and play at the next level. We don't suffer the 70% drop rate that I have often seen quoted, but never linked to an actual article. When you didnt beleive my national punt pass and kick numbers, I gave you the link and you still didnt believe it. Im sure it would be the same here, a waste of my time
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Post by brophy on Apr 23, 2008 16:19:19 GMT -6
sorry if it came out wrong.....I wasn't trying to simplify anything there.
I guess what I was asking was if there was something "different"with the formula.
Most guys that are "coaches" (? maybe I'm severely misguided?) I would think they have a format or systematic approach to do these things......
the horrible practices / bad coaches really aren't much mroe than fans with whistles and could care less about any of that stuff (they are just gonna do what their junior high coach did....have the kids do a bunch of movements and holler at them), so when they actually do "get a clue" they'd just be doing what everyone else (real coaches) is doing.
These guys don't have any foundation to draw from, so ANY insight to the purpose of coaching would be an improvement (?no?).
I was trying to figure out how one does that. What makes Jim's form-fit drill, better than Ted's form-fit drill? How come Jim's drill is 'fun', but the same drill done with Ted isn't fun?
I was trying to comprehend the magic ingredient.
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Post by davecisar on Apr 23, 2008 16:54:52 GMT -6
Again. most coaches ARE NOT doing these things they are not setting aside time specifically designed so the kids can "have fun". I dont think many coaches are doing fun team development games as evaluation tools. I know most of what I spoke of doesnt happen in most rec level or non select football programs run by daddy coaches. I think many of you and others were pointing that out on other threads. It doesnt make them bad people they just dont know or havent/dont have the time to find a better way. Teh reason we see so many teams with high drop rates and low retention rates and begging kids to come to practice is they dont run good practices and they dont do the things I spoke of and their practices arent fun.
You have to get creative. Something as simple as an angle form fit tackle drill of example, lots of ways to make it fun. 1) form teams each "perfect fit" per the coach is worth 1 point, Run them in groups of 5 to a side, one at a time, We can do these at 1 every 10 seconds those that have the DVDs will atest. First team to 10 wins, other team does 5 pushups 2) First time total team get 10 perfect fits in a row the coach has to run a short lap, do 10 pushups etc 3) First team to get 10 perfect fits in a row the other team has to do 5 pushups 4) First team to get 10 perfect fits in a row, the other team has to haul gear that night. 5) Have "team record" of how many consecutive perfect fits in a row. Everyone wants to have the record. We always name the teams and try to keep the kids on the same 'team" during the year. 6) If we get 20 perfect fits in a row we get to go live for 5 minutes( pavlovs dog stuff, our kids beg for fulll contact stuff, it is a "treat")
So many ways to do it, endless possibilities.
Not that big a deal but it works. First year program, inner-city we had 32 of 36 kids with perfect attendance with 1 coach and we had a guy shot and killed in the middle of our practice, first week of practice, no joke.
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Post by brophy on Apr 23, 2008 16:59:59 GMT -6
what makes a "positive youth experience"? My limited knowledge would say, "whatever each kid can go home and say, 'that (playing,practicing, efforting,etc) was worth it'..."They all aren't going to be all-pro, champions, DI-blue chip, starters, or great players.....but if they can come away feeling better about themselves, I would think it was a good experience. How do you get each kid to that level? I dunno....take genuine interest in each kid and his well-being? Might be a good be-all-end-all. If they can come away with, "Coach so-and-so taught me how to 'never give up', or 'not take any crap', or 'live up to my responsibiliities'..." or whatever, I would think that would make it worthwhile. If they win every game that doesn't necessarily guarantee it will be a great experience (probably won't hurt). If they lose every game, that doesn't necessarily guarantee it will be a horrible experience (probably won't help). If they become the best trap-blocking guard in the district or most unstoppable receiver, doesn't necessarily guarantee they will be satisfied with what football can do for them. I dunno.... 1) First team to 10 wins, other team does 5 pushups 2) First time total team get 10 perfect fits in a row the coach has to run a short lap, do 10 pushups etc 3) First team to get 10 perfect fits in a row the other team has to do 5 pushups 4) First team to get 10 perfect fits in a row, the other team has to haul gear that night. 5) Have "team record" of how many consecutive perfect fits in a row. thanks for the clarification.... sounds like the key to making it fun is keep it COMPETITIVE..... isn't that what I asked? When the guys was killed in your practice, did you do your drills around the body, or over him?
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CoachJ
Junior Member
Posts: 307
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Post by CoachJ on Apr 23, 2008 17:58:59 GMT -6
When you didnt beleive my national punt pass and kick numbers, I gave you the link and you still didnt believe it. Im sure it would be the same here, a waste of my time I understand where you are coming from. I did question the punt/pass and kick numbers. Of course I did have a kid hit a 40+ yard FG, yet the numbers say it can't be done. I don't have your experience, I don't know as many people as you do and I haven't had the success you have. All of that is beyond question. I have however coached some of the very best athletes in the area and i have never, to my knowledge, had a kid participate in the Punt/Pass/Kick competition. So in 6 years I have never had one kid participate. I am can't believe i am the only coach on this board that can say that. I know 4 million compete, I just don't know any of them. So yes, I question the data, but I have never once made the claim that what is best for me is best for all. I like to speak about what is possible rather than what can't be done.
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Post by davecisar on Apr 23, 2008 18:02:51 GMT -6
what makes a "positive youth experience"? My limited knowledge would say, "whatever each kid can go home and say, 'that (playing,practicing, efforting,etc) was worth it'..."They all aren't going to be all-pro, champions, DI-blue chip, starters, or great players.....but if they can come away feeling better about themselves, I would think it was a good experience. How do you get each kid to that level? I dunno....take genuine interest in each kid and his well-being? Might be a good be-all-end-all. If they can come away with, "Coach so-and-so taught me how to 'never give up', or 'not take any crap', or 'live up to my responsibiliities'..." or whatever, I would think that would make it worthwhile. If they win every game that doesn't necessarily guarantee it will be a great experience (probably won't hurt). If they lose every game, that doesn't necessarily guarantee it will be a horrible experience (probably won't help). If they become the best trap-blocking guard in the district or most unstoppable receiver, doesn't necessarily guarantee they will be satisfied with what football can do for them. I dunno.... 1) First team to 10 wins, other team does 5 pushups 2) First time total team get 10 perfect fits in a row the coach has to run a short lap, do 10 pushups etc 3) First team to get 10 perfect fits in a row the other team has to do 5 pushups 4) First team to get 10 perfect fits in a row, the other team has to haul gear that night. 5) Have "team record" of how many consecutive perfect fits in a row. thanks for the clarification.... sounds like the key to making it fun is keep it COMPETITIVE..... isn't that what I asked? When the guys was killed in your practice, did you do your drills around the body, or over him? Making fun of a murdered 17 year old, a new low Barik David Hernandez Omaha World Herald 10/25/98, page 3-9- pic our practice our team- his body Point beingn even with a murderd bystander we had 32 of 36 with perfect attendance, How were your attendance, drop and retention numbers last season I thought you raised that as a problem area last year as you chronicled your season.
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Post by brophy on Apr 23, 2008 18:09:26 GMT -6
Making fun of a murdered 17 year old, a new low yeah...that's exactly what we are doing.... or maybe illustrating how pointless (self-serving) it was to even bring it up. Our numbers dropped because we had kids on vacation, one getting CAT scans because of a head injury, and others dealing with divorced parents. If we could get through a youth thread without you promoting your material, pumping up your own ego, regaling us with your W/L record, or more pompous "better-than-you" attitude, and actually get around to offering something of value like every other coach on this site....maybe we'll actually do what the thread intends, "making a positive youth experience"
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Post by coachwarner on Apr 23, 2008 20:37:01 GMT -6
Gentlemen, the main reason i started this thread was because of the negativity of the "other thread" terrible youth coaching. I wanted to make this thread more positive. With all due respect Coach Cisar Would you enlighten me some more,be a stand up guy and send me a free copy of your book?
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