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Post by coach2117 on Nov 21, 2008 10:59:04 GMT -6
What are some of the best things you do to build character with your players?
My thanks in advance
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Post by touchdownmaker on Nov 21, 2008 12:52:40 GMT -6
Take your biggest cancer, run him to death. Play no games with him. You will find that the kids have a whole lot more respect for you, the game and suddenly they have more "character" to display.
The fastest way to "build character" is to cut out the cancers.
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Post by jgordon1 on Nov 21, 2008 13:59:11 GMT -6
Expect it Demand it Exhibit it Do not allow others to be without it Exhibit it...... probably most important
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Post by threeback on Nov 21, 2008 15:22:24 GMT -6
Expect it Demand it Exhibit it Do not allow others to be without it. That is, quite frankly, the most simple but complete answer to that question I have ever seen. That is good stuff right there.
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mce86
Junior Member
Posts: 281
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Post by mce86 on Nov 21, 2008 17:18:41 GMT -6
Play kids with the right attitude first. Believe in it. Believe that the kid with the great attitude, can get farther than the kid without it. If you let kids just play in the game, with little practice, the ones with poor attitudes would take that option...they practice because they have to! Make attitude like that....you have to have it to play...period. Eventually, it is understood!
You will have to sacrifice to do this, but you have to believe it will pay off!
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Post by WB22 on Nov 21, 2008 17:27:55 GMT -6
I bring in a speaker the day before games. I try to find ex-athletes who either made some wrong decisions, then got their lives straightened out - or ex-athletes who knew of such situations. The talks usually involve drinking, drugs, work ethic, etc. The last couple of years, I've brought in 2 ex-college basketball players (who are now youth ministers), 2 ex-NFL players, 2 ex-Marshall University head coaches, an ex-minor leaguer, among others. Some of the presentations were really gripping (one guy was shot; one was interrogated by some federal authorities, etc.). Most of them have at least mentioned faith in God - along the lines of "the avenue I took to straighten out my life was...". I really believe it has influenced many kids.
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Post by touchdowng on Nov 21, 2008 18:38:42 GMT -6
You have to work on this 24/7/365
If you don't have character as a head coach and as a coaching staff, no educational plan will benefit your team
You have to talk about it, model it, and point out good and poor examples for your players throughout the years that they spend with you. Not to beat it down but to just point things out. Pretty soon, they will start to point out good character examples and those that lack of it.
If you think you can have a 1 day or a 1 weekend guest speaker, conference, workshop, whatever and think you've now just covered charactor you are not going to succeed.
The number one principle you must have in your program is TRUST. How do you build trust? You do it by exhibiting character in any walk of life. Players will watch and they will take inventory and weigh out your actions.
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Post by wingtol on Nov 21, 2008 18:57:34 GMT -6
Football doesn't build character, it reveals it.
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Post by touchdowng on Nov 21, 2008 19:05:26 GMT -6
wingtol
I disagree
I've seen character built with young people within the context of a football program. I've seen kids who were habitual liars as freshman learn some hard knocks and become stand up people after being involved with a program that holds them accountable.
I know that catch phrases are part of our occupation but you have to ask yourself, "what does that REALLY mean and do I really agree with it?"
I don't. I think FB exposes weaknesses and then we can go to work on helping kids recognize that and can coach them up to get stronger in those areas. I've seen too many examples to make me believe otherwise.
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Post by WB22 on Nov 21, 2008 20:35:04 GMT -6
"If you think you can have a 1 day or a 1 weekend guest speaker, conference, workshop, whatever and think you've now just covered charactor you are not going to succeed."
I don't really know if you were slamming me or anything, but I can tell you that the kids REALLY listen to these guys. I didn't say we don't exhibit & speak of character ourselves, but these speakers have real experiences to tell about...kind of a "scared straight" approach.
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Post by wingtol on Nov 21, 2008 21:29:28 GMT -6
wingtol I disagree I've seen character built with young people within the context of a football program. I've seen kids who were habitual liars as freshman learn some hard knocks and become stand up people after being involved with a program that holds them accountable. I know that catch phrases are part of our occupation but you have to ask yourself, "what does that REALLY mean and do I really agree with it?" I don't. I think FB exposes weaknesses and then we can go to work on helping kids recognize that and can coach them up to get stronger in those areas. I've seen too many examples to make me believe otherwise. I know I like to throw that saying out there and see what happens. I think character is a very broad word to throw out there. I think if you look and redefine what is meant by it then it can become something that can be built or developed. I was just searching around and found a list from the US Army listing 23 traits of character. That's a lot of stuff to develop in the short amount of time you work with players. Sure there are a ton of things you can develop in your players and some traits lend themselves to football better than others. I throw that saying out because we had a great example of it this year. We had a group of seniors this year who won a district title as juniors and had successful years winning that title. But when it was their turn to step up and lead things didn't go quite they way we thought. They showed their true character when we start to loose a few games and we actually had a few quit as the year progressed. We did nothing different with them than we had in the past. It just came down to when the chips were on the table and the pressure mounted they crumbled. I feel football revealed their true character in that aspect, you see who people really are when you place them in a stressful situation. We even had a coach who basically has fired himself just because we saw who he really was when the chips were stacked against us. Let's just say he isn't a guy I would want sitting in the fox hole next to me. So I guess maybe it shouldn't be that football doesn't build character but it sure as hell does reveal it.
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Post by touchdowng on Nov 21, 2008 23:24:32 GMT -6
wingtol
your overall point is well taken and thanks for your thoughtful clarification.
rookie
No slam on anything you posted. I've seen coaches who honestly believe that they can actually reach kids by ONLY doing something such as a guest speaker or with one day of team building activities, etc.
Those are great ways to get the ball rolling but the ball must continue to roll with the head coach at the lead throughout the entire relationship with the team and the players.
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Post by levydisciple on Nov 21, 2008 23:29:06 GMT -6
Football doesn't build character, it reveals it. Damn it, you beat me to it! ; )
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Post by coachbilderback on Nov 25, 2008 9:16:20 GMT -6
Anybody got any character stuff they use with there kids. I talked to the guy at Georgia and he charges like 1500 for his. I know there is some other stuff out there, just curious if any of you guys have used it or can vouch for any of it.
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Post by cjamerson on Nov 25, 2008 10:00:26 GMT -6
We do a few things to work on character. As a staff, we feel there are places we can build character other than the playing field. For starters, we break character down into a few traits. Honesty, Trust, Positive Work Ethic, Responsibility, Caring, Kindness, Respect, Tolerance, and Cooperation. We have different activities that involve these traits. In the past, we have worked a food drive with the local Salvation Army. We feel several of our traits tie into this activity. We put our Seniors in charge of this. They organize the teams, the collection routes, the donations, etc. We as coaches will supervise, but we try to take a "hands-off" approach. When all is said and done, we will meet a few days later to discuss the activity. Kids will tell what they learned, how it made them feel and so on. There are always funny stories of kids getting chased by a dog or the bottom of a grocery bag will drop out in the middle of the sidewalk... something along that nature. Builds character and positive relationships between the team and the community. Any activity that teaches them to think more about someone else other than themselves always helps to build charater.
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mib36
Sophomore Member
Being a male is a matter of birth. Being a man is a matter of choice.
Posts: 238
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Post by mib36 on Nov 26, 2008 8:57:08 GMT -6
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Post by coachweav88 on Nov 26, 2008 14:34:54 GMT -6
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