Off-season Points System

Wow! Do you all have a problem with any of your key players missing games?

Here is one that I think I got from the articles section on this site:

Blackknight:

I love it.....the idea of instilling team is above and beyond any player is awesome. Your plan is very simple, but leaves very little room for misinerpretation. You either have the points or you do not.

I had a couple questions regarding your philosophy:
1) Lets say you have 3 defensive starters who all must sit out one game, do you stagger that or do they all sit out the first game? 2) How do you convey this philosophy to parents without getting the sh*t storm of punishing their kid for things that are not technically required? Are you just upfront with them and say this how it is going to be, or do you go about it in a more liberal way?

Here is another interesting off-season point system that I found here. It does not include camps and such but it could be altered to include whatever you want. This divides the team into groups that compete for points so that you develop accountability to the group and you develop leadership from within each group.

flexoption91,

we have been tempted to stagger the game suspensions but have not done that. We have never been at full strength for our first game but we are usually very close. Our 1st opponent is a very good team and it can cost us as all games count here towards earning a playoff spot.

We handle the parents by never calling it a punishment. We always refer to it as "earning" a spot on the team. We go to great lengths to explain the importance of each point and how it relates to success in our program.

Here's ours from last year.

We use one coach. If you PM me your email, I'd gladly send you a copy.

I don't have my flash drive with me or I'd try to just attach it here.

How do you guys handle the kids that just will not buy in?

I am talking about the kid that was on the team the year before. He may or may not have been a starter. He knows and you know he is the best bet you have his position. He says all the things you want to hear to get him off his back but when push comes to shove just wants to play on friday nights. How do you get his to understand the importance of your point system?

Outside of suspending him, are there other ways to make sure you are getting optimum commitment to your points program, and team as a whole?

Did you have take some lumps and play a kid that was committed but might not be the talent before the kids started to understand the importance?

This is our fourth season of doing this, and let me tell you, they buy in quick.
The idea of the top point earners getting first crack at new equipment, jersey number selection, etc., has been huge.
A couple of suggestions as we continue to evolve our points system....
1) Instead of keeping track on an Excel spreadsheet that you have to carry around with you all the time, and upload to a website (if you want your kids to view it online); use Google Docs and their basic spreadsheet. Make the setting so only the coach can edit, but anyone can view it. Then, everytime you need to update it, you log in to Google, make your changes, hit save, and it is always current and updated.
2) Let the kids have a lot of say in how the pride points are earned. Guide them of course, but let them take ownership. Last year, our kids wanted more emphasis put on summer workouts, because they felt like the year before too many kids slacked on committment during the summer. So we weighted it more this year, and it paid off. We also added another great feature this year. We tested their Power Clean at the beginning of summer, and then at the end of summer. For every pound they went up in the Power Clean, they got 1 for 1 in pride points.

And I've said this before on here, but my advice for kids/parents that don't buy in....see you later. It will take one kid to test the system, but if you can sell it to your principal/AD as 1) a safety concern for kids that don't train over the summer, and 2) a way for attitude problems to cut themselves; then you'll have a great system.

We have a very good system that we have used for the past 4 years. It incorporates weight room, grades, behavior, community service, etc. We are a very small school and it has worked wonders for our program. If you are interested PM me and I will forward you our info

I like the idea of putting this online. I would also post it somewhere in the locker room/weight room vicinity and update as often as possible. I agree with larrymoe, the whole idea behind the off-season points system is to increase competition. The main thing you have to motivate a kid and get his attention is playing time. If he doesn't want to compete, he doesn't play. He'll either step up or drop out--and your team will be the better for it, no matter what he chooses to do.

Another thing we kicked around, but haven't done yet....in regards to playing time....since we don't "play any games" in the off-season; we DO play 7on7 and such. We have talked about the top pride pointers at each position get the start in 7 on 7. It's a LITTLE thing, but kids notice.

I post it on the door to the weight room, in the locker room and make sure every player AND their parent (email their parent a copy) get one. I also update the points every week throughout the summer (about once every couple to three weeks in the winter) and then email it to every parent I have on my list.

It has worked well. Last summer we had 18 of 31 kids get to 80% or more of the available points. Only 5 didn't make the required 66%. The kids bought in great. Now we just have to work on their habits in the weight room...

We do the same thing with the injured kids. They have to show up (if they can) and be a part of the team.