win before you have fun or vice versa

are you equating "having fun" to not having to work as hard? I don't understand. The whole process of being involved in a football program is fun. Sure, it's a lot of work, but we should enjoy the process because we only get it for such a short time. It's fun to be young, energetic, pushing your friends to excel, them pushing you, striving to achieve goals together. It's fun to have people watch you play, support the things you do.

So, you have fun whether you win or lose. It's just MORE fun to win the games. But, if the ultimate end to determine if you had fun or not was to win, then you aren't likely to enjoy the process. which means, its only "fun" on friday nights after a victory.

I always thought winning was fun.

Hard work can be fun.

We tell our kids that fun is not screwing around. Fun is working hard to improve on a daily basis (individually and collectively), striving together to accomplish something, and sacrificing for something bigger than self, which allows us to compete and have fun on Friday night. It is fun to see how good we can be.

we always try to have fun...hard work can be fun..but lets face it, football practice is not ALWAYS fun for a player..i tell my kids hey, sometimes you have to do things in life, for your family, at work that are not always fun or enjoyable....part of being mature and adult is doing things to the best of your ability that might not always be fun...you might call it discipline, toughness, etc

If I'm right, this is a question for a struggling program, where kids are not "having fun" because you're losing games. So, then the question is, do you make football fun, or do you bust your {censored} with the committed kids (letting the uncommitted kids leave the program), and hope to win some day.

Honestly, the high road is. "yeah yeah! Gotta work hard, gotta have kids commit, hit the weight room, study playbooks, fun should be the grueling hard work and hopefully winning is the result....even if it means losing some studs who don't believe in the process."

Buuuuut....I don't think it's that easy. If you have some kids who are stud football players, but don't hit the weight room, late to practice, don't give the 100% effort. You can ride them hard, and hope they convert, but ultimately these types can then turn against you and/or quit the team with the pressure put on.

So, you take the high road, get the poor-workers (albeit studs) to quit...and lose football games, OR, you can find a happy medium, get some Ws, and hopefully build your program based off of past record success instead of taking the high road. But at the end of the day, your best players have quit the team, you keep losing, and the program fails.

Thank you for sharing that Steelhawk! Just one more reason I love the Harbaughs!

Like others I agree with the hard work, leadership and commitment. Wins do come from this... Our kids have bought into this concept

Pay me now or pay me later..... Pain of agony or pain of regret...


We talk about how we can have an easy off season.. Joke around, eat ice cream, sing songs (OK Overboard). I told I can not demand a lot out of you and your teammates. Not require off season workouts... Just go at your pace.. Make it not too demanding... No hard running, Buffet Style lifting... No attendance... etc, etc, etc... You get the idea...

But when we lose our first game in the fall and when we lose more games in the fall and do not make the playoffs do not Blame me... When you lose on friday night and have that feeling like you WANT TO DIE AND PUKE ALL OVER YOURSELF!!! Do not blame me....

On the flip side... Is there ANY BETTER FEELING for a young man than to work hard and accomlish something. Seeing the fruits of his labor in the fall... Winning will make up for a lot. There is a price. Kids should want to compete and they should want to push themeselves.. they should want to win. If not you probably do not have the right kids in your program. It may take time but I believe it can be developed.

No doubt small success is important and leads more success down the road.

That being said Bill Parcells said it best "You are what your record says you are".

At the end of the day we as programs are defined by wins and losses. I too do not always agree with it but all of the small success has to lead to wins on Friday nights. Not just for the school but ESPECIALLY for the players.

1. No. In fact, I think that a lot of bad and poorly coached teams
work harder than some good, well-coached teams. They just
work on the wrong things.
2. Sure.

I think fun is the wrong term, I believe its more important if those within the program see value for their time commitment and that can come from many different parts of the program. Pregame meals the night before a game that strengthens social bonds, team study hall that improves academic performance, shared hard work in the weightroom that results in improved strength, team service projects that garner positive comments from the administration or community, how am I treated by my coaches- do I feel respected and appreciated as a person. When a player chooses to quit and says "it's just not fun anymore" they really mean is I see little value in what I am gaining for my time and efforts. Some players do not have fun even when the team is winning so winning does not always equate to fun.

Short term goals and celebration of achievement can help the process. There has to be a payoff for the kids year-round in order to get them to work hard year-round. Maxing in the weight room, having a lift-a-thon, providing t-shirts with slogans, etc are a good start. Constant attention to all your kids IMPROVEMENT is another. Don't lose focus on those guys who aren't your studs, but are improving. That's where it all starts. When you focus on individual improvement instead of comparing kids to each other, that's where you get the real buy-in. When a kid sees that you care about HIM and how hard HE is working, he will start to trust and believe in you.

I don't think that it's a good idea to come into a losing program and draw a line in the sand and say "this is how hard we are going to work" from day 1. You will lose a bunch of kids that way. I know that a lot of people are going to comment that you need to separate the wheat from the chaff, but how do you know what's chaff if they've been losing. The losers will cull themselves eventually. If you change things a little at a time, then you will be able to build that trust and maybe not lose those guys that you need to win. Always remember that you can't win without players. And if you run off all the good ones by taking too firm a stance to start with, you may not be around long enough to see it through.