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Post by bluedevils10 on Apr 30, 2015 7:09:03 GMT -6
Hey Fellas,
I wanted to ask if anyone during the season has a member of the school community a principal/teacher/teacher assistant/social worker/who ever serve as an special assistant during the week?
My idea would be to have them come to all meetings and practices and be on the sidelines on game-day. This way the admin/teachers could get a glimpse of what its like to be a student athlete or maybe relive some of their old glory days?
If anyone does this, could you please share how you do it and some insight on issues or things I would need to be aware of before I offer it?
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Post by groundchuck on Apr 30, 2015 9:01:31 GMT -6
Could it be a distraction to the players and coaches? That would be my only concern.
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Post by realdawg on Apr 30, 2015 9:30:24 GMT -6
Do they really wanna come to the meetings and practices and spend that much time? That would be my question. I can see them wanting to be on sidelines during game.
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Post by bluedevils10 on Apr 30, 2015 10:30:20 GMT -6
Right now, I'm just floating the idea. I have not committed to it yet. But maybe I offer for one day during the week and Friday walk through? Then they can come to the home games only (we only have 3).
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Post by bluboy on Apr 30, 2015 10:46:58 GMT -6
In theory, I think this is a good idea because it will let the faculty member live/see first hand ALL the time, effort, details, and planning that go into running a football program. In reality, I think it would be a PITA to have an outsider (let alone a non-coach) looking over our shoulders every day to see what we were doing and then ask a gazillion questions. And then, there is the issue of an extra body (with no real responsibility) on the sideline on game night. We, too, have thought about doing this; but passed on it.
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Post by howie740 on Apr 30, 2015 11:05:36 GMT -6
Here is something we started last season that was really a big deal for our kids and faculty. We had every senior write a letter to a teacher that had made an impact in their life. They could chose any teacher in the district. We did some proofreading and had them make some corrections until we had a final copy.
On Wednesday or Thursday before home games, our HC would take 3-4 letters and that players away jersey and go visit that teacher. He would give them the letter and explain that they were to our guests at the game on Friday and that the athlete would like them to wear his jersey to the game. Before the game on Friday, we would have our announcer recognize these teachers.
It was especially neat when they had written their letter about a teacher they had in elementary. Those teachers were always so surprised and thankful for the opportunity.
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Post by craines10 on Apr 30, 2015 11:26:05 GMT -6
Just gonna be honest....Its a large number of teachers I dont want in our locker room because then I have to monitor how I talk with fellow coaches to prevent "offending" someone. Or them being in the way asking questions during meetings and what not...If HC was with it, Id have no choice but to roll with it..but I wouldnt like it.
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Post by scottbailey on Apr 30, 2015 12:29:37 GMT -6
Here is something we have done the past couple years and it has gone over very well...
Each captain selects an honorary captain to go out for the coin toss with them. We announce who each captain has selected, what they teach, years at the school, etc. I do the same for an honorary coach. Many times I will select a retired coach or teacher to come back, a member of the community, former player, etc. Both the honorary captains and the honorary coaches seem to really appreciate the recognition.
Scott Bailey Lamar HS Lamar, Missouri
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Post by jcamerot on Apr 30, 2015 12:38:41 GMT -6
Worked for a HC that did a 12th man every week. Our kids did a team meal (at someone's house) on Thursday, our HC would have the chosen person show up at the meal and talk to the kids. Then on Friday the 12th man was on the sideline with us--could be in the locker room pre-game & half time if he chose. Had a retired head coach, a former player in military, adults in the community--we used anyone who had something important to say (i.e., teamwork, work ethic, attitude, etc). It worked very well and only required finding one person for each game--kids really enjoyed it....
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Post by shocktroop34 on Apr 30, 2015 13:02:29 GMT -6
Hey Fellas, I wanted to ask if anyone during the season has a member of the school community a principal/teacher/teacher assistant/social worker/who ever serve as an special assistant during the week? My idea would be to have them come to all meetings and practices and be on the sidelines on game-day. This way the admin/teachers could get a glimpse of what its like to be a student athlete or maybe relive some of their old glory days? If anyone does this, could you please share how you do it and some insight on issues or things I would need to be aware of before I offer it? I like your mindset as you want to show the efforts of your players and staff to those relatively unfamiliar with all that goes into our sport. I like some of the suggestions of others, and their ideas may better serve you in the long run. My opinion on administrators and teachers are like that of parents. They know it's not their world. As much as you might be able to show them, there are still things that they are not going to understand. Again, like parents, all they really care about is the end result. As I said, I like what you're thinking. Also consider that if you go this route, there are ways of doing it without taking up a bunch of your time calling, organizing, preparing, etc. things for this person. jcamerot was probably closest to the mark on something meaningful, yet time-efficient for you personally.
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Post by gibbs72 on Apr 30, 2015 13:29:39 GMT -6
I would think having them on the sideline during the game and maybe giving them a hat/ T-shirt/ coaching shirt/ etc. would be enough of a special recognition.
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Post by wolverine55 on Apr 30, 2015 13:30:09 GMT -6
I think it's a good idea, but as others have said I don't see the need or reason to go beyond letting them on the sideline on game night. I wouldn't think the staff members of the week would want to be involved anymore than that anyway.
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Post by coachrdc on Apr 30, 2015 18:51:51 GMT -6
We did this in college and it was pretty cool. They would have the option of coming to practices and they always came to pre game breakfast. If memory serves correct they were on the sidelines for games but I don't think they were invited to meetings. Something I'd definitely like to do in the future.
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Post by bluedevils10 on May 1, 2015 6:39:13 GMT -6
Thanks fellas for all the input. I was trying to "war game" it and you have helped me do that. I am going to continue to think it over and come up with a specific game plan for it and then I will post it on this thread.
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Post by wolfden12 on May 1, 2015 11:03:58 GMT -6
Have them on the field during pre-game and in the locker room before kickoff. Give them sideline access and maybe a polo, hat, jacket to signify who is being honored.
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Post by gibbs72 on May 1, 2015 11:27:17 GMT -6
Maybe you could have this person help lead the team onto the field (walk with the captains)?
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Post by Deleted on May 1, 2015 11:43:59 GMT -6
You are trying to explain your sickness(coaching, football or whatever it is) to people. They do not, they cannot understand your sickness. They just cannot. Stop trying to explain. If you take a minute, you may find you do not understand it. If you really want to reach a hand across the aisle make the sure the priorities are straight, Academic THEN football. That is not to say you should bend over and take in the...But you need to have the kids best interest at heart all the time. That means that football, athletics is second. Where problems occur is when coaches try to make the athlete the exception. When you do that you are going to create enemies. If you are not ok with that, then you have a real issue.
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Post by s73 on May 1, 2015 13:25:04 GMT -6
We always have one home game a year where we have the kids choose a faculty member and that faculty member gets to wear an away jersey for the school day.
Simple and teachers really like it. Plus, they can attend the game that night or not. Does not really matter b/c the intention is to show the teacher some appreciation. Not the other way around. It's for the faculty, not the players.
Many of the teachers do attend the game however.
I think this bridges the faculty and the FB program.
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Post by coachwoodall on May 2, 2015 20:47:54 GMT -6
I like what howie does.
We have 2 faculty teachers of the week. They get a T shirt, come to our pregame meal, sit on our circle meeting, listen to our walk through, stand on the sideline during the game. We have a C team coach handle the transportation and it is our outreach back to the faculty. There a lot that come to the game, this is just a way for the program to say "thanks for what you do" for our kids, and this is what we do with those kids.
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Post by Deleted on May 5, 2015 16:08:19 GMT -6
We have done a staff appreciation night. Where seniors (I also included cheerleaders) selected a teacher...any teacher throughout their educational process. I had nice plaques made for them and we put them in jersey's during the game, free entry to the game, etc. The players had to fill out a paper about each teacher. There were more words than this but basically the kids had to answer: 1. "I will always remember your class because ___________." 2. "You made an impact on my because ___________." We did it in right at the beginning of pre-game, kind of like homecoming. The teachers were on the track, the PA announcer read the letters, the players gave the plaques. That was pretty good and really swayed a lot of teachers in my favor even if they weren't selected. The one cheerleader selected her pre-school teacher...finding that lady was no easy task, but I found her. She wrote me a letter following that night that said "Through all of my years of teaching I have received numerous awards, but to receive an award from a former student is by far the most precious award I could have ever received." It was pretty cool. 2nd thing and I don't know if you can do this or not but we are going to do this at our new school. We have a program called "Tiger 4 Life" (or Falcon4Life, or whatever your mascot is) which is basically aimed directly at any former player or coach. We have a private website and twitter for only former players and/or coaches. Each week a "T4L" guy will be brought in on Thursday to eat with the team, speak to the team on Thursday and then will be in the locker room, pre-game, sideline, etc. During the game. This "T4L" guy will also have another role. Each home game friday we are going to bring in a younger class, kind of like a recruiting visit...if you've ever been to a Michigan game with a recruit it's modeled after that. The 8th graders, 7th graders, etc. Will be brought in and the T4L guy will give them a tour of our facilities. Through the school, weight room, practice facilities, game day locker room, etc. During this "tour" there will be a section in there where we varsity coaches do a meet and greet with the players. Nothing too complicated or too long. It will be during the dead period between pre-game meal and pre-game. (you know that dead period where we as coaches are just sitting around in the coach's office). When the "tour" gets to the weight room our strength coach will be in there and will give a short - "why it's important" type conversation with them. The "T4L" guy will also have a section where he speaks to them as a group. Most likely at the beginning of the "tour" in our team film room. The "tour" will end on the game field during our pre-game. When we come off the field for pre-game, they will go to the stands. I think this is a great way to get alumni involved. They obviously have a passion for the school, the tradition, etc. So we are bringing a "T4L" guy in, but there is more to it than him just being an honorary captain and standing on the sideline. He gets to speak to upcoming players, give a tour (assisted by that level's coaches), and is a functional and can have a positive impact for the program. I think the key to anything like this for us as coaches is to make it great, but with as little involvement/work from us as possible. Because we are there to win football games and that's where our focus should be. But every staff can take 5 minutes between pre-game meal and pre-game to meet the players on the younger teams, who are coming up and will soon be putting on that jersey and running out there on friday night. Just an idea. you should be hung for treason for mentioning the Evil empire. J/K!
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Post by John Knight on May 6, 2015 5:02:01 GMT -6
Pretty sure the only way I would do this is if the guy was a $5000 donor.
These folks, no thanks!
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Post by neprepfootball on May 6, 2015 13:32:43 GMT -6
We have an "Honorary Coach" for home games. The boys vote on which faculty or staff member they want for that week. Our captains deliver a letter explaining what it is, a sideline pass, and a shirt. Whoever is chosen walks out with the coaches and is announced at the game. We invite them to our walk-thru (none have ever attended), pre-game meal, and obviously on the sideline. Our faculty and staff really appreciate it. Keep it simple.
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Post by gibbs72 on May 10, 2015 7:36:56 GMT -6
I love the T4L idea, but we have one issue: our facilities suck! Our bond issue failed miserably, so I'm not so sure I want our younger guys to come tour our "Cousin Eddie" facilities.
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