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Post by kylem56 on May 22, 2015 22:47:38 GMT -6
hey everyone I recently was named the Head Coach of a small town high school football program back in December. The school is in an middle class/rural area that is growing. Beautiful new school building and has a tradition of being strong in all sports. Football was last in the playoffs in 2012 but then nosedived big time. Just a quick background: the team was 0-9 last year, and finished the season with 18 guys. There is a LONG story behind last year (staff let go week 3 for some bad stuff, 3 interim coaches, etc. etc.) but that's not the point of my thread... one of my assistants suggested an idea to me that I thought was pretty neat..
Has anyone on here ever held a "Program Orientation" night , the night before your first practice of the summer? With us being a new staff, and trying to change the culture, we thought maybe it would be good to bring the kids in and explain to them our rules & policies, expectations, where they will dress, the schedule on game day, where they put their dirty jerseys etc. etc. All those things that most kids learn from the upperclassmen but with the circus they had to deal with last year, and a new staff, maybe it would be good to actually tell or show them what to do.
Here is the schedule we were thinking: 4:00pm-5:30pm: Incoming Freshmen 5:30pm-6:30pm: Sophomores & Juniors 6:30pm-8:00pm: Seniors (includes dinner & maybe a guest speaker?)
Orientation outline includes: 1) Introduce coaching staff 2) summer schedule 3) procedure for not being able to attend workouts or practice because of illness, family vacations, etc. 4) 2-A-days 5) equipment care, fitting and storage ** 6) academics & study hall ** also during this time, I was going to have a certified rep from the company we get all of our equipment from, come and double check that each individual kid has a properly fitted helmet. We have done this in the past at my previous school and it was great. The guy made sure each kid had the right size on, the chinstrap was properly adjusted, the helmet had the necessary amount of air etc. and we had a document that stated that every kid was properly fitted by a certified expert. This was a good thing for liability purposes. Also it may just be coincidence but during the 4 years that we had this guy come in and check every kid's helmet, we maybe had 5 concussions total.
I would appreciate any thoughts/comments/suggestions from you coaches out there. Any Pros/cons? What other topics would you cover? Should I change the format? looking forward to reading your opinions
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smcauliffe54
Sophomore Member
Wisconsin 2018 Division 4 State Champions 14-0
Posts: 188
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Post by smcauliffe54 on May 23, 2015 4:00:38 GMT -6
always good to have an orientation night. we usually have ours the sunday before our first practice or close to it.
only thing i would add is to either have the parents come with or have another night for just the parents so that they know what the expectations of the kids are. that way you can give the outlines or summary right to the parents as well. especially freshmen so they dont lose the schedule.
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Post by groundchuck on May 23, 2015 4:16:58 GMT -6
Sounds like a good idea coach.
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Post by kylem56 on May 23, 2015 5:11:24 GMT -6
always good to have an orientation night. we usually have ours the sunday before our first practice or close to it. only thing i would add is to either have the parents come with or have another night for just the parents so that they know what the expectations of the kids are. that way you can give the outlines or summary right to the parents as well. especially freshmen so they dont lose the schedule. coach that is a good thought, I think I will require at least 1 of the parents to accompany there son so the message is out there.
For your orientation night do you have an outline or powerpoint you use? if so could you share it with me at kyle_mcelvany@hotmail.com
is there any topics I am mising
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Post by bluboy on May 23, 2015 12:06:11 GMT -6
We just held a night for our incoming freshman parents and will hold one for returners' parents in June. For us, the big thing is getting parents to understand all the paperwork they have to deal with, before practice begins. We make a packet of all thee paperwork and go through each item and explain what the parent must complete and when it is due. We don't give the parents to much more. we will give them more info once we actually begin practicing.
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smcauliffe54
Sophomore Member
Wisconsin 2018 Division 4 State Champions 14-0
Posts: 188
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Post by smcauliffe54 on May 24, 2015 8:41:44 GMT -6
Don't have PowerPoint or anything sorry. Might want to save the big orientation night to right before the regular season starts. Maybe have a small one for summer. I don't know how much your doing equipment wise or practice wise over the summer but it's hard enough to get all the kids to workouts. 7on7. Practice depending how many contact days you have. Besides if you're going to go big I'd want it to be when they are required to show up so kids don't miss out due to vacation. And you can open the season up with a great night.
In your summer address to parents I would lay out what you're policies and expectations are. Especially coming off a season with coaching controversy.
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Post by WingTheT on May 24, 2015 11:30:28 GMT -6
I think this is such a great idea! Definitely going to be stealing this for the future.
One thing I would include (or you might already have include that I just missed) would be players fee/booster club.
I am in an area where not every kid can afford these fees and how we need raise money to pay for some of the things the booster club can't pay for. I'm in an area where there a kids that need football more than football needs them due to the parental situation and other reasons. Just wanted to throw my 2 cents out there.
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Post by gators1422 on May 26, 2015 8:55:07 GMT -6
We do a spaghetti dinner about 2 weeks before spring practice every year. Its for all the kids in the football program, JV and Varsity. We just outline what is expected if you are going to play as far as spring practice, summer weight room, 7 on 7, fall camp and whatever else. It is all laid out so any new kids know what they are getting into along with their parents.
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