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Post by jared10227 on Oct 7, 2016 23:19:02 GMT -6
Coaches,
A great question was brought up tonight after our varsity game by our JV head coach. How can our program keep kids coming back, when the kids won't help the program until possibly their junior year? In today's "instant gratification" society where kids can even turn the video game off and restart if they are losing, how are you guys keeping kids involved?
We are small private school, 620 enrolled, only have 31 varsity players. Our baseball team is really good, so there are athletes (mostly white) who just develop later than the African American players on our team. So many of these kids just said "forget it" after their freshman year and now 1-3 years later won't come back. How can we keep from losing them when they are playing as freshmen?
Our philosophy is play the best to win!!!..so, what mostly seems to our white athletes, are behind when they are freshmen don't get to play...but can help us now. Do we change that philosophy?
Sorry for saying bascaly the same thing over and over. We just got drilled tonight, and I had four total defensive backs suited up...3 sophomores, and a receiver we converted to DB this week, who has a cast on his arm...so I'm venting a little as well.
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Post by dubber on Oct 8, 2016 19:50:47 GMT -6
Coaches, A great question was brought up tonight after our varsity game by our JV head coach. How can our program keep kids coming back, when the kids won't help the program until possibly their junior year? In today's "instant gratification" society where kids can even turn the video game off and restart if they are losing, how are you guys keeping kids involved? We are small private school, 620 enrolled, only have 31 varsity players. Our baseball team is really good, so there are athletes (mostly white) who just develop later than the African American players on our team. So many of these kids just said "forget it" after their freshman year and now 1-3 years later won't come back. How can we keep from losing them when they are playing as freshmen? Our philosophy is play the best to win!!!..so, what mostly seems to our white athletes, are behind when they are freshmen don't get to play...but can help us now. Do we change that philosophy? Sorry for saying bascaly the same thing over and over. We just got drilled tonight, and I had four total defensive backs suited up...3 sophomores, and a receiver we converted to DB this week, who has a cast on his arm...so I'm venting a little as well. Our weight program gives kids the possibility of playing varsity as sophomores. If you are a decently talented kid (the kind you want to keep around), AND you put in the work in the off season, you will more than likely be playing on Friday nights. My job on JV is to HAMMER this into the players......"you want Friday nights, you have to walk through THAT door" as I point to the weight room. |
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Post by **** on Oct 9, 2016 11:50:22 GMT -6
Win more games.
Do these kids not get enough playing time on JV?
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Post by spos21ram on Oct 9, 2016 12:55:54 GMT -6
Isn't that what a freshmen and JV team is for?
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Post by Deleted on Oct 9, 2016 21:06:00 GMT -6
Question – are you building relationships with players/potential players off the football field?
Some may disagree with me but I think this is very important. I coach at a small private school and our numbers are low. The head of our program (HC) is a brilliant football mind but he knows very little about managing coaches or motivating kids. After last year our program of 60 players (JV and varsity) lost 14 to graduation and 17 that just said, "I'm not coming back." When I asked the HC what he was doing about the numbers he basically said “nothing”.
I got on the horn, text, facebook, Instagram, etc. and started working these kids. The consensus was that the HC only cares about what they can do for him on the football field, he doesn’t care about them outside the lines. It took a LOT of greasing but I finally got 6 of the non-returners to come back – and 5 of them are two-way starters! I also got 2 new kids to join football. They came to play because they know I care about them. I keep in touch with them all year long. I’ve been to drama performances (some REALLY bad ones!), music recitals, baseball games, I helped a kid & his single mom move into a new apartment, etc. I have players to my house on Sunday afternoons to watch football, I feed them pizza, we play ping-pong and we have a lot of fun. It’s a pain in the neck sometimes but it has paid off. I’ve now got 26 JV players and 4 coaches. The kids call us “the dirty 30” and they would go into battle with me if I asked. When they know you care and that you’re in their corner they will show up in numbers. Other kids from the school have recently asked if they can play for me this year and I've told them, "Man, I wish you could, we're just too late into the season but I would LOVE to have you next year!" A kid told me, "Next year for sure, I wanna be one of the dirty 30!"
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Post by jared10227 on Oct 13, 2016 14:13:42 GMT -6
Win more games. Do these kids not get enough playing time on JV? It's not a problem of winning more games, our JV team has lost one game in three years. It's a problem that goes like this, Freshman athlete A comes in at 14 and is not physically developed like Freshman athlete B who is 15. Freshman athlete A works his butt off in the weight room but does not receive significant playing time during the JV season. Freshman athlete A comes back for his sophomore season (now sophomore A) now 15 and is still not as developed as the new freshman (player C) who is 15 as well. Sophomore A decides he isn't interested in football anymore because puts all the work in, comes to all summer lifting, spri g workouts, etc... and receives little playing time. However Sophomore A is a really good baseball player, and contines to workout for baseball. Come junior year, Junior A has now caught up with player B and C bc of his work ethic, now is very developed and could probably start at a couple of positions for us. However due to his distaste for football from his previous experience, he will not give it another try bc he is now receiving division 1 baseball offers. |
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Post by jared10227 on Oct 13, 2016 14:14:50 GMT -6
Question – are you building relationships with players/potential players off the football field? Some may disagree with me but I think this is very important. I coach at a small private school and our numbers are low. The head of our program (HC) is a brilliant football mind but he knows very little about managing coaches or motivating kids. After last year our program of 60 players (JV and varsity) lost 14 to graduation and 17 that just said, "I'm not coming back." When I asked the HC what he was doing about the numbers he basically said “nothing”. I got on the horn, text, facebook, Instagram, etc. and started working these kids. The consensus was that the HC only cares about what they can do for him on the football field, he doesn’t care about them outside the lines. It took a LOT of greasing but I finally got 6 of the non-returners to come back – and 5 of them are two-way starters! I also got 2 new kids to join football. They came to play because they know I care about them. I keep in touch with them all year long. I’ve been to drama performances (some REALLY bad ones!), music recitals, baseball games, I helped a kid & his single mom move into a new apartment, etc. I have players to my house on Sunday afternoons to watch football, I feed them pizza, we play ping-pong and we have a lot of fun. It’s a pain in the neck sometimes but it has paid off. I’ve now got 26 JV players and 4 coaches. The kids call us “the dirty 30” and they would go into battle with me if I asked. When they know you care and that you’re in their corner they will show up in numbers. Other kids from the school have recently asked if they can play for me this year and I've told them, "Man, I wish you could, we're just too late into the season but I would LOVE to have you next year!" A kid told me, "Next year for sure, I wanna be one of the dirty 30!" We are working towards building relationships on a daily basis....we only have 3 coaches that are on staff guys, so it's a challenge. Thanks for your response, I gained a lot of info from it. |
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Post by leighty on Oct 13, 2016 14:49:36 GMT -6
Win more games. Do these kids not get enough playing time on JV? It's not a problem of winning more games, our JV team has lost one game in three years. It's a problem that goes like this, Freshman athlete A comes in at 14 and is not physically developed like Freshman athlete B who is 15. Freshman athlete A works his butt off in the weight room but does not receive significant playing time during the JV season. Freshman athlete A comes back for his sophomore season (now sophomore A) now 15 and is still not as developed as the new freshman (player C) who is 15 as well. Sophomore A decides he isn't interested in football anymore because puts all the work in, comes to all summer lifting, spri g workouts, etc... and receives little playing time. However Sophomore A is a really good baseball player, and contines to workout for baseball. Come junior year, Junior A has now caught up with player B and C bc of his work ethic, now is very developed and could probably start at a couple of positions for us. However due to his distaste for football from his previous experience, he will not give it another try bc he is now receiving division 1 baseball offers. Think your answer might be in this post. Losing one JV game in three years is great and all, but from a program perspective, it's not the ultimate goal. Is it possible to play more kids throughout the JV season and ensure more JV kids have a better experience while still being highly competitive? |
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Post by gibbs72 on Oct 13, 2016 15:54:01 GMT -6
I found myself playing kids in back-up roles more now than I would have say 10 years ago. Not for a lot of snaps, but for example, a kid who is a servicable 3-tech might get a couple snaps here and there to (A) give my starter a little more rest time and (B) give the servicable kid some time on the varsity field. I think that helps them to come back.
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Post by 19delta on Oct 14, 2016 4:32:37 GMT -6
It's not a problem of winning more games, our JV team has lost one game in three years. It's a problem that goes like this, Freshman athlete A comes in at 14 and is not physically developed like Freshman athlete B who is 15. Freshman athlete A works his butt off in the weight room but does not receive significant playing time during the JV season. Freshman athlete A comes back for his sophomore season (now sophomore A) now 15 and is still not as developed as the new freshman (player C) who is 15 as well. Sophomore A decides he isn't interested in football anymore because puts all the work in, comes to all summer lifting, spri g workouts, etc... and receives little playing time. However Sophomore A is a really good baseball player, and contines to workout for baseball. Come junior year, Junior A has now caught up with player B and C bc of his work ethic, now is very developed and could probably start at a couple of positions for us. However due to his distaste for football from his previous experience, he will not give it another try bc he is now receiving division 1 baseball offers. Think your answer might be in this post. Losing one JV game in three years is great and all, but from a program perspective, it's not the ultimate goal. Is it possible to play more kids throughout the JV season and ensure more JV kids have a better experience while still being highly competitive? Exactly. Why is there such a high premium placed on winning JV games? Use those JV games to play kids and keep them interested. I'm an ex-youth coach and I used to see this all the time. The other coaches in our league were always complaining about kids quitting yet these would be the same guys would only play their top 11 kids on offense and defense. The other kids who weren't as good played sparingly or not at all. No offense, but I don't blame those kids for quitting your football team. It sounds like the baseball coaches are doing a much better job of player development. |
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Post by rosey65 on Oct 14, 2016 5:19:44 GMT -6
-Every kid on JV plays in every game, which has helped with retention.
-We bring sophomores who can contribute up to varsity, which helps get more PT for kids on JV. We have 3-8 sophomores on varsity every year, and all of them would be dominant JV kids.
-At the end of the JV season, most of the JV kids move up to varsity for the last few weeks of the season.
-We platoon, especially on JV. That way, you get 10+ more starters, which helps retention.
Our JV program is designed and run to keep kids around the sport. They have lost games as a result of some of our ideals, but it has helped the program out as a whole.
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Post by gibbs72 on Oct 14, 2016 8:23:03 GMT -6
I agree with all of what rosey65 said. Only thing we added was:
Tuesday practice --> your ticket to play in the 1st half of the JV game on O&D
Wednesday practice --> your ticket to play in the 2nd half of the JV game on O&D
Makes it to where the kids that practice and put in the blood/ sweat/ tears get the reward of more PT. Helped us to not only get more kids on the field but also let us put a premium on being at practice and working hard.
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