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Post by dport on Jan 20, 2017 14:21:47 GMT -6
What do you guys do for absences in the off season? We have a few kids that I see walking the halls during school, but come time for off season weights, they disappear. I know this shouldn't matter, but some would help us in the fall and others wouldn't. What are some of your policies pertaining to this type of thing.
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Post by coachebbe on Jan 20, 2017 14:31:20 GMT -6
It has to be optional for us.
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Jan 20, 2017 14:49:49 GMT -6
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Post by Deleted on Jan 20, 2017 14:49:49 GMT -6
Ours has to be optional too but if you miss one of these "optional" workouts you get to come to an "optional" session at 6:15 am on Wednesdays. By the time we get to summer every kid will have done the same amount of workouts. They haven't ever complained about it. I will say that if you are in another sport then we don't make them come until that season is over.
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Post by mrjvi on Jan 20, 2017 15:34:46 GMT -6
Probably 75-80 % of our kids do 3 sports (small school). I encourage the ones there to recruit hard so we don't suck next year. I also spread the word that if 2 guys are @ equal ability, I've instructed my coaches to go with the stronger one. Less chance of injury so we'll put more eggs in his basket. I do think the best recruiters are the players. We are getting 1-2 guys who played in the past or are brand new showing each week or 2 so hopefully that will help. Some are recruiting hard because they want to be a skills guy and I tell them that linemen are priority so if they can't get enough linemen they might need to play line. All is serious but good natured.
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Post by fantom on Jan 20, 2017 15:46:44 GMT -6
We don't have a written policy because we're not allowed to make off-season work mandatory. I can tell you that if we see a kid in the halls who hasn't been to weights we're going to talk to him and find out where he's been. We'll also call home to find out what's happening. Parents have almost always been helpful and, in most cases of unexcused absences, the parent either wasn't aware that we'd started or thought that he was going to weights. I don't teach at the school but sometimes I get there before the bell so that I can hang out in the halls and make sure that guys go in the right direction or find out why they aren't.
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Post by coachbdud on Jan 20, 2017 16:57:29 GMT -6
we do a points system we dont let them do spring ball without enough points
we cant legally stop a kid from playing football, but official try outs cant be til August
so we just remove their chance to do the voluntary stuff that the kids actually like
Spring Ball is everyone's favorite thing ever here for some reason... my guess is because it is the closest to Recess ( no gear, but actually doing field stuff with a ball)
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Post by Deleted on Jan 20, 2017 17:25:12 GMT -6
What do you guys do for absences in the off season? We have a few kids that I see walking the halls during school, but come time for off season weights, they disappear. I know this shouldn't matter, but some would help us in the fall and others wouldn't. What are some of your policies pertaining to this type of thing. Take roll every day and call the absentees' parents immediately afterwards when they don't show up to find out where the heck they've been. In our state, we can't make weights "mandatory" either, but we also don't have to make playing time or getting the first pick of awesome new gear mandatory, either.
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Post by 3rdandlong on Jan 20, 2017 17:30:44 GMT -6
we do a points system we dont let them do spring ball without enough points we cant legally stop a kid from playing football, but official try outs cant be til August so we just remove their chance to do the voluntary stuff that the kids actually like Spring Ball is everyone's favorite thing ever here for some reason... my guess is because it is the closest to Recess ( no gear, but actually doing field stuff with a ball) That's awesome that your kids like spring ball. Personally, it's my favorite thing as a coach. Summer, I can give or take but spring ball is a blast imo
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Post by coachb5806 on Jan 20, 2017 19:27:40 GMT -6
Coach here is a post from a previous thread that pretty much sums up how we handle it
this is a problem that I have spent a lot of time combating over the years and here is what I have implemented. First, our offseason begins as soon as our season ends. We bring our guys in at 6:45 am every day before school. We try to get 3 days a week on the weights and two days a week on footwork and agility. It can be hard to do, as we are a small school and almost all of our guys play multiple sports, hence why we go mornings before school. Like coach2013 said, it is all about incentives a rewards. We use those to create a culture of wanting to work and get better every single day. We take attendance at every single workout/practice. Our current attendance records go back to the Monday before Thanksgiving. We use these solely as rewards, not punishments. For example, we have a kid Trevor, he is a Jr and the only kid that has not missed a single workout. He is sitting at 113 workouts as of now, (He also plays baseball and throws in track). Trevor is number one for everything.
1. We buy a few new helmets and shoulder pads every year. Equipment is issued in order of workouts attended. Seniority means nothing here! You get things in the order you have EARNED them. Our seniors know that if they want to go first, they have to start earning it as soon as their Jr year ends. We have a kid who has not played before that will be a senior who has committed to our program and will be near the top of the list.
2. We are currently constructing new locker room. It will have 24 custom, wooden sit down lockers. It will also have overflow bench seating. The top 24 workers get to choose which of the new lockers will be theirs, the others get the overflow benches.
3. We traveled to a team camp a few weeks ago in two school suburbans. Kids were fighting over who got to ride in which suburban. I was driving one and our principal was driving the other, some kids did not wnat to ride with her. I told them if they could not figure it out I was going to get out the attendance log and whoever had put in more would pick where they rode. We use that attendance log to reward wherever possible!
4. We do a Night of Champions lifting competition at the end of each July. We also max in December and May. Players can reach our 1,000 lb club (bench, squat, hang clean, deadlift) at any of these max windows. At the night of champions kids get to pick one lift to compete in (they max the others before the event that afternoon) and we give a trophy to the heaviest lifter in each class and the best lb for lb lift (encourages everyone to work, regardless of size and overall, top end strength) At the end of the year football banquet, the last award we give out is the 1,000 lb club trophies and shirts for those who made it. This is after all district, all state, all stars, etc. We build it up as the biggest award a player can earn because it is a reflection of the commitment and work ethic that we value above all else. We give out very nice awards for this (google sculpture alley)
This is some of what we do to motivate our guys. I am going into my 3rd year as the HC at this school. Our first year we went 4-6, no playoffs. Last year we went 7-5, were seeded 5th, and lost in the quarterfinals to the eventual state champ 22-6. Our improvement was primarily due to our players commitment to our off season program. We are a wing t team that had a 15oo yd tb, 1100 wb, and a 700 fb with 4 sophomores and a junior on our offensive line. We were tough, strong and determined because our guys learned and prepared for that every single day.
We have 15 starters back from that team and every single one has lived in the weight room and committed, regardless of what else they have going on. They are all over 80 workouts.
Now, sometimes you have to be creative. We have a Sr to be, the aforementioned 1,100 yd rusher, who was not showing up and working. I had tried everything I could think of. I sat him down and asked him what it was going to take. He said to let him wear a visor (I haven't allowed our boys to wear them). I agreed, we typed up a contract (Agreement was he would have perfect attendance from that point on) and it is sitting above my desk. He has not missed since mid January when we made the agreement. Of course, I will not only allow him to wear a visor, so if he succeeds, and he is 3 weeks from fulfilling the contract, he will have unlocked that privilege for all players, adding to their respect for him and their view of him as a leader.
Hope some of this helps. This is one area of coaching that I think is hugely overlooked and sooooooo important
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Post by cqmiller on Jan 21, 2017 12:41:49 GMT -6
We can't make it mandatory until 2 weeks before our first game in the fall here... Since it has to be optional, you find ways to build in lots of incentives that really reward the kids who come:
1) I only order so much new gear each year, so the first thing I have done is set up a system for handing out gear. Jersey number selection as well as gear issue is done on the following basis: .....Seniors above 75% offseason attendance .....Juniors above 75% offseason attendance .....Sophomores above 75% offseason attendance .....Freshman above 75% offseason attendance .....Seniors below, Juniors below, Sophs below, Frosh below .....We always do it in decending order so a senior with 98% picks before a senior with 95%.
If a kid is such a good running back or wide receiver that he is going to be hands-down better then the kid who is the backup despite the backup being in the weightroom every single day... the kid who comes will have the cool gear and his jersey number he wanted because he earned it. The other kid can wear a pair of old shoulderpads and #94 to run the ball in if necessary.
2) In order to be on the captain ballot, you have to be above 90% in the offseason... this one saves you the headache of feeling like you have to make the best player a captain but he really isn't a good leader. If you are gonna be a great team, your best players should be your best leaders, but the kids who are always doing 90%+ the things they are supposed to do should also be able to represent your team as captains.
3) Team competition during offseason workouts and rewards during the offseason. Some of the coolest gear we purchase is not available to be sold to kids, to parents, to boosters, etc... but it is set aside as rewards for the offseason program. If you want that really cool T-shirt, the only way to receive it is to meet certain attendance, weights, times, or be on the team that wins a particular competition in the offseason. If you are not there at the workouts you can't get it.
If you are in the right place, those 3 things should be everything you should need to try and create a positive culture of rewarding the kids for their hard-work... if you are in the situation I was with my 4-5 best players getting their jersey numbers taken by 9th and 10th graders who came to the workouts because the "cool kids" didn't feel they needed to, then you are gonna lose a lot of games. Made the decision that I didn't want to be in a community where that was the thinking so I decided to resign and go elsewhere. I'm the OC at a school that has over 90% of our kids in the weightroom EVERY DAY in the offseason and have had a lot of success, as opposed to being in a place where the kids/community were not interested in the process.
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Post by macdiiddy on Jan 24, 2017 13:22:29 GMT -6
As others have stated, think of intensives rather than punishments. Whether you can make weights mandatory or not, create competition and develop a culture around the weight room as a place kids want to go to, not that they have to go to.
Figure out all your programs values and rules, make them clearly available so all can read and understand them.
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Post by ALBallCoach on Jan 24, 2017 14:32:56 GMT -6
In the state I coach all workouts of any kind must me optional.
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Post by dodson10 on Jan 25, 2017 8:32:20 GMT -6
We have a dedicated athletic period in Texas and we still have kids that will be at school all day and then get their parents to check them out for athletics on particularly hard weight days. Kids who don't want to show up will find ways to not be there. I admire you guys who have optional off season activities and keep participation up. I often wonder how many kids we would have here if it were optional.
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Post by gdn56 on Jan 25, 2017 8:33:22 GMT -6
How do you all handle gameday for other sports? We are also a very small school with no athletic period or PE weights. All of our work must be done before or after school. Our 9th graders lift twice per week in PE but 10-12 must come in before or after school. Do you all have any pushback regarding lifting for athletes who are in-Season in another sport?
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Post by blb on Jan 25, 2017 8:50:44 GMT -6
I told them "Lift, or lose."
Lose PT, lose games.
Some of them chose to lose.
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Post by coachcb on Jan 25, 2017 9:00:07 GMT -6
I told them "Lift, or lose." Lose PT, lose games. Some of them chose to lose. It really does get to this point. I have seen and tried a number things over the years and the kids just have to figure it out. The most successful approach we've had is just sinking kids on the depth chart. They don't start if they don't lift. They won't be captains if they don't lift.
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Post by coachb5806 on Jan 25, 2017 9:57:24 GMT -6
How do you all handle gameday for other sports? We are also a very small school with no athletic period or PE weights. All of our work must be done before or after school. Our 9th graders lift twice per week in PE but 10-12 must come in before or after school. Do you all have any pushback regarding lifting for athletes who are in-Season in another sport? Coach we don't bring guys in on other sports game days. Our minimum goal each week is 2 days, one to bench/squat and another to hang clean/deadlift. For example, this week, we got our bench/squat done Monday with everyone, basketball played Tuesday so that morning only offseason guys (about 9) came in and we conditioned. Basketball coaches asked to give them Wednesday off since the team didn't get in until after midnight, so Wednesday was just offseason again. We had them do a front squat/Incline workout that the boys call Hell's Playground. Thursday is a big league game, so we will work footwork and agility tomorrow with our offseason guys then Friday everyone will hang clean/deadlift together. One of the best things we have done is change how we lift during our own season. There was a time when we lifted "to maintain" blah blah blah. We couldn't train heavy and seeks strength gains due to the rigor of our season. Looking back, that is a huge load of bull$hit. When we started here 5 years ago, kids had no strength base at all. We trained hard and heavy the first half of our season and maxed in October. I was surprised in how much we gained strength wise and I didn't feel that it affected our performance, so we continued. We went 4-6 that year, but laid a good foundation. Ever since, we lift on a heavy program aimed at increasing strength during our season just as we do the rest of the year. We max the last week before Christmas break every year. It is hard for a coach to argue against in season training when you do it during your own season, play late/deep into the playoffs and then two weeks later your kids post a 30 lb improvement in their lifts. It has reached a point now where our basketball coach is requiring his players to be there at morning workouts, whether they play football or not.
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Post by PSS on Jan 25, 2017 10:10:26 GMT -6
Everyone is in track and or power-lifting. Neither have a defined season so you can practice year-round before and after school. Before the official start date of Bsb season all the the Bsb team are included. If they miss an afternoon workout they have to make it up in the next morning at 6:30. If they miss 3 or more (unexcused) without make-up they are subject to removal from the program. Unexcused would consist of being at school, going through the athletic period and not showing up after school without notice.
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