Champions club

I think it's a great idea but I know guys who've done it and then they have the parents call and say, "but Timmy can't come because he has to work, so he's lifting weights down at 24 Hour Fitness."

Of course the caveat is that they aren't doing it with the team, but just offering input as to if you start one, be sure to have everything defined clearly. . .for the parents.

We don't call it our "Champions Club" but we have an "Iron Eagle" group. Everything is based on a point system. I read something like it in another coach’s manual and we worked it and adapted it to our kids. Sorry I don’t remember where we got the original idea from. But thanks to the genius coach who designed it. We begin counting points the Monday after our final game.

Incentives are first pick of equipment (helmet, jersey number, locker, etc.). First to eat at our weekly breakfasts and dinners (Thursday after practice and Friday before school). Voting on t-shirt designs (you can’t vote if you’re not in the group). They get a dog-tag with their name and number at the end of the season. We also have a steak dinner for them at the start of the season. There are some other incentives, but I can’t remember everything we’ve done. Here is our point system. This was from 06 when we first started to work on it. It has evolved some since then, but the ideas have stayed the same.


Point system

Off season workouts = 5 pts.
For each after-school workout they attend, they will be given 5 points
If an athlete is participating in another sport, they will be given 5 points for each practice they attend. Yes, this will involve some extra work on our part, but it is worth it. Counting practices for the baseball/track and the remaining days of basketball, I estimate 110 to 130 after school practices/lifting sessions before August. They should receive no more than 20 points per week.

Workout Tests = Attendance, 3 pts. These workout tests are usually done separate from normal after-school days. Sometimes on a Friday afternoon or a day when nothing else is going on. Also, they will also receive points for reaching certain goals. For example, if they improve a max by 10% they receive 5 extra points. This is never announced to the athlete until the tests are completed.

Workout tests will be performed once per month. Everyone is invited to attend. Athletes participating in other sports will receive the 2 additional points for attendance (if they come in before or after practice). We feel if they are pulling "double time", they should get extra points.

Weight class = If you have a weight class during school, you will receive a 20 points for the year. This will persuade them to get in a weight class.

Grades = the students may submit their progress reports and reports card for points. This cannot be made mandatory and we had to have the parents sign a consent form. The points are given as followed: For every “A”, they will receive 2 points. For every “B”, they will receive 1 point. We’ve estimated an expected number of 30 or more grade points.

Team Competitions = usually done every Thursday afternoon, all are welcome to attend. For participating, each athlete will receive 5 points. Each member of the winning team will receive 2 points. Competitions may include: relays, truck push, “farmers walk”, etc. Hopefully these inspire camaraderie and competition in our kids.

Camp sessions = 7 points per day

Attending an Individual Camp = 10 points, must provide proof

Team meetings in the off-season = 5 points

After reviewing the calendar, we felt our kids should strive for a point number of 725. Sometimes they exceed that number, but the majority of them are at or around that number.
If our kids do not reach the 725, there is some type of consequence. For starters, they are not members of the “Iron Eagle” club. Second, we assign a 50 yard gasser for each point below the 700. We have “early-bird” sessions during 2- a- days. With the punishment, we felt we had to present the consequences upfront, so the kids know what they will have to do if they fail to make the goal. The Monday after the football season, we have a meeting with all athletes interested in participating in football. Sometimes we have some kids wander in throughout the off-season; they are expected to reach 700 points. We do not pro-rate the system because they were dragging their feet.

The “Iron Eagle” club was a way to reward the guys for making the commitment. Unfortunately; pride, respect, and honor are no longer rewarding enough for kids these days.

Early on, there were some negatives. For starters, we had some backlash from the seniors. They felt they had earned incentives for being older. Many of them did not participate or gave minimal effort that first year. That resulted in not having enough points and they were stuck in the back of the line.

Also, we had some parents try to get in the way of progress. They felt we were demanding too much from their boys. I had one father ask, “How can you expect them to make A’s and B’s and participate in 5 hours of after-school conditioning a week?” I simply broke it down like this…
“If you son goes to bed at 10pm every night and we keep him until 4pm, that gives him 6 hours of time to study, eat, call his girlfriend, visit with family, etc.” That seemed to help him make sense of it all. We’ve learned that if you present the expectations upfront, you can cut down on confusion and conflict down the road.

We started using this system after the 2006 season. Like I stated earlier, we had some try to fight it. In 2006 we were 3-7 and not competitive. 2007, once again 3-7. We were 2-1 in our district and showed more fight. This past season, we were 6-4 and lost 2 games by less than 10 points combined. We feel this system has helped us to improve the product on the field and hold everyone accountable.

We use something similar and I believe in it fully. Its a team game yet some kids just dont bother to get with the program. reward those who do.