Post by coachplaa on Apr 13, 2009 15:42:41 GMT -6
Coaches-
We are in the beginning stages of implementing a big brother program into our high school program. The motive behind this is we are having trouble with 9th graders that play freshmen football, with staying out of trouble and motivated to play Sophomore football. We're losing about 35% of our frosh roster each year. We gain some new kids, but we want to retain all of what we have from the Frosh year.
We are an urban school, and looking for answers. There just seem to be so many other things pulling these frosh away from sports and school at this age: hormones/girls, sudden grade problems, drivers' license, the Internet (mySpace, etc); and of course, their new found social life.
We are taking our best Juniors, and going to couple them each with one Freshman. We are going to give them their phone number, and some stamped postcards, and train our Juniors about the importance of keeping these Frosh linked to school. For some it will be new friendships, and for some it will be more of a check-in type of thing.
The goal is to let these Frosh know that someone cares about them on campus. Peers can be even more powerful than coaches, in my opinion. The trick for us will be to make good "matches" and to train our Juniors on how to "mentor" effectively. I know it will have a great impact on our Juniors too.
So my question is, has anyone tried anything like this before? I'm looking for suggestions, resources (books or Internet), or anything else that will be useful.
We are in the beginning stages of implementing a big brother program into our high school program. The motive behind this is we are having trouble with 9th graders that play freshmen football, with staying out of trouble and motivated to play Sophomore football. We're losing about 35% of our frosh roster each year. We gain some new kids, but we want to retain all of what we have from the Frosh year.
We are an urban school, and looking for answers. There just seem to be so many other things pulling these frosh away from sports and school at this age: hormones/girls, sudden grade problems, drivers' license, the Internet (mySpace, etc); and of course, their new found social life.
We are taking our best Juniors, and going to couple them each with one Freshman. We are going to give them their phone number, and some stamped postcards, and train our Juniors about the importance of keeping these Frosh linked to school. For some it will be new friendships, and for some it will be more of a check-in type of thing.
The goal is to let these Frosh know that someone cares about them on campus. Peers can be even more powerful than coaches, in my opinion. The trick for us will be to make good "matches" and to train our Juniors on how to "mentor" effectively. I know it will have a great impact on our Juniors too.
So my question is, has anyone tried anything like this before? I'm looking for suggestions, resources (books or Internet), or anything else that will be useful.