|
Post by eaglemountie on Feb 22, 2018 10:04:48 GMT -6
What do you all do to get your kids to join/buy-in/retain and maintain numbers in your community and school district?
Camps/academies? Coaching clinics? Friday night recognition? Varsity coach and player attendance at youth games?
We feel like the youth leagues and middle school team in our area has lacked a connection to our program which has created drop off in numbers due to them not feeling like they are part of what we do. Just want to generate some ideas moving forward.
|
|
|
Post by newt21 on Feb 22, 2018 10:21:33 GMT -6
I coach middle school and one of the biggest things is the kids need to see/meet the staff in the spring before football starts (at their middle school) and bring some gear to give out to some of the kids, they (like all of us) are all about free gear. I try to talk all my kids up to playing at the high school (whether they played for me or not) to try to get more kids out, some listen and some don't. But at the end of the day, a face to face from the staff and seeing some of the gear they'll get is a great tool IMO.
|
|
|
Post by eaglemountie on Feb 26, 2018 10:55:00 GMT -6
Thanks for the response.
|
|
|
Post by coachorm on Feb 26, 2018 13:10:20 GMT -6
Two things:
1. We have a summer camp for young kids to get to know them and let them use our facilities so they can keep dreaming those big dreams of friday night lights.
2. Visit the middle school during the offseason and start treating those kids like they are already part of the program. Much easier for a kid to join when he feels he is a part.
|
|
|
Post by CanyonCoach on Feb 26, 2018 13:40:38 GMT -6
Get on the youth board, go to as many youth games as possible, have the 8 th graders practice with the varsity (we do it on a JV game day). Summer camps run by HS coaches, varsity players help run the youth camps.
|
|
|
Post by MICoach on Feb 27, 2018 8:50:20 GMT -6
We do a youth camp and a middle school camp. The 7/8 program plays on the high school field and 5/6 plays maybe one game on the high school field. Our middle school coaches are all guys that have either lived in the district for a long time and want to see it succeed or recent high school graduates who want to help out. One of our varsity coaches also coached 5/6 the last two years with his son's class - not sure if he intends to continue to do that as he's in 7th and 8th grades. We as the varsity coaches try to show up to a couple middle school games as they play after our practices pretty often. It definitely helps that some of our coaches teach at the middle school.
When I coached middle school in another district that had several feeder schools (we only have one) they would do a recognition night for all players in the system grades 5-8 - they'd all come to the high school game in their jerseys and get recognized one team at a time at halftime and the kids (especially lower level) loved it. We also would use the high stadium for our last game of the year which the kids loved because we usually played on crap middle school fields.
|
|
|
Post by Chris Clement on Feb 27, 2018 12:24:54 GMT -6
And don’t condescend to them. Don’t, under any circumstances, try to open with you coming in to “fix” them. Not that it was necessarily your intention but it’s a quick way to start that relationship on the wrong foot.
|
|
|
Post by coachdawhip on Mar 11, 2018 14:37:41 GMT -6
1. Youth Night 2. Camps 3. Meet and Greet
We mail home letters as well!
|
|
|
Post by CoachWeitz on Mar 14, 2018 6:14:20 GMT -6
This was an area I took over so it's something I'm pretty passionate about.
We do a lot but Indiana has open enrollment and we have a really good township so we have to.
1. Middle School Visit-for the High School the last day of the first semester is a teacher report day for the high school but the middle school is in session. We have the middle school coaches pick a list of about 20 kids from each middle school and they take a bus over. We give them a tour of the facility, get their information, show them our uniforms, etc. We feed them pizza then send them back. The Middle Schools love it because they have 20 of their kids out of the school on a day that classroom management is normally pretty tough.
2. Middle School Team Visits-when I was running this my goal was to visit every team's practice and talk to them. We have 3 township middle schools so I go to visit the 7th and 8th-grade basketball team and wrestling teams in the winter and baseball and track teams in the spring. I'm a big believer in getting in front of the kids and forming a relationship face to face.
3. Middle School Combines-we use these building up to our middle school academy (more on this on the next one). We go test the kids on their 40s (we do it across the gym so it's not a 40 but that's fine), 5-10-5, L Drill, and normally sled push for the big boys. The whole goal is to get in front of the kids in their environment, rides can be an issue so we want to take away that excuse.
4. Middle School Academy-We've done this a variety of different ways. My favorite was two weeks 4 days a week the last two weeks before Spring Break because the wrestling season is done and the track season hasn't started. We do the first-week offense and the second-week defense. Go over base concepts and drill. I always tell the position coaches they want to get the EDD installed with the freshmen.
5. Middle School Camp-The last two weeks before Summer break. We normally do a round of combines leading up to this to increase interest. This is on the field or turf when there isn't a game being played. Normally we can get the base concepts installed offensively.
6. Summer Camps-We offer free youth and middle school camps. With the youth camp we are just trying to get numbers and get kids excited. It worked well, the first year we went from 40 campers to 130 or so. At the middle school camp we installed our punt and kickoff schemes. We figure this takes one thing off the plate of the coaches since the majority of them don't have the time or coaching manpower to devote that much time to Special Teams. During the Middle School camp we also do a clinic series before the camp. Here we get all the certifications done (concussion, heat, etc.) and go over our basic drills.
7. Communication and Advertising-I'm a big believer in this. Beyond being in front of the kids I want them to see our messages constantly. We are sending letters home and postcards to every kid we have an address for. We send emails too but kids have told me that the letters and postcards have had the biggest effect. I always make sure these postcards refrigerator ready so they can go on the fridge and make sure the whole family knows the date and time.
I go a bit overboard with this but am a big believer in it. If you're not actively developing your feeder system you aren't setting yourself up for sustained success. Since I took over the Middle School Academy and developed all of the different parts our Freshman record went up and we won the conference 2 of the 3 years we did it.
Hope that helps, let me know if you have any questions!
|
|
|
Post by planck on Apr 2, 2018 12:06:23 GMT -6
Having coached both middle and hs, I'll be blunt: there are a lot of really, really bad MS coaches. Many of them think that by winning a bunch of games at MS, they'll get a shot at being HS coaches. They focus very little on development. A lot of them are parochial and have no intention of doing what they're asked to do. The best case scenario is for the HS head coach to have hiring input over who is at the middle school, get those coaches on board schematically / culturally, and let them be involved at the HS level (if they choose to). That can be attending film sessions, recording stats for hs games, whatever. Anything that makes them feel involved and part of the program, like they're contributors. The HS coaches need to be holding clinics for those MS and youth coaches to get them up to speed on scheme, terminology, etc. They're not asking the 5th graders to run quarters, but ideally the youth kids are learning some technique and terminology and drills that will carry up the ladder, making install and teaching easier later. In addition, ideally the HS coach has the ability to fire MS coaches who are shitbirds. Good luck getting that kind of control, though.
There's a reason the best HCs are more like organizational CEOs than X&O superstars: there's a ton of legwork that goes into being successful, and most of it is teaching, organization, and not scheme.
|
|
|
Post by aceback76 on Apr 6, 2018 11:20:18 GMT -6
What do you all do to get your kids to join/buy-in/retain and maintain numbers in your community and school district? Camps/academies? Coaching clinics? Friday night recognition? Varsity coach and player attendance at youth games? We feel like the youth leagues and middle school team in our area has lacked a connection to our program which has created drop off in numbers due to them not feeling like they are part of what we do. Just want to generate some ideas moving forward. We do ALL of the things you mentioned. In the communities I have coached, I managed to be appointed Commissioner of the Youth Feeder Leagues.
|
|
|
Post by aceback76 on Apr 6, 2018 15:23:21 GMT -6
What do you all do to get your kids to join/buy-in/retain and maintain numbers in your community and school district? Camps/academies? Coaching clinics? Friday night recognition? Varsity coach and player attendance at youth games? We feel like the youth leagues and middle school team in our area has lacked a connection to our program which has created drop off in numbers due to them not feeling like they are part of what we do. Just want to generate some ideas moving forward. We do ALL of the things you mentioned. In the communities I have coached, I managed to be appointed Commissioner of the Youth Feeder Leagues. Also liked to fill the coaching openings with my former players!
|
|
|
Post by CoachMikeJudy on Jun 1, 2018 10:05:42 GMT -6
What do you all do to get your kids to join/buy-in/retain and maintain numbers in your community and school district? Camps/academies? Coaching clinics? Friday night recognition? Varsity coach and player attendance at youth games? We feel like the youth leagues and middle school team in our area has lacked a connection to our program which has created drop off in numbers due to them not feeling like they are part of what we do. Just want to generate some ideas moving forward. Definitely! 1) Camp directed toward your feeder program. Service them! For example, our local pop warner program starts Aug 1st and have a 10hr acclimatization period where there is no pads being used. Teams are selected before then. Maybe we hold a camp at the end of July to help them "early install," have my coaching staff teach fundamentals to the kids WITH the youth coaches assisting- giving them some insight/new drills etc. Charge minimally...not trying to make money off of them but gear them up with shirts etc with HS logo on it. 2) Clinics- for sure. Totally free clinic for youth coaches. Variety of topics. We have an open door policy with the youth guys- they can call/meet/visit/walkthrough WHATEVER they want to learn about with my varsity staff- we set it by appointment but could very well hold a clinic. 3) Youth night- we host our youth kids, with jerseys on, free admission to some of our home games. Maybe recognize different youth staffs at half-time of home games. 4) For youth games: we have players run the chains, I (along with 2 assistant coaches...both coordinators) volunteer coach with the pop warner program (this is a HUGE undertaking so it may not be feasible for you), and we have coaches and kids in attendance to every home youth games. They play in our HS stadium on Sundays. All of these are great ideas, but the BIGGEST aspect is open and honest communication- let the youth guys know that they're doing a great job...go speak to their kids after their practices- provide motivation for them. Your presence as a HS program is a must. The kids and coaches need to see that THEY are important enough for the "big guys" to come see them/talk to them.
|
|
|
Post by CatsCoach on Jun 6, 2018 9:39:19 GMT -6
Our youth program feeds into 2 HS. Over the years both school have done clinics for the kids, clinics for the youth coaches. Some of the coaches at both schools have kids in the youth program and help coach at times as well. We also play our home games at one of the high schools. They also have youth night where kids get in free wearing there jersey. Also what helps is both schools have been successful over the last 10+ years, it really helps when the younger players see former players winning state titles.
|
|
|
Post by ca210 on Aug 18, 2018 2:36:27 GMT -6
Uniforms and home field were the same for Upland Pop Warner and Upland HS. They were pretty sweet, but that only goes so far. Especially when players leave get recruited by IMG, St. John Bosco, O Lu, etc.
The best recruiting tool is a winning tradition.
|
|
|
Post by 33coach on Sept 20, 2018 11:34:11 GMT -6
What do you all do to get your kids to join/buy-in/retain and maintain numbers in your community and school district? Camps/academies? Coaching clinics? Friday night recognition? Varsity coach and player attendance at youth games? We feel like the youth leagues and middle school team in our area has lacked a connection to our program which has created drop off in numbers due to them not feeling like they are part of what we do. Just want to generate some ideas moving forward. Easiest way to get buy in...is to buy into them. 1) Camps are a must, 2 a year a Linemen camp and a skills camp separately... if you can do it do 3 and do a S&C/Specials camp too. 1.a) if your idea of a camp is: install my defense and offense so everyone runs what i run... DONT BOTHER. 2) Coaching clinics for sure! that's always a great way to do it... again, if its just about "your system"...dont waste your time. 3) remember that the majority of youth coaches are volunteer..trying to force them to run your stuff... isnt going to win them over... be a resource not a boss.
|
|
|
Post by coachcb on Sept 27, 2018 14:34:34 GMT -6
Everything above is spot on. But, I personally think the most important part of "buy-in" is getting and keeping quality coaches at those lower levels. Find coaches that are going to emphasize fundamentals and understand that those levels are DEVELOPMENTAL: it's not Friday night lights for those younger guys. If the kid shows up, is coachable and practices hard then they should be playing consistently, regardless of their talent level.
Far too often, we see youth and middle school coaches that think that winning a youth league/middle school championship with their "best 11" is more important than getting the kids reps in games and keeping the enthusiasm for the game going. We had a middle school team a few years ago that hadn't lost a game since they were in 5th grade. But, only 12 of the 30+ kids out for football were seeing much playing time. Most of the kids stuck it out through middle school but we ended up with a freshman class of 16 because the kids didn't care for football anymore.
|
|
|
Post by newt21 on Oct 29, 2018 7:59:41 GMT -6
I am currently working on this very problem. I have been a HS coach for the past 13 years in a smaller town. There has never been a great connection between the youth program and us. One of the ideas that I have kicked around is to have the youth coaches select a player from their team to be the high school ball boy. Each week, a different player from a different level team participates(flag 1 week, freshman the next week,jv and varsity follow). A coach from the player's team will be on the sideline with the player to make sure the kid does their job and to see what a quality sideline looks like during a game. This would only occur at home games. Very little burden to the HS staff but possibly dividends for youth buy in. I like the idea, but be careful how you present it. If you present it as what a "quality sideline" looks like, it could be off putting to some.
|
|
|
Post by coachcb on Oct 30, 2018 13:04:45 GMT -6
Having coached both middle and hs, I'll be blunt: there are a lot of really, really bad MS coaches. Many of them think that by winning a bunch of games at MS, they'll get a shot at being HS coaches. They focus very little on development. A lot of them are parochial and have no intention of doing what they're asked to do. The best case scenario is for the HS head coach to have hiring input over who is at the middle school, get those coaches on board schematically / culturally, and let them be involved at the HS level (if they choose to). That can be attending film sessions, recording stats for hs games, whatever. Anything that makes them feel involved and part of the program, like they're contributors. The HS coaches need to be holding clinics for those MS and youth coaches to get them up to speed on scheme, terminology, etc. They're not asking the 5th graders to run quarters, but ideally the youth kids are learning some technique and terminology and drills that will carry up the ladder, making install and teaching easier later. In addition, ideally the HS coach has the ability to fire MS coaches who are shitbirds. Good luck getting that kind of control, though. There's a reason the best HCs are more like organizational CEOs than X&O superstars: there's a ton of legwork that goes into being successful, and most of it is teaching, organization, and not scheme. This, to the umpteenth power. All of other suggestions above are fantastic. However, none of them amount to much if you have poor coaches at the middle school level. If a kid is going to quit a sport, chances are he's going to quit between his 8th grade year and his freshman year and all of the studies on this subject have pointed to one correlation: bad coaching at the MS level.
|
|
klaby
Junior Member
Posts: 389
|
Post by klaby on Oct 31, 2018 8:37:09 GMT -6
Kids quit because its not fun. So if you have bad coaching at the lower levels and they dont make it fun, doesnt matter how many clinics you do. Development and FUN, if that is not the focus of your lower levels you will not maintain numbers. Nobody remembers their 8th grade football record, everyone remembers their senior year! And until you get JoeyLombardiSaban at the youth level to understand that you will have issues.
|
|
|
Post by bobgoodman on Oct 31, 2018 20:25:00 GMT -6
Everything above is spot on. But, I personally think the most important part of "buy-in" is getting and keeping quality coaches at those lower levels. Find coaches that are going to emphasize fundamentals and understand that those levels are DEVELOPMENTAL: it's not Friday night lights for those younger guys. If the kid shows up, is coachable and practices hard then they should be playing consistently, regardless of their talent level. Far too often, we see youth and middle school coaches that think that winning a youth league/middle school championship with their "best 11" is more important than getting the kids reps in games and keeping the enthusiasm for the game going. We had a middle school team a few years ago that hadn't lost a game since they were in 5th grade. But, only 12 of the 30+ kids out for football were seeing much playing time. Most of the kids stuck it out through middle school but we ended up with a freshman class of 16 because the kids didn't care for football anymore. It's good to give all the players lots of reps & playing time -- but that should include those who you know are never going to be athletes much into their teens, & who may be barely able to play the game competently even at the level they're on.
|
|
bighit65
Junior Member
Make a statement without saying a word.
Posts: 397
|
Post by bighit65 on Nov 24, 2018 19:48:28 GMT -6
][It's good to give all the players lots of reps & playing time -- but that should include those who you know are never going to be athletes much into their teens, & who may be barely able to play the game competently even at the level they're on. [/quote]
This is very true. Youth coaching has taught me, "It's not what you do with a stud that makes you a good coach. It's what you do with a dud."
|
|
|
Post by 33coach on Nov 28, 2018 16:28:36 GMT -6
Everything above is spot on. But, I personally think the most important part of "buy-in" is getting and keeping quality coaches at those lower levels. Find coaches that are going to emphasize fundamentals and understand that those levels are DEVELOPMENTAL: it's not Friday night lights for those younger guys. If the kid shows up, is coachable and practices hard then they should be playing consistently, regardless of their talent level. Far too often, we see youth and middle school coaches that think that winning a youth league/middle school championship with their "best 11" is more important than getting the kids reps in games and keeping the enthusiasm for the game going. We had a middle school team a few years ago that hadn't lost a game since they were in 5th grade. But, only 12 of the 30+ kids out for football were seeing much playing time. Most of the kids stuck it out through middle school but we ended up with a freshman class of 16 because the kids didn't care for football anymore. It's good to give all the players lots of reps & playing time -- but that should include those who you know are never going to be athletes much into their teens, & who may be barely able to play the game competently even at the level they're on. yep. more reps more buy in. nothing will sell a kid more on a sport then actually Fing playing it.
|
|
CoachDP
Sophomore Member
Posts: 240
|
Post by CoachDP on Dec 12, 2018 9:20:44 GMT -6
We invited MS coaches to a Pizza Night/Scheme Discussion ("What We Do and Why We Do It") and told them we were an open door for them. They received free admission to our home games and were invited to help film, be in the box, be on the sidelines or assist in whatever way they liked.
|
|
|
Post by 33coach on Dec 12, 2018 11:46:54 GMT -6
We invited MS coaches to a Pizza Night/Scheme Discussion ("What We Do and Why We Do It") and told them we were an open door for them. They received free admission to our home games and were invited to help film, be in the box, be on the sidelines or assist in whatever way they liked. thats the right way to intro it for sure.
|
|