One of the biggest hurdles in coaches getting their programs from good to great is getting consistent buy-in from their players in their off season program. In states/schools where athletic periods are a part and parcel of the football program, this is probably not as big of a concern. But, in places that rely on a “coalition of the willing” to get broad based participation in your off season workouts, it is essential that you find ways to motivate your athletes to put the time in that is necessary to be elite.
I have taken the time to look at several different systems for off season motivation. Some are points systems that provide added incentives and some merely hold players accountable by creating conditioning tests for players who don’t meet the required participation in the summer. All of these systems have been used by good coaches in good programs so to decide what will work for your program you will need to evaluate what fits your players/culture as well as your philosophy.
Point Systems
Using a point system based incentive program is a great way for those of us who don’t have athletic period to incentivise the off season behavior of our players. The concept is to look at all of the things you’d like your players to be doing in the off season and place a point value on each one of those. My suggestion is for you to go through your “MVP” process and then carefully define the behaviors that exemplify your core principles. If “selfless” is a core principle of your program, you should make sure to find a way to incentivise that in your point system.
The first example I’ll share is by Jeremy Plaa at Thomas Downey HS in Modesto, California effectively removes seniority from the football program. In his system, everything is earned from the jersey number that a player wears to who eats first at team meals is determined by a player’s “Pride Points.” Coach Plaa also factors in cuts for the varsity and JV programs using Pride Points. While I think that is a really effective motivator, it may not be consistent with your district’s or state governing body’s policies regarding cuts.
Here is a similar program that I received an email about recently from Thad Wells from Blacksburg High School in Virginia.
https://youtu.be/i46s_RpkwhY
You may decide that there are reasons to maintain certain aspects of seniority in your program. That said, I think you can use a point system to provide incentives that will motivate your players in a positive way. One issue with these point systems is that you have to have a way to accurately record and share athlete’s progress. If you aren’t good at this sort of thing and you don’t have coaches who are, you may want to look at ways to streamline the process.
The Winner’s Circle
Clovis High School’s wrestling program has achieved unprecedented success over the past decade as they have increased their state championship total to 13 which is by far the most in California state history. When you consider that there is only one division in California, to win the state title is an unbelievable feat. One important aspect of their program is what they call their “Winner’s Circle.” The basic idea of the program is that they will take a one month break after the season is over and then three days a week they will lift weights in the evening and two days a week they will wrestle. If a wrestler drops below 80% attendance over a period of time, they are kicked out of the “winners circle.”
Wrestlers can still be on the team the following season if they don’t participate in the program and some state placers have been kicked out of the winner’s circle for lack of attendance. The first year the Tirapelles started this off season program, they thought they would have maybe five or seven wrestlers do it. The first year they had 25. This after struggling in the past to get consistent attendance in their off season program.
When I had a chance to bring in the Clovis staff to do a camp for me a few years ago, they said they had around 50 kids completing the program. Besides getting better, athletes that complete the program get a singlet with their name on it. If you see a Clovis wrestler without his name on his singlet, he likely has not completed the Winner’s Circle program.
Men of Summer Program
A similar program to the Winner’s Circle but for football is Coach Bob Christmas‘ Men of Summer program. In the program, kids are given a break after the school year lets out. They then have to make a set number of workouts over the course of the summer in order to complete the program. There is no penalty for not completing the program such as a conditioning test or loss of seniority but Coach Christmas says that maybe only 5 or so players in the program don’t complete it each year. The main incentives for the program are that the players who meet the standard have their picture on the schedule poster, receive a t-shirt recognizing their achievement and a barbecue/rafting trip at the completion of the program.
As you are setting up your off season calendar, I think it is important to at the very least find ways to measure and track your athletes’ performance even if your players are already buying in without extrinsic rewards. I plan on writing another post on the value of measuring athletes’ performance. It is Pillar #4 on Brian Cain’s 12 Pillars of Peak Performance and I think a very important aspect of program development.