building character, excitement & camaraderie for football

8/14/2019 Building Character, Excitement & Camaraderie for Football

1/27

Building Character,

Excitement &Camaraderie for Football

Jeremy Plaa

Thomas Downey High School

Modesto, CA

[email protected]


2/27

What are the things that buildcharacter in kids?

Academic achievement

Good role-modeling by coaches.

Giving up themselves- school & communityservice.

Knight Readers

Knight Under the Lights

Youth Camp (Pop Warner or Flag)Leadership training

Constant Accountability of Actions

Theme of the Week


3/27

Building Character

Require Friday grade checks during 4th Quarter

Give Pride points for every one turned in.

Require tutoring for two bad grade checks in arow.

Reward Grades & Citizenship at end of 4th Quarter.

Helmet award decals for good grades, beforeseason starts.

Require Game day grade checks in Season.They dont play without a grade check.

Mandatory tutoring for two bad grade checks in arow.

Academic Achievement


4/27

Building Character

Be a good Father & Husband.Show kids that treating women well is not beingwhipped, but being a good leader of a family.

Show kids how important fatherhood is.

Use positive language.Avoid profanity.

Spin the PIE wheel for F-bombs.

Putups or Pushups- Coaches follow the rulealso.

No Tobacco.Chewing tobacco sends the wrong message to the

kids.

Good Role Modeling byCoaches


5/27

Building Character

Pick a needy project on campus and improveit.

Paint a building, pull weeds, pickup garbage.

Make it a one-morning project.

Do a Neighborhood Walk day.Bring lawnmowers, rakes, shovels, garbage bags,etc.

Go door to door and offer free services.Deny all donations.

Give out a football schedule to every person whoanswers the door.

Senior Project

Giving Up Themselves(Service)


6/27

Building Character

Setup a date in the Pre-Season that works for Teamand feeder Elementary Schools.

Split up Varsity team (cheerleaders optional), and

have coaches take a group to each of the elementaryfeeder schools.

Each athlete takes his favorite childrens book, hisfootball helmet, and wears his jersey.

Each athlete is assigned a classroom, grades K-3, andthey read their book, talk about how important school,show and tell their helmet, and take questions.

After classroom sessions, athletes should go out torecess with kids, and play responsibly with the kids.

Pass out fl ers and invite all kids to Kni ht Under the

Knight Readers


7/27

Building Character

Community Outreach ProgramPick a Thursday that works for most elementaryschools, with an event time of 5:30-7:30pm.

Invite kids ages, 5-12 to participate.

Charge kids $1, and give them a t-shirt to wear atthe event.

Solicit one or two sponsors to pay for t-shirts.

Divide the football field into 8 areas.

Put a group of football players in charge of a gamein each area- it does not have to be a footballgame.

Wheelbarrow races, Red Rover, Balloon/EggToss, Field Goal Kick, Target Throw, etc.

Divide kids up by 8 age groups, and put them onthe field.

Knight Under the Lights


8/27

Building Character

Flag Football CampPick a Thursday & Friday night, and Saturdaymorning during the Summer.

Clinic the kids (ages 7-12) on proper passing,

catching, defense on Thursday & Friday.Divide up teams and play 3-4 games on Saturday,so parents can come watch.

Pop Warner CampInvite local pop warner programs to your site, fora 4-6 hour camp.

Teach them proper tackling & blocking skills,defensive pursuit, and teamwork drills.

Youth Camp


9/27

Building Character

Team SenatePick 5 Juniors, 4 Sophomores, and 3 Freshmen inDecember, to serve on a weekly Team Senate.

Meet once a week to discuss the football team,

and give them input.Give them information like Be an 11 or JohnMaxwell materials, to read about good leadership.

Discuss scenarios where leadership is needed.

Also talk about bad leadership.

Leadership Training


10/27

Building Character

PIE Wheel (Personal Improvement Exercise)Create a wheel with 8-10 spaces.

Reserve 1 space as a Get out of Jail Free space.

For any minor (but annoying) items- cursing,forgetting equipment, poor teacher comment- makethem spin.

Weekly DutiesDivide team into 5-6 man teams.

Each week, each team has a duty: water jugs,clean locker room, getting out equipment, stockingmed kid, etc.

Each week the duties switch.

Not completing duties result in PIE wheel.

Constant Accountability ofActions


11/27

Building Character

Each week during the season, a theme isincorporated.

The theme is used as an undercurrent inpractice planning, locker room quotes, andpre-game talks.

Examples of Weekly Themes:Enthusiasm, Confidence, Discipline, Courage,Perseverance, Poise, Respect, Honesty, Initiative,Work Ethic, Loyalty, Responsibility, and Reflection.

Theme of the Week


12/27

What are some things thatgenerate excitement withkids?Pre-season movie trailer

Achieving monthly goals (grades, weights,

speed)Clean & updated facilities

College Passing Tourneys

Weekly Highlight Film

Technology (Website, iPods, DVDs)Media Day & Media Guide

X-Games

Drum Line on Game Days


13/27

Generating Excitement

In Hollywood, directors cut a short movietrailer, a year in advance of a blockbusterrelease.

Use football players, coaches,administrators, and parents, to create a 30-60 second movie trailer; of how you envisionthe best possible ending to the upcomingseason.

The team must believe they can accomplishgreatness, in order to have a chance to do so.

Pre-Season Movie Trailer


14/27


On the last day of every month, we measureour Speed & Explosion- 40 yard dash, Shuttle,Vertical.

Our monthly goal in these three events is to showany type of improvement.

On the first day of every month (usually thenext day), we measure our Strength in Bench,Squat, and Clean.

Our monthly goal is to increase by 10 pounds,every month.

To start the new year (in January), kick offthe importance of Goal-Setting by combiningit with the Goal-A-Thon fundraiser.

Achieving Monthly Goals


15/27


The Team Room should be one of the mostprized locations on campus.

Paint the walls. Paint a mural if possible.

Clean or replace carpet (& vacuum it everyday).

Hang pictures of pass All-League players.

Clean & paint lockers.

Have plenty of seating.

Install speakers around room with an iPod dock.

Practice FieldPick a morning before practice starts, stripe thefield, and divide it into sections so the team cancheck for gopher holes, gopher mounds, etc.

Clean & Updated Facilities


16/27


Take the team to any and all PassingTournaments held at nearby colleges.

It allows their coaches to see your kids.

It allows your kids to see a college campus.

Allow time for kids to walk the campus and see thefootball facilities.

Talk to the team on how near college life is forthem, and what it could mean to them to go to

college (with or without playing football).Gives you a chance to work on pass game timing,defensive base coverages, and defensive pursuit.

College Passing Tourneys


17/27


Every Friday after school, show the team a3-4 minute highlight reel from the previousgame.

Show the film regardless if the previous game wasa win or loss.

Permit different kids to pick the most popular, andnewest music out there (no profanity and no badmessages).

Put it on a big-screen.

Turn the music up!!

Invite other teachers, staff members, etc., towatch.

Create a DVD at the end of the season, that

Weekly Highlight Films


18/27


Team WebsiteCreate a website that showcases the football program.

Dedicate a page for Seniors to be that lists theirheight/weight, GPA, strength/speed.

Send an e-mail out to college recruiting coordinators,with a link to that page- to help get your programrecruited.

iPodsAbout of our team has video iPods.

Allow them to upload the weekly highlight video, tokeep.

Allow them to plug it in before or after practice in theteam room, on weeks that their duty team has lockerroom duty.

Scout DVDs

Using Technology


19/27


Media DayDesignate day after your first scrimmage as MediaDay.

Do Team Pictures in full uniform on this day.

Invite local newspaper to come for photos &interviews.

Invite parents to come and photo their sons and theirfriends.

Take mug shots in Suit & Tie for Media Guide. Makethem smile.

Media GuideProduce a media guide that players parents will keep

forever.

Media Day & Media Guide


20/27


X-Games give the kids 10 minutes a week in practice tohave fun.

Use the duty teams every week, for consistency sake,and come up with games.

The main X-Game is 4 x 4.This is a 4 on 4 game, similar to rugby. It happens ina 5 x 10 yard box, no passing, no snaps.

Developing plays (Trap, Wedge, Power) is

encouraged.Any defensive front can be used.

Play this as a single-elimination tourney.

Losers go to a consolation bracket, using different

games.Consolation ames could be: Towel Fi ht, Kin of the

X-Games (Excitement Games)


21/27


With 5 minutes to go at the end of the schoolday, have a Drum Line snake through campus.

5 minutes is usually enough time to make it

across most campuses.

Have the band drum the school fight song, andallow classes to follow the drum line out to theschool exit.

Drum Line


22/27

What are some things thatbuild camaraderie on a team?

Fun Fundraisers

Senior Dinner

Team KnightTeam Trip (Adventure Training)

Team Sacrifice (Pride Points)


23/27

Building Camaraderie

Fundraisers can and should do more than just makemoney. Some ideas are:

Goal-A-Thon: On March 1, kids make academic, strength, andspeed goals. They take pledges for each goal. At the end of March,

they see if theyve achieved their goals, and they collect theirpledges.

Bowling Tourney: The Team Senate picks teams, and a bowlingtourney is organized. Each athlete is asked to collect $25 in flatpledges in order to bowl.

Team Poster: Get your Seniors to pose in their jerseys, with a

theme, and put your schedule on it. Solicit sponsors to pay forprinting, and keep the sales of the posters. Use Team Senate tocompete for whose team sells the most posters.

Kickoff Dinner: Host a BBQ dinner the night after a scrimmage,pre-sell tickets, and smooze with parents, boosters, and fans.

Taco-Eating Contest: Have kids take pledges. Any food item willwork.

Fun Fundraisers


24/27


Host a Senior Dinner at a coachs house, theSunday night before the first day of practice inAugust.

Treat them well to a good home cooked meal-not all kids have this luxury.

After dinner, have a conversation on what theywould like their Senior season to be.

Talk to all of them about what their future

plans and dreams are, once football season is

Senior Dinner


25/27


Host a night in the Gym, after the first week ofpractice, that will be football-free and bring theteam closer together.

The more kids know about one another, the more

that trust is built, and the more they will not want tolet each other down.

Get together with your coaches, and scripteverything.

Sandwich breakout talks in between eachactivity.

Breakout talks divide the team up into small groups, withone coach leading the discussion. Rotate coaches on eachbreakout.

Activities should be fun and competitive.

Team Knight


26/27


As extra motivation during Summer Workouts, passout brochures on camping.

Examples: How to setup a tent, how to catch a fish, how toclean a fish, how to make a camp fire, how to clean camp,

etc.

Pass out one brochure every week, to educate thekids, and to build excitement for the trip.

At the end of July, take the team camping for acouple of nights. Have each kid bring certain food,fishing, or cooking supplies.

Preach safety first!!

Team Trip (Adventure

Training)


27/27


Pride points are given to measure the amount ofsacrifice in the Off-Season and Pre-Season.

Points are awarded for:

Playing other sports, winter/spring workouts,attending team or individual camps, passing tourneys,passing league, good grades, community service, etc.

Prior to Team Camp, and the Equipment handout, theplayers are given equipment choice prioritized by their

Pride Points to that point- not just being a Senior,returning Junior, etc.

Prior to practice beginning in August, Jersey numbersare assigned priority by Pride Points.

Assign a certain number of Pride Points, just to make the

Team Sacrifice (Pride Points)

building character, excitement & camaraderie for football

Documents