CAP II CLIPBOARD Building a team
ALL TOGETHER NOW: The 2011 U.S. Women’s Junior National Team bonded during their international travels. (Photo: FIVB)
When players and coaches are on the same page, it’s a best seller By Robert Cox • Head Coach, NVVA, Bristow, VA
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ost of us started coaching for some personal reason. Maybe it was to pass on knowledge, perhaps it was the thrill of competition, to grow the sport in your area, or hopefully to inspire, encourage, and make a difference in the lives of young athletes. Whatever the reasons that got you started, now the real task begins of teaching, training and leading this group of individual players and forming them into a cohesive unit with their own distinctive identity and charac- ter – the task of building a team. As coaches, we all know the excitement at the beginning of the season. From the anticipation before tryouts wondering who will come out this season, who has been working hard in the off season to seeing the available talent at tryouts, and making some key decisions that will begin the formation of your team. This article will take a different perspective on building and leading your next
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team and help you develop a principle-based relationship with your players that will help to navigate issues during the season. There are three major bases of relation- ships between players and coaches: fear- based, convenience-based and principle- based. With a fear-based relationship, the coach has instilled in the players an idea that either something negative will happen to them or something good will be taken away if they do not perform a skill correctly or obey a set of rules. These consequences could be as simple as performing push-ups for improper passing technique or running sprints for being late to practice. The type of relationship is usually the easiest to form with players and normally results in quick results. It is the “do it now, or else” style of coaching, and in my experience, players will only respond to this type coach for a limited amount of time. Convenience-based relationships often in-
volve an exchange of deeds and services. The players have something that the coach needs such as technical expertise, a solid serve, high energy on the court or great defensive coverage. The coach has something the player needs like the camaraderie of being on a team, loyalty or playing time. Both the play- ers and the coach benefi t from the relationship and many times are happy with the outcome. This type of relationship is probably the most common association formed between current coaches and players. This is the “let’s make a deal” relationship many people are very comfortable with. Finally, principle-based relationships are the highest level on this continuum. Players follow the coach’s instructions out of trust, out of a belief in the coach and in what he or she is doing. Since the coach is trusted, the players willingly do what the coach wants. This is not mindless servitude, nor blind faith;
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