One of the most important – yet often devalued and/or overlooked – opportunities for getting the season off to a great start is the pre-season team building meeting. Pre-season meetings can be a terrific way for you to introduce yourself, talk about your coaching philosophies, discuss team policies and rules, and answer any questions parents or kids may have about the upcoming season. Coaches who take time out to conduct a pre-season meeting often find that it is well worth their time to do so. This meeting can lead to many great things, including the development of positive interpersonal relationships with parents and student athletes, early excitement for the upcoming season, improved team chemistry, and the foundation from which to build a winning program.Unfortunately, not all coaches think pre-season meetings are worthwhile, and some elect not to have one. In other situations, coaches feel pressured by their AD to have a pre-season meeting and end up whipping something together at the last minute (and go into the meeting ill-prepared and with a negative attitude). In both of these examples a golden opportunity is missed, as many potential problems that could have been addressed will likely carry into the season (when they could have been taken care of at the pre-season meeting).Pre-season meetings can make all the difference when it comes to commonly expected problems in interscholastic sports, including playing time, cuts, funding issues, schedule conflicts, and appropriate protocols for communication and conflict resolution. With a responsibly run pre-season meeting, you can expect far fewer issues to arise with the aforementioned problems; without a pre-season meeting (or one that was quickly put together with not much forethought) you can bet you will experience more problems throughout the season. The bottom line is that pre-season meetings, when structured and run responsibly, help everyone and lead to a winning program.Listed below are ten tips for you to consider as you put together your pre-season meeting:> If you have never run a pre-season meeting before, or if you held one in the past that didn’t go so well, stay positive and keep in mind the importance of a pre-season meeting. While there is no right or wrong way to conduct one, think of the major 4-5 things you want to have happen and then work backwards from those objectives. For example, if a parent wants to communicate with you, how should he or she do so? Do you prefer calls to your office or cell phone? Or do you prefer email? Some additional topics you may want to discuss might include your philosophy on playing time, your expectations for fan behavior, and guidelines around team fund raising.> Develop handouts that include everything you cover at the pre-season meeting (never assume attendees will remember everything you say). If you have a team website be sure to upload any forms and handouts distributed at the pre-season meeting so that people who could not attend the meting can still stay up to date on team news.> Keep the mood upbeat and positive, and never punitive! When parents arrive at the meeting your attitude and mood state will set the tempo and will make all the difference, not only in the meeting, but in the entire season as well. On the other hand, if it’s obvious you are being forced to have the meeting you can reasonably expect your audience will pick up on this, likely resulting in a negative overall experience for everyone.> A well run pre-season meeting should be succinct and take no more than an hour.> Try to include food (some local vendors might be willing to help out and offer free food in exchange for advertising), and invite a former student athlete, if one is available, to say a few words to the group. People always enjoy going to meetings where food is available, and having a guest speaker say a few words can be a nice break in the evening.> Always allow time for questions, and be respectful toward all of them, even the ones that you think should be common sense.> It’s also a nice touch to talk a little about yourself, your previous athletic experiences, and how you arrived to be a coach at the school.> Go over your performance evaluation rubric so that everyone knows the kinds of things you evaluate when deciding on cuts (if you have to make them) and playing time. Rather than stating a general comment like “The best kids will play,” try to offer more insightful comments that allow attendees to be clear about what you value as a coach (i.e. “I really look for kids who emphasize defense”).> Other important topics to discuss may include how volunteers can help the program, healthy training methods (and your stance on performance enhancing supplements), and any additional costs that parents may need to subsidize.> Talk with your assistant coaches about any other things that they feel are important to be covered during the meeting, and consider giving them a chance to speak at the meeting as well. If nothing else, your assistants can briefly tell about their previous experiences as a player and coach, and what they would like to accomplish for the upcoming seasonPre-season meetings should be a great experience for everyone, so think about the tips provided in this article and look for creative ways to get everyone excited about the upcoming season. Your preparation, organization, and positive attitude at the pre-season meeting will be the first step toward a successful season – good luck!Dr. Chris Stankovich is a sport psychology consultant and an advocate for positive youth sport development. For more information on educational products, seminars, or professional consultation please visit
www.drstankovich.com or email information@drstankovich.com
