By Dr. Thomas Brittain
Thomas Brittain, EdD, is Assistant Principal for Activities at Dunedin High School in Pinellas County, Fla. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Education at Argosy University in Tampa. He can be reached at: Thomas_Brittain@places.pcsb.org.
Athletic Management, 18.6, October/November 2006, http://www.momentummedia.com/articles/am/am1806/winningthemover.htm
Imagine this scenario: You work in one of the largest school districts in the country, where all 16 high schools are within five miles of a beach. All the high school students are dismissed at 1:35 p.m., prime time to enjoy the beautiful surroundings. Oh, and did I mention that two of the top-10 beaches in the country are located in your district, one in your high school’s backyard?
This is the dilemma we face at Pinellas County (Fla.) Schools, and more specifically at Dunedin High School, located on a peninsula just west of Tampa Bay. Competing with the lure of sand and sun, we often struggle to get students to come out for our athletic teams.
As the Assistant Principal for Activities at Dunedin, I know that participation in extracurricular activities enhances a student’s high school experience. In a recent study I conducted, I found that our high school student-athletes were more academically successful than our non-athletes. The biggest difference came when athletes were in season.
Our superintendent, Dr. Clayton Wilcox, understands this dynamic, and has challenged us to increase our participation rate. “One of the greatest predictors of success in Pinellas County Schools is participation in athletics,” he says. “We find that our student-athletes come to understand hard work, the value of budgeting their time, and perhaps most importantly, relationship building. They learn that working together leads to accomplishment.”
In response, I decided to gather data from the coaches in our district to find the best ways to encourage athletic participation. I sent over 300 surveys to all the coaches in our district, and used telephone interviews as well.
When I looked at the responses, I was able to identify three principle approaches that were successfully drawing students into athletic programs in our area. In this article, I’ll outline each of them.
PUBLICIZE THE TEAM
Many coaches don’t really know how to make their programs attractive, or even think it is part of their job. But if students don’t know what being on a sports team means, how can we fault them for not coming out? In our survey, coaches said that doing a little promotional work is a great way to increase participation. It’s not that coaches need to become experts in marketing—they just need to spend some time letting people know what their program is all about.
The first strategy they suggest is simply to advertise. Coaches should use all the resources their school has to offer, such as morning announcements, posters, and newsletters. Some coaches also use the city’s various public news services to convey information about their sports and upcoming tryouts.
The most successful programs have created Web sites for information and recognition. Even if the coach’s knowledge of technology is limited, students and parents may be willing to take on this kind of project. Make sure such a Web site recognizes all participants by listing names, and that it includes some photos. During school announcements, the coach can direct students to the site for more information about the team. If students see a dynamic, interesting program where players receive recognition and appear to be enjoying the activity, they will be more interested in joining.
Coaches can also use current student-athletes to promote their sport—they are often the best advocates for a program because they are trusted by their peers. For example, at freshman orientation or back-to-school night, a coach can have veteran athletes serve as greeters and hand out programs.
Another good idea is to have returning athletes wear T-shirts during the school day that advertise their sport. High school students are social creatures—if they see similarly clad students hanging out together, they will want to join in.
One coach has developed an informal “recruit a friend” program on his team. Every returning letterman is encouraged to recruit an underclassman to join the squad. The coach awards a special T-shirt to all the upperclassmen who succeed in convincing a new student-athlete to participate.
At the same time, a coach’s visibility is important. Attending and supporting other sports programs speaks volumes to students. Doing lunchroom duty or hanging around gathering spots will lead to one-on-one interaction with students. Some students must be coaxed into finding out what they have been missing. Coaches should remember that everyone wants to feel needed.
Many times, selling a program to parents is the key. Some coaches send letters to parents, explaining the benefits their child will experience by joining a team.
Very successful coaches start the publicity process early by organizing a clinic for their sport that interested middle school students can attend. This can be done at freshman orientation or a curriculum fair. Some coaches also invite middle school coaches and athletes to attend a high school game and have a designated area for them to sit and be recognized. Some coaches mentioned the importance of supplementing these types of activities with lunchtime informational meetings, which are especially helpful for students who rely on bus transportation and cannot attend a clinic or game after school.
KEEPING IT POSITIVE
Today’s high school student has lots of options for entertainment and socializing (even if they don’t live next to a beach). In reality, we need to compete with these other options to attract new student-athletes and keep our current ones. Coaches in our survey said the best way to do this is to make the sport a positive experience. When the season is over, students need to feel they’ve reaped benefits from the hard work they put in.
One way coaches accomplish this is by planning activities that help form bonds between athletes, such as cook-outs or pizza parties. For many students, the social aspect of being on a team is the key factor in their decision to participate.
A similar idea is to have coaches develop a mentoring program between upper-level athletes and incoming athletes. When a freshman develops a friendship with an upperclassman, it can make them feel socially secure on the team and want to stay with the program.
Also important is for coaches to bring out the fun of competition and learning a new skill. When games are stressful, many students are turned off from the experience—today’s students have enough stress in their lives! Yes, part of sports is to teach student-athletes to compete and deal with pressure situations. But coaches have found they can appeal to kids by downplaying wins and losses and promoting the game as simply an exciting chance to test skills.
Today’s student also wants competition to include trips out of town. The fun of competing means experiencing something new and traveling with teammates overnight. A tournament or exciting trip also gives them another way to socialize and bond as a team.
Coaches have also found the overall atmosphere of the team is important. It is imperative to develop feelings of trust and respect, and coaches can do this by fostering a give-and-take relationship—being quick to listen and slow to speak. Coaches should make expectations clear and be consistent in enforcing team rules. They should also know to control their emotions at all times.
Along the same lines, many coaches reported that positive reinforcement is an essential part of their program. High school students receive plenty of negative messages from social interaction, their academic work, and even popular culture. Athletes often tune out negative comments and eventually the speaker if the comments continue.
Another key: Have coaches develop a reputation for quality. Even if the equipment or uniforms are not new, they should always be as presentable as possible. Nothing is worse than handing a dirty uniform to a student-athlete and explaining that their parents will need to clean it. Challenge your coaches to do better—athletes will recognize this and respond to it.
A positive program also means that the athletes feel recognized by the adults in their lives. One idea coaches have success with is organizing a teacher and/or parent appreciation night. Each athlete simply asks a teacher or parent to wear their away uniform at a home athletic event. This way, an important adult in the student-athlete’s life can visibly support the student’s participation.
Another great suggestion is for coaches to spend extra time with the struggling athletes. These are the ones who often get the least attention, but they may need a coach’s help the most. And they might be the ones to spread good or bad messages to other students about joining next year.
Finally, a positive program has a meaningful ending. One coach said the key to increasing participation is a great end-of-season banquet. The trick is to establish as many forms of meaningful recognition as possible without watering down the intent of the awards. Most coaches try to recognize the accomplishments of long-tenured athletes, so the underclassmen see that persistence is appreciated and valued.
During graduation exercises at our school, we have all the seniors who lettered in a sport wear a victory medallion so they stand out among the graduates. Since honor societies use special cords and tassels to recognize outstanding academic performance, we feel justified in doing this for outstanding athletic performance. It’s one final way to make the sport experience special for our departing athletes, and it helps underclassmen see the pride that can be associated with participating in athletics.
COMMUNICATE YEAR-ROUND
Even after a coach has publicized his or her program and made the season a positive one, there is further work to be done to ensure that current athletes come back again next year. The key here is to have excellent communication with both athletes and parents year-round.
One great way coaches do this is through an off-season conditioning program. Other ideas include get-togethers throughout the year, encouraging athletes to attend summer sports camps, and a series of preseason meetings leading up to the start of the season. It’s important for teams to stay in touch—if your coaches believe that off-season means a time to do nothing, athletes will too.
Setting goals at the end of the season is another way for your coaches to get athletes to come back. With individual and team goals to think about, they will have concrete reasons for returning. Some coaches publicize their goals in the community, which can make athletes feel ownership of them. (When you state a goal in public, it’s hard to give up on it!)
Of course, it’s also important for parents to remain in the loop. Coaches should always stress to parents that their child has chosen a positive activity, and that participation tends to improve academics. Coaches should respond to parents' questions quickly and always with a positive tone.
One final idea in this area is for coaches to communicate with the alumni of their program and encourage them to visit. When a high school student-athlete sees a former athlete who is now a young adult express appreciation to a coach, it makes a big impression. Alumni are also a good resource for fundraising and enlisting others to get involved, which ultimately helps all aspects of a program.
GOOD COACHING
Many of the above suggestions may sound like ideas for simply being a good coach. That’s because, in essence, they are. But if you can convince your coaches to incorporate these ideas to get bigger tryout numbers (rather than just a better evaluation), then it is a strategy worth trying.
If some of the points seem like too much work for one coach, encourage coaches of different sports to partner. Out-of-season get-togethers can include two teams, or even all the teams for one particular season. Possibly one coach for each season can be responsible for getting tryout announcements to community bulletin boards. And of course, coaches can encourage multi-sport participation, too.
Whatever activities you compete with for athletes’ time in your community, be sure to understand them and know how to counter. That’s why I’m on my way to the beach right now. Surf’s up.
Sidebar: Off the Beach
One coach at Dunedin High School who has greatly improved participation in his sport is Head Wrestling Coach Marc Allison. Before he was hired, the program had few, if any, junior varsity wrestlers and a varsity program with many empty weight classes. Now, after three years of Allison's leadership, the program has full varsity and junior varsity teams with athletes competing for starting positions.
Allison attributes much of his success to a group of assistant coaches who are willing to put in long hours, some working as volunteers. He’s also put into place these ideas:
• He allows flexibility in workout schedules to accommodate student needs.
• Coaches talk to students between classes, during lunch, and on their way to the school bus to encourage them to sign up.
• The wrestling team has joined with the local recreation center to begin a youth program. Many of the volunteer assistant coaches in this program are our high school wrestlers.
• Each summer the team goes on a value-added summer wrestling camp trip, which provides instruction in the sport and cultural events, such as visiting a museum.