A Coach's Diary

Set your athletes (and their families) up for success with a great and effective onboarding experience. Onboarding is an HR term referring to the process of introducing a newly hired employee into the organization (BambooHR). In sports, onboarding would be the first practice of a new season or when you have a new team member joining the team. Onboarding can set the tone for a new athlete's experience and can impact how well they perform and how long they decide to stay. Harvard reports that a quality onboarding experience creates 54% greater new hire productivity (Kierstead). How does this affect how we coach and run our teams? If we create a positive experience when new athletes join or when the new season starts, we can set our athletes up for success and for a great experience. Use the onboarding process to clearly define roles, responsibilities, and expectations for your athletes and their families. Clearly define team goals and individual expectations. Help your athletes and t...

A connected team is a more committed team. The more connected you are to each other, and the more committed you are to each other, the more you will fight for each other and not with each other. There is a great quote that says, "Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard." There is another great quote that says, "Teams beat talent when talent isn't a team." One thing that every coach and every athlete, especially the leaders of the team, can do is work hard to connect with their teammates. The best teams are connected and work together. The best teams become a family. I often say that you have to catch the fish before you can clean it. This means that you have to connect with and build relationships with your teammates before you can lead them. Connection doesn't happen by accident. You have to connect on purpose. You have to invest in relationships and team building, and you have to invest in it every day. Think about how you talk to your tea...