Leadership Development

A leadership academy is a great idea. It provides more opportunities to build the relationships coaches need to help their student-athletes become successful. This academy is a great way to for the upper classman to mentor the underclassman. This gives them another person in the school they can look to for help. This builds a program and not just a team.


The cons for me are, I coach and teach at a small school. Most of our players play 3-4 sports, so meeting times are hard to come by, build a team leadership program is hard, so it might have to be an athletic leadership program. Coaches need to work build this program together.

Example

Leadership programs are important for our students and athletes. Young people today have many different struggles in life that a leadership academy could help with. I struggled with anxiety and depression in my youth, was picked on and bullied, struggled in the classroom, was afraid to talk to people and or ask for help. I still struggle with anxiety and depression today which is one of the reasons that I take online classes. Using a leadership academy when I was in school would have helped me so much. I would hate for any of my students to go through the struggles that harmed me in my life or holds them back from their true potential. Giving students and athletes the opportunity to learn leadership skills will help them with the struggles I had, and teach them to be true leaders on and off of the field. When I look at my football players I put myself in their shoes and ask myself how would I feel in their place. We do not have a leadership academy but if I was to create one it would consist of mentoring, leadership, classroom tutoring, games, life skills, volunteer counselors and outside motivational speakers, big brothers, big sisters, and a handbook made up by myself for them to track every thing that they do to reflect on. I would love to give all of my athletes Bible's but we all know that I cannot do that so I refer them to the FCA campus coordinator. Depending on what the schedule was for football I would like to meet with my athletes on Monday, Wednesday, Friday mornings with a different plan each day for the leadership academy. During the off-season I would like to meet with them in the afternoons everyday for 30 minutes with a different activity planned. When it is summer the plan would be to have the leadership academy during strength and conditioning camp before or after. The world is tough and it is only getting harder for our youth so implementing programs that will teach life skills will better their chances once the real world jumps up and surprises them.

Example

A leadership program is a great way for players to meet with each other off of the field. It is a chance to build camaraderie, and to interact with each other in a non football, non social situation. A leadership program allows for players to grow into a leadership role, and depending on how a program is set up, allows for seniors to help guide the growth of the following years team.



There are plenty of pros with a leadership program: builds leaders, allows for players to learn about the program in a setting that does not involve just football, challenges their thinking and what they want to gain from the program, and teaches athletes how to become better: teammates, friends, students, and members of a community.



With pros there are always cons: unfortunately, not everyone will take such a program seriously. Here we learn who is truly committed to the vision of the program, and who is there to joke around. Not everyone is able to attend such programs as there are more things going on then just football. I understand the commitment to a team; however, I believe high school student-athletes should not have to shirk any other responsibilities for football.



If I were to implement a leadership program, I would do my best to design it around times that most of the team will be available, and not very often. I would have the team meet every 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month at lunch time. At the end of the season, the team (excluding seniors) will vote on next years captains and those selected will lead the program during that time (Jan-May).



The program would allow for discussions and activities for themes chosen by the coaching staff, reflecting the core values and philosophy of the program. This allows for the team to fully grasp the vision the coaches have for the team.

Example

I think a leadership program is very important if you want to have a successful, long lasting program. Great natural high school leaders do not come around all that often, but if you give students he tools and teach them to understand the important of leadership through a program you will consistently have strong leaders on your team.


My leadership program would be broken down into grade levels.


Freshman

focus on understanding the importance of leadership.

What does it look like?

What it does not look like?

I think that is one of the most important questions students must understand

Sophomore

What type of leader am I / do I want to be?

Start looking at the different type of leaders

Guest speakers come to talk to the players

Juniors

What expectations do I have for my senior year?

What am I going to do to get us there?

Take the necessary step to help lead the team to our end goal.

Seniors

Season is over.... what now?

How do I continue on the path of becoming a strong leader? in the school? in the community? etc.

Look for leadership opportunities to help build a strong resume.

Installation:


Reach group will meet every other week during lunch. The goal is to meet 10 times before Spring ball officially starts. Coaches will select the players based on their ability (if they play another sport) and their potential as a leader. The players skill level will not have an impact on whether or not they will be in the leadership academy.


Freshman will meet on Mondays


Sophomore will meet on Tuesdays


Juniors on Wednesday


Seniors on Thursdays

Carlos 

Developing and implementing a leadership academy is the cornerstone of transformational coaching. The adage “sports teach character” has been proven wrong time and time again. The negative influence of bad coaches can have damaging effects on athletes that take years to undo. My high school coach was a great motivator, strategist, and leader, but I am still learning to shed some of the harmful methods he employed when coaching. I did not like the coach I was becoming because it was built on many negative approaches to motivation. I love the man, and I still pray for his salvation, but he could have done more to shape us into caring, humble, and sacrificial young men. We worshipped him, but it was football and nothing more.



The world needs strong leadership more than ever. Coaches have a unique opportunity to develop young men into strong men and fathers who can lead. The lack of fathers and positive male figures in the home is detrimental to young men. Single mothers cannot have the same impact a loving, sacrificial, and selfless coach can have on their son. Even the success story of a great football player like Charles Woodson, raised by his mother, is only the exception, not the rule. For every Charles Woodson, there are a hundred boys whose lives ended up in jail or dead because of the lack of a strong male figure. If we want a generation of men with values, morals, and integrity, then these principles must be lived out by positive male figures. There are only pros to developing a leadership academy within the football program. The only cons could be pushback from feminists or organizations that are anti-family and anti-God. Coaches should be willing to fight these battles because the future of our society depends on them.

The most successful coaches share some common characteristics. Here are the top six keys to be a successful coach. Every coach can benefit from focusing on these important qualities. Success in teaching, as in most areas of life, depends almost entirely on your attitude and your approach.


1. Sense of Humor

A sense of humor can help you become a successful coach. Your sense of humor can relieve tense classroom and on the field situations before they become disruptions. A sense of humor will also make coaching more enjoyable for your student athletes and possibly make athletes look forward to attending and paying attention. Most importantly, a sense of humor will allow you to see the joy and the positive as a difference maker in the lives of those athletes you have been entrusted to coach.


2. A Positive Attitude

A positive attitude is a great asset in life. You will be thrown many curve balls in life and especially in the coaching profession. A positive attitude and on the field and in life will help you cope with these in the best way. For example, a coach with the right attitude would try to focus on getting through the first day without negatively impacting your athletes.


3. High Expectations

An effective coach must have high expectations. You should strive to raise the bar for your athletes both on the field and classroom. If you expect less effort you will receive less effort. You should work on an attitude that says that you know athletes can achieve to your level of expectations, thereby giving them a sense of confidence too. This is not to say that you should create unrealistic expectations. However, your expectations will be one of the key factors in helping student / athletes learn and achieve.

4. Consistency

In order to create a positive learning environment your athletes should know what to expect from you each day. You need to be consistent. This will create a safe learning environment for your athletes, and they will be more likely to succeed. It is amazing how athletes can adapt to coaches throughout practice that range from strict to easy. However, they will dislike an environment in which the rules are constantly changing.


5. Fairness

Many people confuse fairness and consistency. A consistent coach is the same person from day to day. A fair coach treats athletes equally in the same situation. For example, athletes complain of unfairness when a coach treats one athlete or group of athletes differently. It would be terribly unfair to go easier on a starter then on backup football players. As a coach athletes pick up on this so quickly, so be careful of being labeled unfair.


6. Flexibility

One of the tenets of coaching should be that everything is in a constant state of change. Interruptions and disruptions are the norm and very few days are 'typical'. Therefore, a flexible attitude is important not only for your stress level but also for your athletes who expect you to be in charge and take control of any situation.



As a coach you must believe that if you have a systematic way to present your expectations then, your players have a systematic way to learn. I will always to strive to raise the bar for my athletes I will never underestimate an athlete’s ability to learn, if you expect less effort you will receive less effort. You should work on an attitude that says that your athletes can achieve to your level of expectations, thereby giving them a sense of confidence too. This is not to say that you should create unrealistic expectations. However, your expectations will be one of the key factors in helping your athletes learn and achieve.

In order to create a positive learning environment your athletes should know what to expect from you each day as their coach. You need to be consistent. This will create a learning environment for your athletes, and they will be more likely to succeed. It is amazing how athletes can adapt to their coach throughout the day that range from strict to easy. However, they will dislike an environment in which the rules are constantly changing.