Player rules and policies

We use as few rules as possible as well.

1. Do what you are asked

2. Use common sense

3. Act like a gentleman in and out of the classroom.

They are simple and everyone can remember them. Also, when they screw up, you can usually fit the crime to one of the rules.

However, in this day and age it is still not enough.... at least for the administration. So we created a Team Council that consists of 3 seniors, 2 juniors, 2 sophomores and 2 freshman. They decide what is appropriate behavior for the team and what the guidelines for punishment will be. We call it our Code of Conduct. You will be surprised at the standards they set. They will be probably harder on their own teammates than you might be.

I tell the principal that we are teaching leadership and accountability within our team. If there is a violation, the team council meets with the offender privately and discusses the charges. They make a recommendation to the coach and the coach makes a final decision. The best part about it is that the coach isn't the bad guy anymore. It is the team making a statement to the individual. If they want, they can appeal it to the Athletic Director and then to the principal.

Each Spring, I sit down with the team and they elect the team council. Each class elects two representatives except the seniors and they elect three representatives. I tell them to vote for a representation of the team. good and not so good members. This way, they can't say it was a set-up from the start. Once the members are selected, we all sit down and discuss if there were any areas of concern last year that need to be addressed. If so, I ask them what we can do to fix it for this coming season. At that point, I let them start a draft of the guidelines for the upcoming season. I usually give them what the previous year's team council had in place and let them use that as a start or they can scrap it and make their own. It really doesn't matter.

Once it is complete, I take it to the athletic director to get his approval and then to the principal for his approval. This is important. You want to make sure from the top down that they are going to back you. If there need to be changes, then make them at this time. Once it is finalized, type it up and send it out to the parents. Ideally, you will have your signature, the AD's signature and the principal's signature on teh document so they know you mean business and that everyone in the school is aware of what is taking place.

We have had fewer rule violations since the implementation of the Team Council. The principal loves it because we are teaching leadership and letting the kids handle problems as they arise. It creates a win-win situation for the school and the coach and the kids.

Coach:

I LOVE the idea of the team council. I was wondering, how would you establish rules as a new head coach using this proceedure? Would you let the council determine all the new rules, or help them decide? Thanks

Coachtt