TO BUILD TOGETHERNESS and a championship attitude, our football program adopted the slogan, “We are one family with one destiny.” Successful programs build and maintain a sense of togetherness — this is the driving force that makes them so successful.
Our coaching staff consistently emphasizes to our players that we’re all in this together and that we must work together to achieve our goals. Everyone must somehow and in some way contribute to the success of the program.
For this to happen, we need to be clear about how each individual can contribute. This means the coaching staff must communicate the idea that each player has the potential to contribute something special to our football program and is valued as both a team and family member by all people within the football organization. This type of atmosphere makes it rewarding for athletes of all skill levels. We remind students that they have a commitment to the team, and in return, the football program has a commitment to the player. It’s a two-way street.
Building Commitment, Team Unity
Creating a “Football Family” atmosphere helps develop a strong commitment to the program from everyone involved. This approach puts the responsibility on the players and their relationships among everyone on the team to build team unity. It also encourages growth for the players within the program. The players see that it’s a desire to share that creates a productive family, not an attitude of control or authority.
This atmosphere tells a player that when he joins this “Football Family,” he is agreeing to adopt family values. It’s a clear mission statement that requires making sacrifices, working hard and demonstrating self-discipline. Players also learn that the benefits from this work are extremely rewarding. Each player plays a vital role in team accomplishments. More importantly, players find constant support when they are on a team that values the family concept.
Team-Building Exercises
Being part of a “Football Family” provides the experience to search for individual excellence. To build this sense of family, it requires innovative ways to bring your players — and even parents — together.
Our program organizes events throughout the course of the football season that emphasize the family concept. A good football program has its traditional summer practices, conditioning sessions, preseason and weekly work schedules but you need to do other, more unorthodox team-building exercises to generate an atmosphere of family and togetherness within your football team.
The following are some of those extracurricular events that help build a bond of family and cohesion throughout our entire program.
1 Bowling Night. During the last week of each school year, our team has a night out at a local bowling lane and spends the night bowling together. Parents are welcome to attend.
2 Mini Summer Camps. We host two summer camps for our players. The camps are non-padded practices during the evening. Additionally, we host a series of camps for middle school athletes — our players participate in these camps and serve as “junior counselors.”
3 Preseason Barbecue. Prior to the opening of camp, our captains’ parents host a team barbecue. This event serves as an informal get-together for our players before the challenging preseason officially begins.
4 “Chalk-Talk” For Players’ Moms. Each season, on the eve of preseason practices, I host a football “Chalk Talk” for all the players’ moms. This is a seminar on the game of football. I provide handouts for the moms that cover the general concepts of the game of football. I also cover some serious topics such as safety issues, practice habits and weightlifting routines, and answer their questions.
5 Hoagie Day. During the first week of two-a-day practice sessions of preseason, we host “Hoagie Day.” This is a team lunch for players, coaches and staff personnel. We provide everybody hoagies, drinks and chips. It’s as easy to do as it sounds — we simply sit down as a team and break bread together. You’d be amazed at the level of team bonding that occurs just by hosting this type of pleasant event.
6 Team Lunch Off Campus. On the last day of two-a-days, we schedule a team lunch off campus. We load up two to three school buses, go to a local buffet restaurant and have lunch together as a team. This is a great reward for working hard during those hot two-a-day practice sessions. It signals the end of a challenging time and brings the team closer together.
7 Iron Man Competition. This is a team competition event. For this competition, there are three events — the tire flip, the heavy bag carry and the obstacle course. Players compete in all three events within their grade level. We total their times and provide the winning players with “Iron Man Certificates” at our team banquet at the end of our season.
8 Linemen Pass-And-Punt Competition. At the end of our last two-a-day practice session of the preseason, our starting five offensive linemen compete in this event. Each lineman has one opportunity to do a pass and punt. We measure each throw and punt and then total their distances. The rest of the team members select who they believe will win the competition. If you selected a lineman who wins, then you are excused from the final set of “gassers” (sprints). If your selection finishes second, then you have two gassers, third place means three gassers, etc.
9 Family Luncheon. Directly following our home scrimmage, we have a team luncheon in our campus dining room facility. Our team’s Parent Association organizes this event. All players, parents, coaches, staff members, alumni, spouses of coaches and administrators are invited to attend. At the end of the meal, I present a general outlook and “state-of-the-team address” for the coming year. I also introduce our coaches and staff to the audience and make other announcements and reminders. Following my speech, a member of the parents our Parents Association speaks to the group regarding parental involvement for our seasonal events. By actively involving the players’ parents in this manner, we are stressing and enhancing the atmosphere of the “Football Family.”
10 Team Game Meals. We have at least two game meals as a team. When we have a night game, we have a traditional family dinner for coaches and players. We’ll also have at least one team breakfast before a day game played on a Saturday afternoon.
11 Movie Night. During the middle of the season, to break the monotony of routine, we select a movie for the entire team to attend (players and coaches). The team captains select the movie, place and time. We all meet at the theater and enjoy watching the movie together as a team.
12 Linemen Dinner. The offensive line and offensive line coach go out together for a dinner. We generally do this event near the end of the year. The dinner forms a special bond among this hard-working group of players who often do not get the credit or accolades that they deserve.
13 Senior Day. We do this event at our last home game of the year. Prior to kickoff, we introduce each senior. When we introduce each senior, the announcer presents a summary of that player’s career statistics.
Directly following the introduction, each senior presents a rose to his mom or closest female relative and we take photos of them together on the field. After the ceremony, we quickly gather everyone together and take a group photo of all the seniors and their relatives. This has been a well-received event and is a great way to honor the seniors for all their hard work and dedication to the program. It’s also a creative outlet to honor all the seniors’ moms.
14 “Passing-Of-The-Shoes” Ceremony. We hold this event two nights prior to our last game of the year, which is always played against our biggest rival. Prior to the event, each senior selects an underclassman to represent him. The selected underclassman takes the seniors’ game shoes, cleans them and adds some sort of personal touch for the seniors’ last game. This takes place prior to the Passing-Of The-Shoe Ceremony.
The actual ceremony takes place after a practice during the last week of the year. After practice, the team goes to our school’s dining room for a casual dinner. We invite alumni, administrators and all the seniors’ fathers to attend. After dinner, I give a brief speech in which I introduce each senior and present him with his last helmet decals to wear during his final game. After my presentation, I introduce the selected underclassmen. Each selected underclassman gives a speech about his designated senior and returns the freshly cleaned shoes to his senior. The speeches range from light-hearted hysteria to a few tears and emotional moments. At the end, I show our team’s highlight tape for that season. This event serves as a great team motivator and is also a way to pay special tribute to our seniors and their dads.
The idea for this event can be traced back to something that used to be done during the old days of college football, so the event has a lot of football history and tradition.
15 Seniors’ “Last Hits.” At the conclusion of the last practice of the year, all the players line up to form a gauntlet. At the end of the gauntlet is our two-man sled. All the seniors line up in pairs at the beginning of the gauntlet. One of the coaches at the front of the gauntlet announces the seniors, and as a pair, they sprint through the gauntlet to make their final hit on the sled. Players forming the gauntlet cheer for each senior. The coaches give each senior a big hug after his hit on the sled. When we finish, the underclassmen carry the seniors off the field. This has been a popular event that gives the seniors a special sense of pride for all their hard work and also gives the underclassmen something to shoot for and look forward to.
16 Team Banquet. The team banquet is the last team event of the year and is held one week after our final game. The banquet is organized by our team’s Parent Association. We host this event on campus at our school’s dining facility. All players, family members, coaches, staff, school administrators, spouses, alumni and special guests are invited. We have a sit down team banquet dinner. The room is decorated by the parents with photos that capture the season — from preseason to our last game of the year.
At the conclusion of the banquet, I give a summary of the year and recap all the team highlights. I present awards for our top players and our seniors. Each of the seniors reciprocates by each giving his summary of the year and presents a gift to his respective position coach. At the conclusion of the banquet, we watch our highlight tape for that season.
Efforts Reap Big Rewards,
At first glance, organizing and doing all 16 events may seem like too much to do. Once you have the events’ infrastructure, budgets and organizational foundation in place, however, they run quite smoothly and blend in nicely with all the hard work that’s done throughout the course of a football season.
These team-building concepts reap tremendous rewards for everyone involved in your football program and build a sense of “Football Family” that stays with the players for the rest of lives. It also helps people in the community get excited about your football program and encourages the continued support and backing of your team.