In Kansas, high school winter sports teams begin practice on Monday next week. I was talking to a friend who is the Head Basketball Coach at his school earlier today. We talked about some new stuff they’re going to be running this year. We talked about how he’s got a spot for another assistant on his staff. Typical, right before the season starts kind of talk. This guy has been through a book and a half of Rod Olson’s Legacy Builders discipleship series for Coaches, so I decided to remind him to consider using the ‘Put-up Game’ with his team this season. It’s one of the best team-building and culture-enhancing techniques I’ve heard of (** I’ll describe the put-up game, and credit its creator at the bottom of this post **).
His response was a great reminder to me of the demands on Coaches, particularly Head Coaches. He said something like, “That’s a really good idea. My preparation to this point has been so focused on paperwork, bus schedules, eligibility, physicals, etc. that I haven’t given much thought to motivating and inspiring my team.”
As Coaches, really in all facets of our lives, it’s so very easy to focus on the to-do list. To value productivity over people. To look at results instead of relationships. The very best Coaches have figured out how to get done what needs getting done, while making people a priority, and the success they enjoy is a by-product of that process.
** The Put-up Game: the best information I have credits legendary College Football Coach Frosty Westering with creating a tool for his players and Coaches to show appreciation for each other. There are a few variations of the ‘game’, but the simplest one I know goes like this. At the end of a practice or a game, have 3-4 players give their teammates a ‘put-up’, the opposite of a put-down. Rod Olson once told me that it might sound a little touchy-feely, but it can and usually will absolutely change the culture of a program.
It works for athletes of any age. I’ve used it myself with a group of 4th/5th graders, and it was very effective. We took a bunch of kids who didn’t know each other at the start of a season, and 8 weeks later, they were tight. Along the way, there were zero (yes, zero) interpersonal issues between the kids. No teasing, no fighting, no complaining about each other. Unbelievable. Obviously, Coach Frosty used this with college athletes with positive results. What really winds up happening with an activity like this is that people feel loved. Showing love to our teammates and Coaches really doesn’t have a downside.
80’s Lyric