Does talent outweigh a negative attitude? Can you justify keeping a talented player that causes trouble and brings the team down?

By Dawn Redd-Kelley

Ideally, our best players are our best leaders.  They work hard, they motivate their teammates, and they communicate well with the coaches.  But what happens when a strong talent is an energy suck?  What if they only bring negative energy?  Does the good (their talent) outweigh the bad (their attitude)?

Not according to experts.

Will Felps is an Australian collegiate professor who focuses on the negative effects of bad apple teammates among other things. Felps “estimates that teams with just one deadbeat or downer suffer a performance disadvantage of 30 to 40 percent compared to teams that have no bad apples.”

30-40%????!!  How many close games or races did your team lose this year?  Could it be because of your bad apple?

I’d say this is a pretty solid argument for being aware of, trying to manage, or ultimately getting rid of the bad apples on your team.

I tweaked this list from a post over at Leadership Freak’s blog

Are you tired of walking into practice and seeing lackluster effort from your players?  Have you had it with trying to get your female athletes to care about the team as much as you do??

Click here to find out more about Coach Dawn’s eBook: Motivating Female Athletes

Comes with a FREE PowerPoint presentation called Guarantee Your Success: Using John Wooden’s Pyramid of Success To Increase Your Team’s Cohesion.

About the Author of this Post

Dawn Redd-Kelly is the head volleyball coach at Beloit College.  Her volleyball teams have earned the best winning percentage in school history.  She has coached at the high school, club, Division I and III levels…taking her first collegiate head coaching job at age 24 with the University of Rochester.  She played volleyball at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Coach Dawn Says: “I believe in the power of sport to teach winning and losing with grace, to inspire its participants to excel, and to create a common goal for the greater good.”

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A coaches job is to get players to do their jobs well.  But just exactly what is a player’s job description.

By Dawn Redd-Kelly

On the surface it seems simple (work hard, be enthusiastic about your sport, be good), but there’s more to it than those three things…though we need those things!  The foundation of every team is built upon those principles, but as our players grow up in our programs, they should:

• Add energy to every practice and competition,
• Manage the locker room,
• Come in early,
• Stay late,
• Treat newbies better than they expect,
• Offer to help teammates before they ask,
• Make dinner with the team,
• Leave the team better than you found it,
• Invent a moment of silliness,
• Highlight good work from your teammates,
• Help with recruiting,
• Get smarter at your sport by watching film,
• Encourage newbies to speak up,
• Push teammates to do the hard thing,
• Talk to coach,
• Tell a joke at no one’s expense,
• Celebrate the team’s success.

I tweaked this list from a post over at Seth Godin’s blog.

Are you tired of walking into practice and seeing lackluster effort from your players?  Have you had it with trying to get your female athletes to care about the team as much as you do??

Click here to find out more about Coach Dawn’s eBook: Motivating Female Athletes

Comes with a FREE PowerPoint presentation called Guarantee Your Success: Using John Wooden’s Pyramid of Success To Increase Your Team’s Cohesion.

Everybody wants to be somebody.  Once this becomes a fundamental way of viewing your teammates, classmates, and everyone you meet, you will become a person of influence.

By Dr. Cory Dobbs
The Academy for Sport Leadership

There isn’t a person in the world who doesn’t want to be someone, to have significance and be considered worthy and valued by others.  Everybody wants to be somebody.

“One day I was in Tucson, Arizona putting gas in my car when I witnessed a homeless man asking if he could wash peoples windows for money and people would yell at him and push him away like he was some kind of animal. I felt for that man and even though I’ve never been homeless or put in the position he was in I could relate to him.”
–Steven Lopez, State Champion Wrestler

How do you treat the last person on the bench?  Is it different from the way you treat the star player on the team?  Why?  Is a person’s worth determined by their value on the court or playing field?  How do you treat every person you meet?

Everybody wants to be somebody.  Once this becomes a fundamental way of viewing your teammates, classmates, and everyone you meet, you will become a person of influence.

As he walked towards me with his head down I was expecting him to ask me if he could  wash my windows and I was going to say yes but he kept walking. So as he passed me I asked if he could wash my windows and he said “yes” so he began to do so. After he was done he started walking away not even asking for money which took me by surprise.  But I felt he did a service and should be rewarded so I called him over and said I was going to pay him. His eyes opened wide and I could just see the joy on his face. I checked my wallet and all I had was a $10 bill.  My first thought was $10 for a simple window wash seems too much but I looked towards the bigger picture; do I need that $10 more than he does? And my answer was no, I felt he needed it more than I did.  So I gave it to him and he said that it was too much and he couldn’t accept it but I insisted and the look on his face will be something I’ll never forget. 
–Steven Lopez

Almost everyone knows what it feels like to be accepted, connected, trusted—a friend—and what it feels like to be rejected, judged, and outside the group.  When people feel disconnected they feel a sense of worthlessness.

He told me it would take about 2-3 days worth of washing windows to make $10 and was very grateful. He gave me a hug and I could see other people staring but I didn’t mind, I helped the man out with what I could. As amazing as that felt what happened after made me feel so much happier. People would go up to him and give him money without him doing anything and some of them were the same people who were yelling at him, so that’s when I realized sometimes all it takes is just one person to start something and I could be that first person.
–Steven Lopez

To be a person of influence you need to truly care about people.  Great team leaders are student-athletes that influence teammates by showing others that they care.  The high performing team leader knows that everybody needs friendship, encouragement, and help.  What people can accomplish by themselves pales in comparison to what they can accomplish working with others.  Everybody needs somebody to connect with and help them grow.

I felt for that man and even though I’ve never been homeless or put in the position he was in I could relate to him.
–Steven Lopez, State Champion Wrestler

Everybody wants to be somebody.  Today at practice take a long look at your teammates and identify somebody who needs you to build up their confidence and sense of self-worth.  Let them know that they are welcome in your house.

«Do you believe that luck plays a role in your life?

«What do you think about luck?  How might a little luck change a person’s life?

«Should empathy be a part of one’s mindset?  How can you show empathy through your designated role?

«What role do relationships play in your personal success?  Your team’s success?

«What can you do today to invest in the future of a teammate?

To find out more about and order Sport Leadership Books authored by Dr. Dobbs including a Leader in Every Locker that this post was taken from, Click this link: The Academy for Sport Leadership Books

About The Academy for Sport Leadership

The Academy for Sport Leadership’s underlying convictions are as follows: 1) the most important lessons of leadership are learned in real-life situations, 2) team leaders develop best through active practice, structured reflection, and informative feedback, 3) learning to lead is an on-going process in which guidance from a mentor, coach, or colleague helps facilitate learning and growth, and 4) leadership lessons learned in sport should transcend the game and assist student-athletes in developing the capacity to lead in today’s changing environment.

This article was provided by Coaches Network

An important goal for all coaches is to get players to bond. The best teams are in sync on the court or field of play, which starts with interactions off the court.

“I want my players to feel more tired from talking than from playing,” says Stephanie Rivera, Head Volleyball Coach at Lutheran West High School in Rocky River, Ohio. “If they don’t talk on the court all the time, I feel like we’re a sinking ship.”

One way she teaches players the art of communication is through speaking assignments. Because Lutheran West is a private religious school, one player per game shares devotions (usually a scripture passage or poem) designed to inspire the team before taking the court. Rivera says this allows the girls to articulate their thoughts in new ways and helps them realize the value of unveiling personal feelings.

Brennan Dean, Head Volleyball Coach at Torrey Pines High School in San Diego, does something similar. He texts his players leadership articles or relevant thought-provoking videos, and asks them to text him back five sentences that sum up their reactions. The next day, they discuss it as a team. “Kids are often more mature than we think, and they want to be challenged,” he says.

Beth Launiere, longtime Head Volleyball Coach at the University of Utah asks players to change roommates every road trip and bans cell phones at team meals, which last a minimum of 30 minutes. Even if players are done eating in 20 minutes, they are required to stick around and chat. “We very intentionally eliminate technology at these times,” Launiere says. “The magic happens when they are forced to sit there and talk.”

At Emory University, Head Volleyball Coach Jenny McDowell uses a big sister program in which a senior is paired with a junior, a junior with a sophomore, and so on. They are encouraged to talk one-on-one once a week. The goal is to help players feel more comfortable with each other and practice their communicate skills.

“Does all of this help us win?” asks McDowell. “Who knows? But, to me, this is about helping players develop life-long skills and become better people.”