Using the analogy of constructing a home allows us to review the important factors to consider in building a successful program. The following elements are key ingredients in developing a team:

Build a Strong Foundation

All good homes have a strong foundation built on solid ground that allows the rest of the house to stand secure. The foundation of your program will be the values that you instill in your athletes.

Hard Work - This is one thing you can control and that is how hard you work. The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary.

Discipline - Discipline is the soul of an army. It makes small numbers formidable; procures success to the weak, and esteem to all." - George Washington

Fair Play - Statesman Cicero said that ill-gotten gains seldom prosper. Even if you win by cutting corners you really don't win - not in the long run. A perfect example is the many athletes using steroids who have developed serious health concerns later in life. Teach your athletes that there are no shortcuts to winning.

Self-Respect - Seventeenth century English scientist John Herschel said that self-respect is the cornerstone of all virtue. It certainly is the beginning of training athletes. Teach your athletes to respect their bodies, themselves and others and your are on the way to developing positive, healthy adults.

Courtesy - One of the most distasteful displays one can witness is to see an athlete throw a fit when they lose. Worse still is to see a coach or athlete disrespect an official or an opponent. One of the cornerstones of civilization is courtesy. Many would never think of behaving beyond the sports arena as they do during competition. Set a positive example for your athletes and demand courtesy from them.

Create a Home that is Greater than the Sum of its Materials...

A team is greater than the sum of its members, and no member should be placed above others or treated differently. The members of the team must feel as if they are contributing to something that is bigger than them - something that will exist when they are gone. There can be no rules which may be broken by some. No one person should be an exception because the dynamic of the team will be broken. When members of an organization feel inequality there will be discord and the team and its members will not have the same opportunity to reach full potential. "The strength of the team is each individual member...the strength of each member is the team." - Phil Jackson

Each athlete will have a different physical and psychological makeup. Each will require different technical and motivational training. They must be treated and coached individually. However, each must also feel part of the whole and not greater than the whole. Finding the balance between the whold and the individual is difficult but necessary for the coach. "Individual commitment to a group effort - that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work." - Vince Lombardi

Fill Your Home with a Family

Everyone is searching for a place to belong. Think of your team as a family rather than a team. A family is bound together by caring and love and discipline. If your athletes feel that they are part of a family they will be more secure in their place within the team and more committed to the team's goals. How do you create a family environment?

• Become involved in your athletes lives. Learn about their personal lives and their interests. Take an active role in their education. Invite them into your home for dinner individually or in small groups.

• Care about them as people and not just athletes. You can not fake it with young people. They can tell if you care or not. Actually know what is happening with them and work to help them improve as people and communicate your interest to them.

Add Structure to Your Home

Add features to your program so that your athletes believe they are part of something exciting and important. Creating additional aspects to your program enhances the rewards and benefits of participation.

• Start a booster club so that parents and fans can become involved with your team. This will create enthusiasm and pride in your team members.

• Make sure that the team has a student volunteers. Including student volunteers to help keep statistics, etc. and travel as fans with the team helps enhance the experience for your team members. Involving additional people in the program fosters positive feelings of importance and esteem in your athletes.

• Develop a club that keeps your athletes involved with the sport in the off-season. This also keeps the team together. Send team members to summer camps or clinics, or better yet take them yourself. Let them get involved with fundraising.

• Publicize their results. Make sure that the local paper and the school paper are giving them ink. Everyone likes to hear and see their name. President John Adams said, " A desire to be observed, considered, esteemed, praised, beloved, and admired by his fellow is one of the earliest as well as the keenest dispositions discovered in the heart of man."

Make Your Home a Nice Environment

You and your team will spend a great deal of time in your field, court, pool, or practice facility. Make it a nice place. Use the environment as a way to instill pride and enthusiasm in your team.

• Keep it neat and clean.
• Make sure the practice area looks presentable and professional.
• Put up motivational signs and pictures (locker room, weight room, etc.)
• Make a room for a lounge with a video system for scouting opponents.
• Require uniform practice gear and institute grooming standards.
• Make your uniforms and equipment top notch. Give them something that they will wear with pride.

Introduce Outside Influences

Even the greatest coach alive does not know all the answers and may not be able to reach all of his/her athletes. Do not be afraid to introduce others to your team. Invite other coaches and ahletes to coach and teach your team. Host clinics, purchase instructional video tapes and make them available to your team. Utilize sports psychologists and/or motivational professionals to speak to your team and counsel your athletes individually.

Create a Fun and Exciting Place

It is critical to make the sport fun and exciting. Sport is hard work and it is always easier and more enjoyable to work when it is fun. Attempt to build activities into your program to create excitement, enjoyment and enthusiasm among your athletes.

• Give awards, keep statistics and give weekly awards for performance.
• Have an annual banquet and recognize all of your athletes.
• Make sure all the awards are placed on signs and kept in the athletes view during the week.
• Introduce fun activities and cross training for conditioning. Have an active play day instead of practicing occasionally.
• Make sure all of your communications and reinforcement is positive and not negative.

In conclusion, it requires total commitment on your part as a coach to receive total dedication from your team members. It is not easy, but it is possible if you are willing to work and to offer yourself fully to your athletes. If you give fully, then you have a right to demand excellence in return. Keep in mind that people will rise to the level of your expectations. Believe in them and they will astonish you. The best coaches are teachers.

"A master can tell you what he expects of you. A teacher, though, awakens your own expectations." - Patrica Neal. Help your athletes to find their own dreams and to create an environment - a home - that allows them to succeed!