High School 2018-19 Season

[SparkleSpankies]

You have a much bigger issue if something as simple as a sticker chart is enough to cause strife within the culture of your program.

Tell them you’re going to do the progression chart for both teams, but allow each team to choose the form of their own. Maybe one team wants to make it a grid, and the other wants to do a bar graph, etc. This will allow some unity between the two teams while also giving each group their desired bit of individuality.

You might also consider taking responsibility for “stealing it” on yourself. “I thought this was such a great idea, I told JV you guys were doing one and they should too. They’re going to make theirs a “skill ladder” though because they don’t want to steal your grid.” You might find that taking this approach results in the original team just saying “they can have a grid, we don’t care.” Sometimes it’s all in the presentation.

We also have a slight divide too, and the kids don't want it but the culture of the programs has been a divide. We now have a male coach and he is always coming up with ideas but I flat out said to him, if you have an "idea" for varsity, please let us all know so we can try to bridge the gap. The kids noticed the little stuff and question it, they would not even think about it otherwise. We do not have to "copy" but as an example, the one team had quotes on their shirt and the other did not... things like that... so then the other team feels different... both teams are successful, both go to nationals, both cheer friday night lights... I would just communicate as a program to see what is the best for the entire program, we all want to bridge the gap.

 

[OldskoolKYcheercoach]

We also have a slight divide too, and the kids don't want it but the culture of the programs has been a divide. We now have a male coach and he is always coming up with ideas but I flat out said to him, if you have an "idea" for varsity, please let us all know so we can try to bridge the gap. The kids noticed the little stuff and question it, they would not even think about it otherwise. We do not have to "copy" but as an example, the one team had quotes on their shirt and the other did not... things like that... so then the other team feels different... both teams are successful, both go to nationals, both cheer friday night lights... I would just communicate as a program to see what is the best for the entire program, we all want to bridge the gap.

Put together a group of team leaders that represents all grade levels and both teams. Have him bring his “ideas” in to that team leader group. Ours has a couple of big meetings a year, and day-to-day operations are managed through a group text I have ongoing with all of them (I offer them the option of voting on things privately if they see fit, but as leaders most of them have accepted the role and are comfortable enough to speak up).

This year we had 6 seniors, so I chose 2 freshmen, 3 sophomores, and a junior (I only have one junior) to join them. This group keeps me in check as well, and they truly drive our practices every day. I’ve gone from 50% of my time spent dealing with work ethic/attitude stuff two seasons ago, to spending virtually zero time on that the last two seasons. My team leaders hold their peers accountable, and its not uncommon to hear one of them say “check your body language,” at practice. It really means so much more to the team when it comes from one of their peers and is said in the right tone.

Our kids get extensive training in this, and I haven’t found anyone else locally who is willing to spend the time on it. We are going to camp with most of the local teams in July, and my kids like to see the pictures I take of them looking ready to go, while their rivals are arms-crossed, half paying attention, and sulking.

 

[SparkleSpankies]

Put together a group of team leaders that represents all grade levels and both teams. Have him bring his “ideas” in to that team leader group. Ours has a couple of big meetings a year, and day-to-day operations are managed through a group text I have ongoing with all of them (I offer them the option of voting on things privately if they see fit, but as leaders most of them have accepted the role and are comfortable enough to speak up).

This year we had 6 seniors, so I chose 2 freshmen, 3 sophomores, and a junior (I only have one junior) to join them. This group keeps me in check as well, and they truly drive our practices every day. I’ve gone from 50% of my time spent dealing with work ethic/attitude stuff two seasons ago, to spending virtually zero time on that the last two seasons. My team leaders hold their peers accountable, and its not uncommon to hear one of them say “check your body language,” at practice. It really means so much more to the team when it comes from one of their peers and is said in the right tone.

Our kids get extensive training in this, and I haven’t found anyone else locally who is willing to spend the time on it. We are going to camp with most of the local teams in July, and my kids like to see the pictures I take of them looking ready to go, while their rivals are arms-crossed, half paying attention, and sulking.

Honestly, the kids are fine, they get along, have friends on both teams, carpool together, eat meals together, hang out outside of practice, sit together at school lunch, doesn't matter- its when varsity gets something and the same isn't JV if we are promoting unified. Us as coaches need to do a better job unifying the program... a lot of times it is b/c we just run with ideas without consulting, which makes the kids feel there is a divide. We have talked about it, we are working on the unification... but I was using this to show an example...

 

[OldskoolKYcheercoach]

Honestly, the kids are fine, they get along, have friends on both teams, carpool together, eat meals together, hang out outside of practice, sit together at school lunch, doesn't matter- its when varsity gets something and the same isn't JV if we are promoting unified. Us as coaches need to do a better job unifying the program... a lot of times it is b/c we just run with ideas without consulting, which makes the kids feel there is a divide. We have talked about it, we are working on the unification... but I was using this to show an example...

Exactly, I was in the same boat. I was just giving an example of one potential way to make those bonds stronger.