With the holiday rush in full swing, the last thing on most people’s minds right now is probably sports and registration. But with baseball and softball registration season right around the corner, we wanted to put together a quick checklist to help baseball and softball parents get ready for registration in a snap.

To help, we’ve created a parent registration checklist to make registering for baseball and softball a snap this year.

Confirm your registration opening & closing dates

Do you know when baseball or softball registration opens for your club or local baseball/softball league? This may seem a bit obvious, and it is, but it could mean the difference between paying a late fee versus receiving an early-bird discount; most clubs or leagues offer a tiered fee structure based on when you register. Be sure to register early to avoid missing out on any possible discounts. 

Know where to go to register 

Will registration be held in person or posted online? Most clubs and leagues offer online registration these days so be sure you confirm where you’ll need to go to register or how to access your online registration software. If you can sign up for an email notification as a reminder, do so. 

Have all required paperwork ready

If you’re registering for Little League® baseball or softball, you’ll likely be asked to upload documentation to verify residential eligibility; each local Little League® has specific geographic boundaries from which players are eligible to join. Many baseball organizations will request this information at the time of registration so they can in turn verify eligibility with their Little League. Check out this FAQ on residency and education requirements.

Other baseball or softball organizations may require an up-to-date physical, birth certificate or insurance information. It’s best to have that on hand and ready to upload into your registration software so you can complete registration quickly.

Understand what your fees and payment options are

Sticker shock is real, even with youth sports programs. Understanding what your upcoming registration fees will be, and your payment options can help you budget appropriately. Find out in advance if there are scholarships available you can apply for with your organization or other sibling discounts that may help reduce your overall registration rates. Some youth sports clubs or leagues will also offer payment plans to help spread the cost over time, others may offer a reduced payment option if you pay via ACH to help keep processing fees down. The more you know about your baseball or softball organization’s payment structure and options, the better prepared you’ll be at the time of registration.

Download The Parent Registration Checklist

Learn more about our club and league solution and how it integrates with the TeamSnap for Teams app your parents and coaches know and love.

We know registration can be a busy time, and let’s face it, a little stressful. Nothing slows your preseason down like accidental mistakes during registration. To help, we put together this quick list of the most common pitfalls of registration so you can avoid them and launch registration smoothly!

Building Your Registration at the Last Minute

No one wants to be building registrations online at midnight the night before your registration is due to open. We can’t stress this enough, don’t leave your registration to the last minute, not only does that create a stressful situation for you or your admins, it can also result in mistakes in your online forms. Allow for plenty of time to build your form (or forms) and test them to ensure they are working properly before launching. We recommend giving yourself at least two weeks to work on building your registration form online. A quick win in TeamSnap is to duplicate your previous season’s registration form and then make updates in the duplicated version to reflect your current season’s needs.

Not Sharing Registration Information in Advance

The more information you can provide your members about the upcoming registration ahead of time, the better. Let them know all the information they’ll need to register, including any documents they might need to upload to help expedite the process. Share information on when parents and players can expect to be placed on teams and hear from coaches. When your members have all the information in advance, administrators will have fewer questions to field from parents who want to stay in the loop.

Offering an Extended or Rolling Registration Period

How long is your registration period? While a rolling enrollment period or a long registration period may give members a lot of time to register, it could end up creating more work for you in the end. A long registration window doesn’t drive urgency for your members to sign up, which makes it hard for admins to assign players to teams or predict how many signups they may get which can make forecasting finances for your organization more difficult. Try shortening your registration period to just a few weeks or months to incentivize sign-ups and give your admins a head start on organizing players onto their teams for the year.

Complicated Fee Structures & Discounts

Nothing makes a registrar or treasurer’s life more difficult than complicated fee structures, or a lack thereof altogether. Prior to setting up your registration, be sure to meet with your board to align on your fees for the upcoming season and what you will offer with each program. Don’t forget to talk through any registration discounts you plan to offer.

Identify roadblocks you might run into with these prices and adjustments and consider where you may need to be flexible in your current fee setup. Complicated discount structures can be difficult for administrators to set up online, and difficult for your members to understand. Don’t be afraid to move away from fee structures and discounts if they feel too complex. A straightforward fee structure will make the registration experience better for both you and your members.

Failing To Include Payment & Refund Terms 

Clearly outlining your payment options, terms and your organization’s refund policy is essential to setting expectations with your members regarding finances. By adding your refund policy or payment terms as a waiver in TeamSnap’s registration solution, your payment terms are clearly visible and your registrants must acknowledge the terms to complete registration. This means no surprises for your members or treasurers down the road when questions arise about payment terms.

Forgetting To Test Your Registration

Once you’ve built your form, don’t forget to test it out! Forgetting to test your form can result in errors in an open registration. Using Preview Mode in TeamSnap allows you to preview your form as a registrant, so you can go through it the same way your members would. Previewing it as a registrant not only ensures you check your work but also puts you in the shoes of your members, seeing firsthand what they will experience during the registration process. This is a great time to test out your fee structures, sibling discounts and conditional logic you may have built-in your form.

Registration season doesn’t need to be the most stressful event for your sports organization this year.  Small improvements like these can help your organization stay on track and meet your registration deadlines with fewer hiccups along the way.

If you’re in the market for a new registration system, you’ll love TeamSnap’s registration solution, which allows you to collect online payments, issue credits and much more!

A lot goes into building a team. And youth sports coaches should focus on more than just game strategy; they should be intentional about the values their players learn.

Here are six suggested values to incorporate into your coaching and team building. Use them, tweak them, or throw them out and write your own. Just be sure you have some values that you coach by and that your team plays by. They can serve as guidelines that go well beyond the playing fields.

We are generous givers, not self-serving takers.

This is where the important lesson of teamwork is learned.

We will have fun.

Hard work and fun can play on the same field. If your team has fun in the process of being challenged, they will learn to love the game.

We will be committed.

This applies to showing up for practices and games, having each others’ backs, and doing your best to help the team be better.

We will persevere.

Giving up easily is not an option. You’re a team, after all.

We will communicate.

On the field or court, on the sidelines, or in the locker room, we will be clear, honest and respectful. We will not assume that our teammates or coaches know something; we will be SURE they do.

We will trust each other.

Trust that is earned and given freely can add a whole new level of cooperation and performance to the team.

Once you establish your team’s values, make them visible at each game and practice. Talk about them in the huddles, before and after the game. Having these values will give your athletes a compass on how they play and how they should treat each other — which is a win/win for any sports team.

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Janis B. Meredith is a life coach for sports parents. Learn more about how she helps parents: https://jbmcoaching.lpages.co/invitation-for-free-coaching-call/

Simplify Life

Try a meal delivery service so you don’t have to worry about cooking for the family when you get home from games and practices. Put your bills on autopay to take tasks off your plate—and your mind. The less you need to do, the easier it will be to get through the holidays stress free.

Prioritize Commitments

Between social obligations, team sports and family duties, your commitments can start to add up fast. And while it would be great if you could be in two places at once, learning to prioritize your commitments and say “no” is a crucial part of keeping your sanity during this busy season. Decide which functions are important and which can be missed to avoid being overwhelmed.

Set Boundaries

Know your limits when it comes to work, family, friends, etc. It’s OK to say ‘no’ to anything that causes stress. You don’t have to please everyone at the expense of yourself. Setting boundaries and knowing your limits when it comes to finding balance between family, work and parenting will help you keep your head in the game.

Take a Time Out

Take a mental health day if you can. It can be a day for you to enjoy some quiet time by yourself in a quiet house. You could also take a day off from sports activities to enjoy the season with your family. Explore local shops, ice skate, or pack the kids into the car at night to drive around and look at holiday lights. Be sure to enjoy the highlights of the season.

Create Routine

Getting into a routine will help keep things flowing even when you’re busy. Take some time in the morning for yourself before the rest of your family gets up. You can meditate, write in a journal, go over to-do’s, listen to music, read, exercise—the list goes on. Do whatever gets you focused and feeling good first thing in the morning.

Taking care of you before you take care of everyone else will help keep your mind in balance. Get your family into an evening routine too. Make sure all clothes and sports equipment are set out in advance. Planning ahead will make the mornings run more smoothly when you’re getting everyone out the door.

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Alison Kresta is a lifestyle writer who loves to cover all things health, fitness and wellness. When she isn’t writing, Alison spends her time coaching soccer, or with her 6-year-old son and their dog, Missy. Most days you can also find her teaching indoor cycling, training fitness clients, working out or doing anything outdoors.

Creating a strong member experience is an essential part of a highly successful club. A winning record is quickly overshadowed by a club that treats its members like a number or overtrains its athletes and overworks its coaches. When coaches, parents, and players feel they are part of an organization that values them and creates a connected experience for them, they are more likely to stay with your club and refer others to your organization. 

Here are 8 strategies you can implement to help make members the central focus of your club/league and improve their experiences.

Invest in player and coaching development

This may seem obvious, but it’s too important not to mention. For players, focusing on athletic progression and player development is essential and impacts both the player and parent experience. Your athletes are going to want to progress in their sport(s), and so will their parents. Good player development is progressive, technical and all-encompassing. Can your players still complete a pass technically under pressure from an opponent? Does their practice incorporate enough strength and conditioning to meet the physical demands of their sport and a full game? Are your players building on skills and training week over week? 

Keep in mind that not all athletic development happens at practice. A good coach and program will give players at-home training opportunities as well, to continue to develop their skills. Another great way to focus on player development is bringing in experts in the sport for a skill seminar, or referring out physical therapists or strength and conditioning coaches for help with injury prevention/rehabilitation or conditioning.

Development shouldn’t be limited to your players; invest in your coaches’ growth as well through continued education. There are plenty of online courses (we love the Positive Coaching Alliance’s curriculum), workshops, and in-person training your coaches can take that can help them uplevel their skills and grow professionally. Research has also consistently shown that kids who play for trained coaches have a better experience in their sports program:

According to Aspen Institute, one study found that only 5 percent of kids who played for trained coaches quit the sport the next year; the attrition rate was 26 percent otherwise (Barnett, Smoll & Smith, 1992). Of the 6.5 million youth coaches, fewer than 1 in 5 are trained in effective motivational techniques — how to communicate well with kids — and only 1 in 3 say they have been trained in sport skills or tactics (SGMA, 2012).

The bottom line? Investing in your coaches’ education and training is an investment in your players and overall member experience.

Be open to feedback

There is no such thing as growth if there’s no feedback. Asking your members for feedback not only helps ensure your organization is meeting expectations it’s also a great way to find out where and how you can improve. Soliciting input from members helps to build a culture of open communication and fosters connection and trust between parents and administrators. People want to be part of a community they feel heard in. Once you’ve asked for feedback, take time to internalize and understand it, before implementing where possible. You won’t always be able to implement every suggestion, but it’s a great best practice to follow up with those whose suggestions were not accepted, to talk through why it’s not the best fit at this time.

Parents and players make up the core of your sports organization. They are your boots on the ground for how things are going at your organization, and what other organizations might be implementing that could impact your club. Create a culture within your organization that values ideas and feedback from your members. Regularly ask for input and suggestions. Soliciting feedback and input from members helps them feel like their opinion matters, and it is a great way for you to improve existing processes or implement new ones and people want to be part of a community they feel heard in.

And implement feedback where you can

Once you’ve received feedback or suggestions, take the time to internalize and understand it, before implementing where possible. Making a clear connection between what they give you and what you’re able to do as a result will underline how important they are to you. You won’t always be able to implement every suggestion, but it’s a great best practice to follow up with those whose suggestions were not accepted, to talk through why it’s not the best fit at this time. This ensures that even though their suggestion may not have been implemented, they still feel seen and valued.

Emphasize injury prevention

Make injury prevention a priority at your club or league. Ensure coaches are emphasizing dynamic warm-ups and proper cool downs before and after all games and practices. Refer out to specialists in mobility or strength and conditioning for prehab exercises for joints like knees, ankles and shoulders, all of which can go through a lot of wear and tear with active athletes. Have coaches implement foam rolling and stretching into take-home exercises. Your athletes’ well-being should always be at the forefront of coaches’ minds, but making sure your club emphasizes this as a core part of its practice, is an actionable way to put player health and experience first.

Have a customer-first mindset

Get comfortable getting into a member’s focused mindset. What does this mean? This means putting yourself in your member’s shoes. As a board member, ask yourself what you would want from your club or league if your kids were playing here? On the other hand, put yourself in your athlete’s shoes, what do you think they’d want to get out of their time with your club or league? Better yet, your athletes at the start of the season what they want to learn and achieve. Have coaches check in with players regularly to see if they are meeting those expectations. At the end of the season, ask them if they felt they achieved their goals and what they want to work on for the next season.  

Become a goal-oriented organization

Place an emphasis on having your coaches set measurable and attainable goals for their athletes at the start of the season. Goals serve as a north star to guide your teams and players towards an outcome. Achieving goals is great for team morale, creates connection through teamwork and helps kids feel good about what they are doing. Happy athletes make happy teams and happy players, coaches and parents are the recipe for a thriving sports organization.

Goal setting shouldn’t just be limited to your club’s players and teams. Have coaches set their own personal and professional goals for the season and help them find ways to achieve them. Setting and achieving goals is an essential part of personal and professional development and feeling valued at an organization.

Create a personalized experience

No one likes to feel like a number, least of all members of your club or league. Even if your sports organization is large, make a concerted effort to get to know your coaches, parents and players. Personalize outreach and interactions as much as you can. Recognize coaches and players for their hard work with end-of-season awards or player or coach spotlights on your blog/newsletter etc. Regularly scheduled club-wide events or team events outside of games and practices can help parents, coaches and players get to know each other. Social events and personal connections strengthen your members’ ties to your club, by building a strong community.

Use a solution that makes sport and game organization easy

The type of experience your members receive with your club or league also depends on your club’s organizational and communication strengths. A disorganized club without clear communication channels and processes is chaotic for both coaches and parents. Instead, use trusted technology to manage your day-to-day club operations that your parents and coaches will love, like TeamSnap for Clubs & Leagues. Designed specifically for growing clubs, leagues and associations in mind, TeamSnap for Clubs and Leagues allows you to collect registration payments, centralize your messaging and scheduling tasks in one solution.

Learn more about our club and league solution and how it integrates with the TeamSnap for Teams app your parents and coaches know and love.

Many athletes would probably say yes. After all, winning feels good! In fact, in some cases, everyone’s allowed to win—though that’s another story. If winning’s so great, does that make losing a terrible experience? Not necessarily. Losing actually provides some lessons that winning cannot, particularly for young athletes.

What are the pros and cons of both winning and losing? Let’s take a look.

The Cons of Winning

If winning is so great, then where did the phrase “winning isn’t everything” come from? The fact is, if you win all the time, those special feelings you get from winning fade and you lose the drive to get better. It becomes easier to stop learning. Young athletes are more likely to go on autopilot, and that’s when bad habits begin to develop.

Constantly winning, or winning early on, can also be detrimental because it may give kids a false sense of their own abilities. Just because a young athlete wins doesn’t mean that he or she is the best. Especially at a young age, we all have a lot to learn.

The Pros of Winning

Though winning might not be everything, it still feels pretty darn good! A win is an easy self-confidence boost, which is a big deal for many young athletes.

Furthermore, winning is validation. A win says that the game has been played the right way and that practice paid off. Winning motivates one to continue playing and continue winning. Also, winning connects good feelings with the sport, which can give your young athlete the drive to keep going. Constant losing, on the other hand, might easily lead to early quitting.

The Cons of Losing

What’s the worst part about losing? Well, that’s an easy question: Losing! No one wants to lose because no one wants to feel bad. And losing constantly has the potential to turn players off from a sport for good.

The Pros of Losing

Sure, losing usually doesn’t feel that great. However, it does build character.

Dealing with a loss is one of the most important life lessons anyone can learn. Losing a game isn’t the only time players will face defeat, and how they respond and pick themselves back up says a lot about them, both as an athlete and as a person.

Losing also provides drive and purpose. It makes athletes strive to be better and achieve what they previously couldn’t. Losing forces young athletes to evaluate themselves. The only way to make adjustments and improve performance is by looking in the mirror and fixing what doesn’t work. A loss forces young athletes to look in the mirror far more than a win.

Does winning feel better than losing? Of course it does! Is losing the end of the world? Far from it. Winning isn’t everything, and losing doesn’t have to be, either.

Do you or someone you know need help managing their sports team or club? Sign up for a free 21-day trial today. Or check out our club and league solution, TeamSnap for Clubs and Leagues if your team is part of a larger sports organization.

Travis Armideo is the Marketing Manager at Gladiator Custom Mouthguards. A lifelong ice hockey player who played for various club and junior teams, as well as lacrosse at the college level, he continues to be involved with sports by coaching both high school and youth ice hockey. From an article appearing on CrossIceHockey.com—Where Rec Hockey Lives. © 2016 Digital Media Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Published with permission.

Like it or not, sports cost money to participate in. And with the Month of Giving just around the corner, we wanted to share five ideas for fundraising your youth sports team or club could participate in this holiday season, to help give the gift of sports.

Holiday bake sale

Hosting a holiday bake sale is a festive way to help raise money during the holidays. Create holiday cookie boxes for purchase or bake and sell festive pies. Both options are sure to be a hit during the busy holiday season.

Partner with a restaurant or food truck

Everyone loves a night out with good food and friends. So why not make it a fundraising event? By partnering with a local restaurant or food truck, you can do both. Have a portion of the sales from the restaurant or food truck go towards your fundraiser; it’s a win for the restaurant/food truck receiving exposure, a win for your team with money raised, and everyone can have a good time connecting with each other. Since it’s the holiday season, make it a festive holiday party!

Create a holiday donation program

If your sports club or team is fundraising for scholarship funds or financial hardship funds for players, the holidays are a great time to put together a donation program. In lieu of gifts, ask for donations towards your scholarship fund in the spirit of the holidays. 

Home-run derby

Get your community together for a baseball/softball/kickball home run derby. Participants can collect pledges towards the number of home runs they score during the event. As a bonus, get a local food truck to come to the event and have a portion of the sales go towards your fundraiser for added donations.

Set up FlipGive

FlipGive is a free app to make and manage money for your team. Once you sign up for a FlipGive account and add your roster, your team can earn cashback every time they shop for things they need. FlipGive’s program includes cashback offers from over 700 brands, like Under Armour, Walmart, Apple, Buffalo Wild Wings and more. Teams on FlipGive have earned thousands over the holiday season alone just from gifts, travel, groceries and decorations. Buy what you need to fund your season and raise extra money. Here’s how you can get started.

Do you or someone you know need help managing their sports team or club? Sign up for a free 21-day trial today. Or check out our club and league solution, TeamSnap for Clubs and Leagues if your team is part of a larger sports organization.

We had thousands of TeamSnap customers enter the sweepstakes, and we are so excited to introduce the two lucky winners that got to spice up their backyards!

Meet…. Adrienne T.

Adrienne is a busy mom of 2 active boys living in Liberty, Missouri. Her family has already spiced up their college game days with this full prize pack! 

“How exciting!! Can’t wait to host a baseball team event with these prizes!”

– Adrienne’s family enjoy the full Best of The Backyard prize pack at a home tailgate as they watched MU take on South Carolina! 

Meet Zach J.

Zach hails from North Attleboro, Massachusetts and is a father of 4 sports-obsessed boys who are already putting these prizes to use! 

“This is awesome news, we are super excited about this! We actually plan on using them [cornhole boards] for a tailgate soon between our youth football games so we can share them with their buddies. They think we won the lottery!” 

 – Zach’s family enjoying the corn hole boards! 

A friendly reminder…sausage is a protein and flavor rock star that’s not just for the grill! Experience new ways to prepare sausage from the sausage authorities at Johnsonville! For Johnsonville recipes filled with ways to incorporate sausage into your family meals check out Johnsonville Sausage Swap. 

Help Athletes Understand Fear

Explaining fear can sometimes be difficult, and the last thing you want to do is invalidate someone’s feelings. I’ve found it’s best to help kids understand the different types of fear, so they can better determine what they’re feeling, and work with it.

There’s the innate human instinct to sense danger—say, if you spot a mother bear and her cubs on a trail. (This is something real and potentially dangerous if you don’t know how to handle the situation.) But there are also imagined fears—thoughts of what might happen—and unfortunately these can be pretty common. A child may be afraid of letting the ball slip by into the net, for example, or maybe missing a shot.

The feelings are real, but the situations are not. They haven’t or aren’t happening. The key is to help the young athlete understand these fears are simply imagined. They may not happen, and in fact, the less the athlete thinks of their fears, the less likely they’ll be to occur.

Transform the Butterflies

I was a nervous athlete when I was younger, so much that I couldn’t even eat before competitions. My nerves were more physical than mental, however. I wasn’t afraid—just anxious under pressure. So I learned to recognize the feeling—all the little butterflies fluttering around inside—and I told myself it was just ‘positive energy.’ And then I made a conscious choice to use that energy to get me psyched up to do my best. The butterflies let me know I was ready. I had a fire inside!

Help your young athlete understand that those nervous feelings are just extra energy, and they can use it any way they choose.

What Competition?

Olympic gold medalist and motivational speaker Nikki Stone is also a mother to two young athletes. Her daughter performs competitive dance, and is often shining up on stage, under the lights. Yet she still can feel nervous or uncertain like the best of us. “When Zali has her dance competitions, I tell her only to focus on herself,” Stone says. “She’ll ask about the other kids in her group, but I try to shift her focus to her own performance, instead. I tell her, ‘Your only goal is to improve on something you did last time. Pick one thing to improve upon and then when you do that, you’ll know you’ll have success.’”

“Experiencing these small yet identifiable successes can help build confidence,” Stone adds.

Identify Key Words or Mantras

Self-talk has been shown to improve performance, and the type depends on the athlete as an individual, as well as their activity. Sometimes self-talk can be motivational, or other times instructional or technical.

Help your youth athlete identify something that resonates for them. For me, for example, it sometimes helped to focus on my form and use specific cue words. When going into a flip, I’d tell myself, “Chest up.” And that small cue helped me execute and land perfectly.

Triathlete and author Tom Holland likes to use mantras during the various legs of his competitions, and sometimes to even help pace himself. Among his favorites: “Low and slow is the tempo.”

Finding mantras and cue words with your young athlete can be a fun, creative experience, and doing so can also help them become more aware of their strengths, weaknesses, and overall performance as an athlete.

Focus on Personal Strengths

“Sometimes Zali will worry and say things like, ‘I’m not flexible,’” Stone says. “So I try to shift her focus to her strengths, instead. I’ll remind her of her acrobatic background, for example. I’ll say, ‘Look at your strengths and let that give you confidence to build on.’”

Remind your young athlete of what they know they’re good at—and let them build from there.

“The hay is in the barn.”

When I was a competitive skier, I wouldn’t just train on the mountain, I’d also visualize my run days (and sometimes weeks and months) in advance of events. I called it ‘doing my homework,’ and I could rest easy at the top of the course, knowing I was fully prepared.

Stone shares the same sentiment. “I tell my kids: ‘You’ve already done the work,’ and remind them they don’t need to be nervous, because they’ve trained for this,” she says. “It’s like that saying, ‘The hay is in the barn,’ because the hard work is already done.”

Stone used this tactic herself before landing her winning jump at the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, Japan. “It helped me calm down,” she says. I always say, “Have confidence in the fact that you know you’ve already trained. And all you can do at this point is try your best.”

~~~

Lara Rosenbaum is an award-winning journalist and wellness expert whose work has appeared in Women’s Health, Shape, Men’s Health, Runner’s World, Men’s Journal, Prevention, Yoga Journal and countless other publications. Lara is also a former elite athlete, having traveled the world as a member of the U.S. Freestyle Ski Team.

Whether coaching youth teams, rec leagues or even pro levels, many coaches aim to build a strong team by adding the strongest individual players they can find. Sure, it makes sense to prioritize talent when stitching together a successful team. Yet, building a team of athletes who will work together well depends on more than just skill. Even a team with the most skilled players in the world won’t win if they can’t work together and exhibit strong teamwork. 

Teamwork gets overused in sports and in life, but it’s essential — especially at the youth sports level. It’s a hard term to define, and it depends so much on the personalities, character, experience and maturity of each team member. Building a team takes a deep understanding of each athlete, and requires a strategic approach when it comes to encouraging them to play for each other and not just themselves.

So, what are some strategies coaches can use to foster teamwork? Here are some tips for coaches to help their players build connections both on and off the field.

1. Encourage a positive attitude at practice and during games.

   Make your coaching strategy about more than just winning. Show up to each practice and every game with a positive outlook, and this will set the tone for the players as well.

2. Use positive language and clear communication.

   Praise the players on their strengths, but be vocal on how the players can work together and help each other. Model how to use clear, positive communication. Avoid singling out players for mistakes and instead be generous with positive feedback. 

3. Teach them to play for each other and not just themselves.

   As a coach, you can be real about how good it feels to score a goal or be named MVP. But the goal here is to show how players need one another in order to make a real impact. Playing for each other means helping make the key pass, giving others opportunities to score, and celebrating others’ wins.

4. Clearly define roles and positions on the team.

   Bring it back to basics. Be clear about which positions are responsible for which types of plays. Help your players understand their roles and how each role works together to achieve a goal. This may feel rudimentary to some players, but focus on how it can be exciting and empowering to work together as a unit. When players understand how each individual position supports the other, they can visualize working together and show them the significance of their role outside of their own glory. This kind of approach keeps them from feeling a joint mission, knowing each person is crucial. 

5. Have them define team goals and values together.

   Defining goals as a team means there’s more buy-in from every player. Having a singular mission can help keep everyone motivated. One idea is to help visualize playing together at big matches or tournaments, or listing out team values and posting it in the locker room for everyone to see before and after each practice and game.

6. Set team goals they can achieve together.

   While having lofty goals can be motivating, it’s important to have team-oriented goals that are within reach. Consider listing out goals around fitness achievements, or team bests —things that have less to do with winning against the opposing team and more about celebrating positivity and group wins. Players can also share their personal goals with the team, who can help offer support and encouragement throughout the season.

7. Don’t sleep on team-building exercises.

   We’ve all heard a lot about team-building exercises, but there’s a reason these have value. Learn more about the kinds of team-building exercises you can work into your coaching routine. Key tips: keep the activities movement-oriented, and keep it fun!

When thinking of coaching strategies for better teamwork, prioritize building connections among your players by staying positive, reinforcing strong values, and making it all about having fun.

Do you or someone you know need help managing their sports team or club? Sign up for a free 21-day trial today. Or check out our club and league solution, TeamSnap for Clubs and Leagues if your team is part of a larger sports organization.