The Challenge

The greatest tool in my youth coaching toolbox is what I call the challenge. Whether you are trying to keep a specific player or set of players focused, to get a specific outcome on a play, or to pull your team out of a negative cycle, the challenge can unlock something in your players that they didn’t know they had. The premise is simple. Challenge your player or your team to do something out of the ordinary for them. This can be challenging the unfocused player to achieve something at practice or challenging your team to bring intensity on a play, or challenging a team who a game got away from to play for pride and for fun. Kids always want to reach the expectations of adults they look up to, and that is the premise of the challenge. If you have built a relationship with your players, they will want to achieve the goal you have set before them. So, coaches, I now challenge you to use the challenge as way to get the most from your players regardless of the circumstances. (Did you see what I did there?)