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Copyright © 2017 Winning Scotland Foundation

PROMOTING POSITIVE

VALUES THROUGH

SPORT

Developed in partnership with the

Bill McLaren Foundation

Copyright © 2017 Winning Scotland Foundation

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DEVELOPING VALUES IN YOUNG PEOPLE TOOLKIT CONTENTS PAGE

SECTION PAGE NUMBER About the Bill McLaren Foundation 3 AWARENESS Welcome 4 About this toolkit 5 Promoting positive values through sport 7 The value of sport in developing young people 8 Benefits of PCS Plus 10 Creating a positive learning environment 11 Coaching the whole child 12

UNDERSTANDING

Understanding what values are 13

Coaching values through sport 15

APPLICATION

Applying tools to develop values 24

Training 25

Competition 30

Making parents an asset to your club 38

Review 44

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PCS Plus partnered with the Bill McLaren Foundation for the development of our materials on values. The Bill McLaren Foundation’s objectives are simple: to develop and promote rugby union and its values as well as encouraging and providing opportunities for young people in any field of sport. Apart from being a renowned broadcaster for five decades as the BBC's Voice of Rugby, Bill McLaren was a teacher in his beloved Hawick. He would instil in young people the values he held dear such as respect for officials, the opposition and your team mates, dignity in defeat as well as being humble in victory and discipline. He encouraged youngsters to be the best that they could be and inspired them to go that extra yard be it on the rugby field, dance floor or classroom. He was always positive, encouraging young people and helping them be more confident. The Bill McLaren Foundation’s objectives and the values of Bill McLaren himself align closely with the values that we’re seeking to develop in young people through PCS Plus. We are thankful to the Bill McLaren Foundation for their financial and partnership support to PCS over the years.

VALUES AND THE BILL McLAREN FOUNDATION

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WELCOME ABOUT PCS PLUS

PCS PLUS

PCS Plus teaches how to develop a positive learning environment in and beyond

sport, we educate the key people involved with a young person’s development

through a series of workshops and resources.

The new content will focus on five key areas:

• Mastery

• Confidence

• Mindset

• Life skills

• Values

These are all topics that research tells us are

increasingly important for young people

today and in the future.

As well as new content, we are also working to make materials more accessible by

delivering them in various ways, including online.

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ABOUT THIS TOOLKIT AWARENESS AND UNDERSTANDING

The manual is grouped in three main sections:

✓ Awareness

✓ Understanding

✓ Application

AWARENESS

This section of the manual outlines the benefits of PCS Plus, the value of sport and

the impact that societal changes are having on young people. This section also

includes a glossary of terms that provides a comprehensive list of the terms used in

this manual

UNDERSTANDING

One of the core elements of PCS Plus is to develop the values of young people

through sport. In this section, you will understand what values are, how they can

impact the culture of your club and importantly how they affect your coaching style

and philosophy.

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ABOUT THIS TOOLKIT APPLICATION

APPLICATION

We want to help coaches develop positive values in young people – values taught through sport that will stay with the young person throughout their whole lives. Values are the:

• Standards that guide your actions • Beliefs that distinguish right from wrong • Behaviours you would never change – even when the going gets tough • Beliefs you want to pass onto young players

Within this principle we teach the influencers of a young person:

• Understand what values are and how this forms part of your coaching philosophy • Understand how you can bring your club values to life through your coaching • Understand how to:

a) Coach values during training sessions b) Coach values during competition c) Make parents an asset to your club

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Through Positive Coaching Scotland (PCS), we want to help coaches develop positive values in young people – values taught through sport, but will stay with the young person throughout their whole lives.

WHAT ARE VALUES?

Your values are the things that you believe are important.

These values determine your coaching priorities, and, what you pass on to young athletes.

Your coaching values are the:

• Standards that guide your actions • Beliefs that distinguish right from wrong • Behaviors you would never change – even when the going gets tough • Beliefs you want to pass onto young athletes

PROMOTING POSITIVE VALUES THROUGH SPORT

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In Scotland today we are facing a rapidly changing society, one that is likely to transform the world of work, education and community through technological changes. This will significantly impact on how today's children and young people prepare for the future. The value of sport goes beyond the sports field and can have a significant impact on the development of the young person across a broad range of attributes.

SPORT HELPS TO IMPROVE

Education performance: improved attainment at school through increased commitment to

learning which includes achievement, motivation and engagement.

Employment opportunities: improved physical and mental health leads to a positive

identity which includes feelings of self-esteem, purpose and positive outlook.

Personal standards and behaviour: positive values which entail being caring, honest,

responsible, and disciplined.

Social skills: Social competencies which include interpersonal competence, planning and

decision making, and conflict resolution.

Important life skills: through sport young people have a fantastic opportunity to develop

many important life skills such as resilience, communication and teamwork – although these

skills will be learnt in sport, they will be transferable into everyday life.

SPORT HELPS TO REDUCE

Obesity and being overweight: in Scotland, 22% children aged 6 years old are overweight or

obese and 31% of children have three or more hours’ screen time on a typical weekday

Anxiety: young people who take part in out-of-school sport have much higher levels of

social behaviour and personal and social responsibility than those who do not take part.

THE VALUE OF SPORT IN DEVELOPING YOUNG PEOPLE

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PCS Plus provides a comprehensive package of information and practical tools that can

improve the learning environment in clubs.

The impact on club leaders, coaches, parents and young people can be seen across key areas

and will have a positive impact on their ability to:

✓ Develop a positive learning environment

✓ Increase participation and lower drop out

✓ Improve touch line behaviour

✓ Grow volunteer recruitment and retention

✓ Provide quality coaching

✓ Develop club culture

✓ Deliver fun and enjoyable coaching sessions for young people

✓ Improve sporting performance

✓ Develop young people physically, socially and psychologically

BENEFITS OF POSITIVE COACHING SCOTLAND

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The foundation for coaching success is creating a positive learning environment, along with a

positive culture that develops young people.

To create a sustainable learning environment all the key influencers in a young person’s

development must be involved: coaches, parents, club leaders and teachers.

The PCS Plus programme is unique in developing young people in three distinct ways:

✓ Physically

✓ Socially

✓ Psychologically

This is a different approach than the traditional physical only approach.

By developing a positive learning environment, coaches will intentionally develop the young

person’s:

✓ Confidence

✓ Values

✓ Mindset

✓ Life skills

CREATING A POSITIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

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Traditional coaching tends to focus on the physical attributes of young people, sometimes with some attention given to social skills but rarely includes psychological. Coaching the whole child means developing the young person across all three attributes: Think about your last coaching session – did you intentionally develop the young person physically, socially and psychologically?

COACHING THE WHOLE CHILD

Physically

Physical attributes

Health and fitness

Technical and tactical skills

Socially

Behaviour and

attitude

Values

Character

Psychologically

Confidence

Mental skills

Learning

Concentration

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The role of a coach is to intentionally develop values during training sessions and matches – coaches should intentionally be teaching the following values:

Take some time to review your own coaching and ask yourself:

• Do I intentionally develop these skills when coaching?

• What could I do to develop these values within my coaching?

• Do I teach the young players how these values may help them out with sport?

UNDERSTANDING WHAT VALUES ARE

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Sport presents a wonderful opportunity to engage with young people, it is important that coaches understand this opportunity and teach young people values through sport.

Developing values through sport can take many different forms. Coaches must take the opportunity to teach young people that to be truly successful in sports - and in life - they must treat everyone around them with respect.

This may involve behaviours such as:

✓ Handshakes ✓ Playing to the rules ✓ Encouraging others ✓ Winning with grace and losing with dignity ✓ Playing fair and respecting opponents ✓ Welcoming new teammates to group ✓ Respecting the referee decisions ✓ Being positive with others ✓ Good manners ✓ Fair play and sportsmanship ✓ Communicating positively

These respect behaviours can be taught across three key areas:

UNDERSTANDING WHAT VALUES ARE

TEAM GAME SELF

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There are many benefits of playing sport, both on and off the pitch. From fitness to social interaction and life skills sport provides an unusual, but ideal, training ground for later life.

Sport can help increase a young person’s self-esteem, which feeds their inner drive, and ultimately drives their performance. But sport isn’t the only winner, quite often the young person’s school performance increases too! Studies have shown that by feeling part of a team and exercising regularly young people will continue this attitude into adult life.

Through sport, young people have the opportunity learn respect in a team setting, presenting an opportunity to develop important social skills - learning skills such as:

Positive coaches intentionally teach these skills, either by creating situations, or recognising an opportunity when it arises.

COACHING VALUES THROUGH SPORT TEAM

TEAM

Mixing with others

Teamwork

Achieving team goals

Building relationships

Co-operation

Leadership

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COACHING VALUES THROUGH SPORT GAME

There are numerous good examples of fair play throughout sport, however, all too often the negative examples are the ones that make the media headlines. Most coaches agree that this type of behaviour has no part in sport – especially as this teaches young people the wrong lessons.

Coaches have a responsibility to ask themselves –

✓ What can I do to remove negative behaviours in sport?

✓ Do I take opportunities to discuss respect when an opportunity arises?

✓ How could I have dealt with previous situations differently?

✓ Do I intentionally set up situations that can generate discussions?

There are numerous opportunities to teach respect during a match/game, provided coaches seize the opportunity – positive coaches take the opportunity across three areas

OFFICIALS RULES OPPONENTS

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COACHING VALUES THROUGH SPORT OFFICIALS

Referees, officials or judges are often perceived as being a controversial figure in sport, however this should not be the case – the reality is that without them, there is no game.

Ultimately, coaches must remember that they are a role model to young athletes, if they are seen shouting at an official or questioning their decision, they are telling young people that it is ok to behave like this – it’s not!

Take some time to think about your own coaching (or others coach you with), has there ever been a time when you have set a bad example to young people by not showing respect to officials? Take some time to think about the impact this may have had on young people.

Of course, there are times when you may disagree with the decision that an official makes – however this is an opportunity to set a good example to young people by:

✓ Showing restraint and maintaining your position as a positive role model

✓ Use the decision that you disagree with as an opportunity to discuss respect with the young athletes

Sport is emotional and there are often decisions that frustrate coaches – however teach young athletes the importance of staying in control and showing respect to the officials at all times.

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COACHING VALUES THROUGH SPORT OFFICIALS

Officials are a critical part of sports; positive coaches always respect the officials and teach young athletes to do the same - there are a number of ways that coaches can teach young athletes to respect the officials

Follow the golden rules of working with match/competition day officials.

1. Welcome the officials

Allocate one or two young athletes the responsibility of welcoming the match/competition officials to your home venue, encourage them to make the official feel welcome – this responsibility should be shared around the team for different matches

2. Teach young athletes the officials role

Coaches must take every opportunity to explain the role of the officials to young people and explain that they are they to uphold the rules and keep competition fair.

3. Respect their decisions

Take time within pre-match/competition discussions to explain to young athletes that whilst they may not agree with a referee’s decision, they should always respect them.

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COACHING VALUES THROUGH SPORT OFFICIALS

4. Understand the laws/rules of the sport

It is vital that coaches teach young people the law/rules of the sport.

To do this successfully, coaches themselves must fully understand the laws/rules – take some time to ask yourself if you know the laws/rules of your sport and how they are applied – if not, how can you criticise them during a competition?

Young people that waste time and energy complaining about a decision they disagree with are having a negative impact not only on their own performance, but also on the team.

5. Thank the officials

Coaches should always encourage young athletes to thank the officials after competition, however this should be led by the coaches themselves. Coaches should make an honest and sincere gesture of thanking the officials.

This then shows young athletes the importance of respect. Coaches may have been frustrated with the official’s performance, however the most important lesson is to teach respect

Officials play a huge role in any sport – teach young athletes to respect their effort.

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COACHING VALUES THROUGH SPORT RULES

The rules and regulations of any sport are in place for a variety of reasons ranging from safety to fair play – this gives the sport its values. It is vital that coaches recognise their role in teaching respect for the rules of sport.

The examples that are set in sport, set an example for young people to follow in everyday life. There are often examples where the desire to win a match/competition overwhelms the coach or athlete – and they tell themselves that it is ok to cheat in order to win.

Coaches must set an example that it is never ok to cheat.

Coaches have a responsibility to ensure that young people understand the value of respecting the rules in everyday life.

Take some time to consider the following questions:

✓ Have you ever experienced a situation where you or another coach has broken the rules?

o What example did this set to the young athletes? o How did the young athletes react – both in the short term and long term? o Have any young athletes changed their behaviours because of this?

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COACHING VALUES THROUGH SPORT RULES

Coaches should take some time during training sessions or in pre-competition discussions to explain the importance of respecting the rules – even if the opposition fail to do so. Coaches must encourage young people to respect the rules and refuse to break them. Coaches may wish to discuss a pledge with the young people, where they all agree to respect the rules. This pledge can then be displayed as a poster within the dressing room before a match/competition, giving the coach an opportunity to reference their pledge and embed positive respectful behaviours. The template of the match day pledge can be downloaded from here.

OUR MATCHDAY PLEDGE

We want to win the game the way it is

supposed to be played.

We refuse to bend the rules even if we

can get away with it, whether anyone

is looking or not.

Rules are there for a reason, breaking

the rules dishonours our game.

We will always respect the rules

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COACHING VALUES THROUGH SPORT OPPONENTS

To be a positive coach, respecting opponents is vital to success. Remember: without opponents, there would be no game at all! Imagine a tug of war with no-one else on the other end of the rope. Without opponents sport would make no sense. The best games are the ones that are challenging, hard but fair, with lots of passion and enjoyable. Teaching young people to respect their opponents is a value that will stay with them throughout their lives – crucially there are numerous opportunities to teach this whilst coaching. Imagine the following scenario One of your players goes into a 50-50 tackle, the opposition player is un-injured but falls to the ground and the ball rolls out of play. Do you want your player to pick the opposition player up or leave them on the ground? A positive coach would want the player to be helped up. Take some time to think about the lessons that this opportunity may teach a young person:

• To appreciate competition

• Show positive sportsmanship Importantly, this also sets a positive example for the young player’s team mates to follow.

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COACHING VALUES THROUGH SPORT SELF

Coaches should always teach young people how to respect themselves. Young athletes with self-respect will learn important lessons through sport that can help them in school and in later life. The starting point for teaching this is the coach – the examples they set to young people will be replicated both in and out of sport. Coaches should always question the examples they are setting to young people during competition and training sessions. To respect themselves, coaches can as themselves: At the end of every competition or training session ask yourself – was I proud of my actions today? If not, take some time to think what could have been done differently.

Coaching Checklist - Respect:

Do I…..

✓ Prepare for the session properly?

✓ Arrive to all matches / training sessions on time?

✓ Use appropriate language?

✓ Use appropriate body language?

✓ Communicate with parents positively

✓ Respect the decisions of officials?

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APPLYING TOOLS TO DEVELOP VALUES

This section of the manual is where you find the tools that will help you teach values to young athletes. You will be provided with tools and techniques that allow you to teach values within your coaching practice. The tools are designed to complement your existing knowledge and support your ability to develop the player and the athlete. THE TOOLS ARE GROUPED INTO THREE KEY AREAS

MAKING

PARENTS AN

ASSET

COMPETITIONTRAINING

Creating a positive learning

environment for young people to

develop their values through sport

Building an environment where

young people develop values in a

competitive environment

Making parents an asset to your club by

setting clear expectations and avoiding problem

parents

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TRAINING

Page Title Page Number

Coaching values during training 27 Tools to Maximise Learning

• Practice through practice 27

• Teachable moments 27

• Respect conversations 28

• Codes of conduct 28

• Behaviour diamond 29

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COACHING VALUES DURING TRAINING

The time that coaches have with young people during training sessions presents a wonderful opportunity to teach values and address negative behaviours. PRACTICE THROUGH PRACTICE Coaches often use drills to improve the young athlete’s skills and technique. The same applies when teaching values as part of a coaching philosophy. During sessions, real opportunities will regularly present themselves where you can reinforce the message. These can be both positive and negative situations of sportsmanlike or unsportsmanlike behaviour. If an athlete or team react well to the situation, praise them for their behaviour. If not, use the opportunity to discuss values. A situation that may arise during competition, such as a poor refereeing decision may result in a young athlete getting upset and shouting at referee. Let a young athlete officiate a training match to experience how difficult the job can be and teach them they can disagree with an official but do it in a respectful way.

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COACHING VALUES DURING TRAINING

TEACHABLE MOMENTS High profile sporting events often provide a wonderful opportunity to teach young people lessons that are valid for sport but also in their everyday lives – however these opportunities are often missed by coaches. Teachable moments can be both negative and positive – for example a high-profile athlete behaving in a disrespectful manner, or more positively, an athlete helping an injured opponent. Having these high-profile opportunities provides a great discussion topic during your next training session. High profile events are not the only time a coach can recognise teachable moments, they may also occur during training sessions or competition. Seize these moments and use them to create discussions with the young athletes, but to also generate discussion amongst the athletes themselves, ask questions such as:

✓ Tell me what you thought about the athlete’s actions?

✓ What example do you think that set for young people watching?

✓ How do you think the athlete’s teammates would have reacted?

✓ How would you have responded if that was one of your teammates? Starting a discussion with a question doesn’t mean that coaches can’t join in the conversation – it may be that the coach disagrees and needs to guide the conversation, however it can be very powerful when the young person concludes their own thoughts and recognises either positive or negative behaviour. The most important factor is for the coaches is to recognise a teachable moment and discuss this with the young athletes – teaching them right from wrong and instilling positive behaviour’s both in and beyond sport. Take some time to think about teachable moments you may have missed – what would you do differently next time?

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COACHING VALUES DURING TRAINING

RESPECT CONVERSATIONS Having regular respect conversations with young athletes is an opportunity to emphasise the importance you place on respectful behaviours. By engaging with the young people regularly, both individually and as a team will help them to understand the behaviours you would like them to display. Regular conversations also provide an opportunity to build the coach/athlete relationship – vital for learning to occur. Coaches may set themselves a challenge of having a respect conversation with two - three individuals per training session, and one team conversation per week. These may be short conversations, but provide an opportunity to re-enforce respect as a core value of your coaching philosophy. CODE OF CONDUCT A code of conduct provides behavioural guidelines for coaches to adhere to. The main purposes of the code are to encourage and maintain a high standard of coaching and ensure the physical, psychological and social development of a young person. Codes of conduct also promote fair and responsible behaviour by the coach towards young athletes – emphasising their position as a role model. The obligation of a coach is not only to develop better athletes, but also to develop better people. A sample coaches’ code of conduct can be found here. Similar to coaches, young people must also have behavioural guidelines to follow – an athletes’ code of conduct can also be found here.

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COACHING VALUES DURING TRAINING

Behaviour Diamond The aim of a positive coach is to establish a positive learning environment within their club, encouraging positive behaviours, yet setting standards which will not be compromised. Behavioural diamonds can be used to set a discipline within clubs/ teams based on mutual respect and support. Behavioural diamonds set out how coaches can reward respectful behaviours, but also outline the consequences for not maintaining a specified level of behaviour. The aim of a behavioural diamond is to increase positive behaviours and remove negative behaviours. Using a behavioural diamond is most effective when the whole team agree on the rewards and consequences A copy of the behaviour diamond can be downloaded from here.

Removed from club

Removed from team

Dropped for next match

Dropped from next training session

Removed from rest of training session

Removed from drill

Behaviour noted and recorded

Spoken to about behaviour

Praise and encouragement

Group Praise as a teachable moment

Respect reward

Example highlighted within weekly messages

Recognition on monthly respect board

Nominated for annual respect award

Nominated for team of the year

Selected for team of the year

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COMPETITION

Page Title Page Number

Coaching values during competition 31 Tools to Coach Respect on Match days

• Competition champions 31

• Pre-match routines 32

• Physical environment 33

• Moral courage 34

• Fair play cards 35

• Self-control routines 36

• Positive routines 37

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COACHING VALUES DURING COMPETITION

COMPETITION CHAMPIONS A competition champion can help to shape the culture of a club. Having this person reinforce values is an excellent way of preventing many of the negative issues which can occur in youth sport. A competition champion will help with touchline management by giving gentle or, when necessary, more assertive reminders to maintain a positive learning environment. Competition champions will ideally have strong, yet friendly people skills, these can be - club leaders, coaches, parents and even athletes. The nominated person(s) should be able to relate well to others and be outgoing and engaging. Their main role is to:

• Promote positive behaviour on the touchlines

• Get to know the parents and other people involved with the club/organisation

• Be a role model

• Distribute PCS parent’s leaflets to promote positive messages A template describing a role description for a competition champion can be accessed from here.

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COACHING VALUES DURING COMPETITION

PRE-COMPETITION ROUTINES Being respectful means ensuring the club has a welcoming feel to it. Pre-competition routines are a great way of creating a caring culture and teaching young athletes the importance of respecting their team, the game and themselves. Coaches can allocate tasks to young athletes aimed at maintaining a positive environment, they can be allocated tasks such as:

• Welcoming officials, parents and opposition teams

• Checking changing facilities for opposition

• Arranging post-match hospitality (if appropriate)

• Thanking officials, parents and opposition on departure Importantly, coaches can rotate responsibilities from week to week ensuring all of the athletes experience a different responsibility.

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COACHING VALUES DURING COMPETITION

PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT There are several methods that coaches can use to develop the physical environment around a match/competition day – increasing the likelihood of creating a respectful environment. PITCH TAPES Pitch tapes can be used to allocate a spectator area that is well away from the playing area, preventing spectators from encroaching onto the pitch. Whilst preventing encroachment, fair play messages can also be printed on the tape re-enforcing a message of respect. BANNERS Competition banners are a terrific way of reminding coaches, players and spectators of their roles and responsibilities on a match day. COACH AREAS Coach areas are designated areas for coaches to stand during a match/competition. To maximise the effectiveness these areas they should be on the opposite side from the spectator area. This prevents any negative coach/spectator interaction and allows coaches to concentrate on the young athlete’s performance.

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COACHING VALUES DURING COMPETITION

MORAL COURAGE Positive coaches believe in the concept of moral courage, standing up for what is right even when others disagree. Moral courage is doing the right thing because it’s right, not because it might mean winning a match/game. Positive coaches would do what’s right even if it meant losing the match/game. Positive coaches have the moral courage to speak out when a young athlete does not show respect. Every team loves to win, but there is a right way and a wrong way to win. Winning when an athlete has cheated takes all the honour out of victory. Positive coaches would rather lose a competition with dignity as opposed to winning the game dishonestly. How do you feel when an opposition athlete cheats during a match?

• cheated?

• angry?

• frustrated? How would you feel if one of your athletes cheated to win? Are you still cheated, angry and frustrated? Positive coaches would! Take some time to consider how you would react if your own athletes cheated during a match:

• How would you react?

• What would you do?

• How can you prevent it happening again?

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COACHING VALUES DURING COMPETITION

FAIR PLAY CARDS Fair play cards help to re-enforce the behaviour coaches expect to see from the sideline. The standard of behaviour set during competition can have a significant impact on the development of a positive learning environment. Use these fair play cards as a gentle method of reminding spectators that there are role models and play a key role in the development of young people. The message on the fair play cards is very clear – It’s their sport, let them play it!

To use your fair play cards, follow these steps:

• Before competition starts, coaches should bring all athletes together and set the behavioural standard they expect from the athletes.

• Coaches then give the athletes one fair play card each

• Athletes then run to their parent/guardian/grandparent etc, hand the card to them and ask them to read it. (If they do not have anyone watching them the player should hand the card to one of their team officials, coaches or supporters)

• Once the competition has finished, the coach should then call the athletes together and re-enforce any behavioural points that may have arisen during the competition.

• The athletes should then run to their parent/guardian/grandparent etc, and collect the fair play card back from them.

• Coaches should then collect the cards from the athletes to use again the next week or once a month depending on how often coaches need to promote the positive message.

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COACHING VALUES DURING COMPETITION

SELF-CONTROL ROUTINES When your team is not performing or not working hard, coaches may feel angry or frustrated, it is vital that they remain positive in front of young people and continue to show respect. Coaches must remember their important position as a role model for young people. Everyone should have a mechanism which they use to control their temper and you should share these ideas with your players to help them develop self-control too. Find a self-control routine that works for you, some include:

• Chewing a sweet

• Drinking out of water bottle

• Taking deep breaths

• Counting to ten Another method of maintaining control is to remember WIN:

• What’s

• Important

• Now

Coaches can quickly refocus their attentions and focus forward on what’s important.

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COACHING VALUES DURING COMPETITION

POSITIVE ROUTINES One of the ways that positive athletes make their sport better is by building positive routines. These routines can include:

✓ Shaking hand with officials before and after matches ✓ Shaking hands with opponents before and after matches

Routines to show respect during competition:

✓ Treat opponents as you would expect to be treated ✓ Know that there is a right way and a wrong way to win ✓ Appreciate good performances, especially by an opponent ✓ Always show respect for the officials

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MAKING PARENTS AN ASSET TO YOUR CLUB

Page Title Page Number

Making parents an asset to your club 39 Tools to Coach Respect on Match days

• PCS parents pledge 39

• Positive charting 40

• Parents code of conduct 41

• Parents meetings 41

• Message weeks 42

• Intervening with parents 42

• Effort logs 43

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MAKING PARENTS AN ASSET TO YOUR CLUB

PCS PARENTS PLEDGE Parents can be a fantastic asset to a club and help to create a positive learning environment for young people. By signing a parent’s pledge, parents become an important element in maintaining a positive culture, committing to develop an environment:

• Where young athletes are developed positively, learn to win through effort and develop skills for life

• That shows respect and encourages sportsmanship at all times

• With a long-term view that sport teaches important life lessons, often making the focus on results and league tables irrelevant

• That develops young people physically, psychologically and socially

• That demands the highest standard of behaviour By committing to support the positive learning environment parents will help to help to create a club where:

• A positive learning environment is of utmost importance

• Young people enjoy their involvement with sport

• Young people learn life lessons and character – through sport

• Young people stay in sport longer A parent’s pledge template can be downloaded from here.

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MAKING PARENTS AN ASSET TO YOUR CLUB

POSITIVE CHARTING Positive charting is simple – but not necessarily easy. It requires effort, the effort to observe. Coaches can add value by finding things that are done incorrectly and improving them. But it is equally important to find things that are being done correctly to reinforce them. Positive charting is a method of increasing the number of ‘right things’ that young athletes do. It also creates a wonderful positive atmosphere in which athletes are more receptive to being corrected because they feel appreciated. Positive charting works by selecting an athlete to watch and identifying positive elements of their performance – this then gives an opportunity for coaches to discuss their performance, outlining the positive elements as well as areas for improvement. It is very difficult to observe more than three athletes at any time; however, this is also an opportunity to involve parents, assistant coaches, and even players. A positive charting template can be downloaded from here.

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MAKING PARENTS AN ASSET TO YOUR CLUB

PARENTS CODE OF CONDUCT Much like the coaches and young players, parents can also adhere to a code of conduct, providing a set of behavioural guidelines. Parents code of conduct encourage parents to:

• Remember that young people play sport for FUN

• Applaud effort and good play as well as success

• Always respect the match officials’ decisions

• Remain within the designated spectators’ area

• Let the coach do their job and not confuse the athletes by telling them what to do

• Encourage athletes to respect the rule, opposition, referee, teammates and themselves

• Avoid criticising an athlete for making a mistake – mistakes are part of learning

• Never engage in, or tolerate, offensive, insulting, or abusive language or behaviour A template for a parent’s code of conduct can be downloaded from here. PARENTS MEETINGS Build good relationships with parents and set the standard for parental behaviour by holding regular parent meetings. Arrange a meeting at the start of the season, then one every two - three months. Parents are more likely to ‘be on side’ when they know the direction that the club is taking. A parents meeting gives an ideal opportunity to explain plans for the club. A template agenda for a parents meeting can be downloaded from here.

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MAKING PARENTS AN ASSET TO YOUR CLUB

MESSAGE WEEKS Regular communication with parents helps to create a better link between the club, coaches, athletes and parents. By using social media, email, text messages coaches can increase the communication with parents, but also help them reinforce the messages they deliver during training sessions. Not all coaches have the time or capability to develop a communications plan, providing an opportunity to engage others into the club – take some time to consider who may be able to help with this. A sample communication plan can be downloaded from here. INTERVENING WITH PARENTS Clubs often work very hard on establishing a positive learning environment, however occasionally an individual’s behaviours fall short of the club’s expectations – in this situation coaches can follow the PCS three-step approach to challenging negative behaviour.

• Step One – Non-verbal approach

• Step Two – Gentle conversation

• Step Three - Official warning A template outlining steps of how to intervene when spectators step out of line can be downloaded from here.

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MAKING PARENTS AN ASSET TO YOUR CLUB

EFFORT LOGS Effort logs can be used to monitor the effort put in by each athlete during your coaching session. Coaches may complete the log themselves or enlist the help of an assistant coach or injured athlete to help. Select some key areas such as effort, behaviour or attitude and mark the athlete 1 (extremely light) to 5 (extremely hard). This will encourage the type of behaviour you want at your sessions. However, remember not to give the reward to the same athletes every week or others will become dispirited and feel that their effort is not being recognised. An effort log template can be downloaded from here.

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REVIEW

We want to help influencers develop positive values in young people. Values taught through sport can stay with the young person throughout their whole lives. Values are the:

• standards that guide your actions • your beliefs that distinguish right from wrong • behaviours you would never change – even when the going gets tough • beliefs you want to pass onto young players

On successful completion of this principle, influencers should be able to:

1. Understand what values are and how they are fundamental to a young person’s development

2. Define behaviours associated with particular values 3. Understand that values can be developed through sport 4. Explain how to:

• develop values during training sessions • teach values during competition • make parents an asset to your club • Understand how to apply tools and techniques that promote the development of

positive values COACHING CHALLENGE Take at least one tool from these materials and embed within your coaching For further information on the Positive Coaching Scotland programme visit www.winningscotlandfoundation.org here you will find further information relating to:

• Create a mastery coaching environment

• Supporting young people to have growth mindsets

• Understanding how sport develops positive life skills in young people

• How sport can develop confidence in young people

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For further information on PCS Plus and our other programmes visit:

www.winningscotlandfoundation.org