Winning Your Coaches Meetings with Intentionality, Creativity

For many athletic administrators, the “mandatory coaches’ meeting” is often viewed as a logistical hurdle – a time to review policies, complete mandatory training and distribute equipment. However, when done with intentionality, this meeting can be a powerful and effective tool to build a cohesive department culture. By shifting the focus from mere logistics to professional development and team building, athletic directors can transform coaches meetings from “emails that could have been” into high-value growth opportunities.

Define the Core Purpose
The primary goal of the meeting should be to make the time valuable. Using the time to foster department cohesiveness and build a genuine team environment is a good place to start. Meetings serve as a critical vehicle to keep lines of communication open, particularly during the off-season when coaches might otherwise feel disconnected from the program. Having an agenda that prioritizes the goal and purpose allows for effective time together.

An effective meeting structure should balance several key objectives:

• Sharing Essential Information: Keeping everyone on the same page and fostering a community built on trust.

• Professional Development: Enhancing the skills and leadership of the coaching staff with perspective and growth opportunities that are applicable and not sport-specific.

• Departmental News: Providing updates on the state of the athletic program, in-season sport updates and eliminating potential surprises to come.

• Logistics: Reviewing facility usage, transportation schedules and operational updates.

• Policy and Procedure Review: Ensuring staff remains compliant with standards (i.e., school, district, state association, etc.).

To maintain a professional atmosphere, establish norms and be consistent with them, and model them to the team. These expectations ensure that the time spent together is respected and productive.

Suggested norms:

• Be on time.

• Be respectful.

• Be prepared.

• Contribute in a positive manner.

Navigating the Scheduling Hurdle
The biggest hurdle for any athletic director is determining when to meet. Traditional time slots often exclude key members of the staff.

• Afternoons: Conflict with athletic practices for in-season coaches.

• Mornings: Faculty responsibilities make this difficult for on-campus coaches, while off-campus coaches may have conflicting work schedules.

• Lunch: Coaches rarely have lunch at the same time, leading to rushed sessions.

• Weekends: Generally unpopular and often result in low morale.

To overcome these challenges, athletic directors must think outside the box.

Consider options like:

• Faculty Time Add-ons: Utilizing existing professional development days or teacher workdays.

• Early Morning: Scheduling before the school day begins. Bring breakfast!

• Summer Sessions: Using the break to gather the entire staff without seasonal pressure.

• Book Clubs: Engaging coaches in a more relaxed, ongoing format.

• Multi-Option Days: Holding the same meeting at different times (morning, lunch and afternoon) to provide flexibility.

• Remote/Digital Options: Using Zoom or pre-recorded video messages for those who cannot be physically present.

Regardless of the choice, the most important rule is to be consistent; choose a schedule and stick with it.

Maximizing Your Time: The 40/40/10/10 Model
To ensure meetings remain professional and impactful, consider using a specific time-allocation model. This prevents the meeting from being derailed by minor troubleshooting or recaps of the most recent athletic event.

40/40/10/10 Meeting Model:

• Professional Development (40%): Focus on growth and leadership.

• Departmental Updates (40%): Essential program-wide information.

• Staff News (10%): Celebrating individual and team wins-personal and professional.

• Other (10%): Troubleshooting and miscellaneous items.

Engagement and, Yes, Fun
Remember, your coaches are likely individuals who enjoy movement, competition and engagement. To move away from a lecture-style format, incorporate interactive activities that serve as icebreakers and team-building exercises.

Meeting activities to consider:

• Pair & Share: Coaches partner up to describe their communication styles, practice plans that work, or leadership philosophies.

• Rock, Paper, Scissors, Fan Club: A high-energy game to build department spirit. Individuals play rock, paper, scissors and the loser becomes a fan of the winner. Keep playing until it’s down to the final two, and their respective fan club!

• Ball of Questions: Tossing a ball with questions written on it to encourage spontaneous sharing.

• 2 Truths & A Lie: A classic get-to-know-you game.

• Leadership Clips: Asking coaches to bring and share a video clip that represents what leadership means to them or shares a leadership influence.

• Sport Trivia: Using history and timelines to engage competitive natures.

Annual Themes and Coach Series
Utilizing an annual theme helps a department stay on mission and focused. Themes can be related to the school’s professional goals or program core values.

Focus areas might include:

• Modeling Positive Behavior

• Legacy and Grit

• Gratitude

• John Wooden’s Pyramid of Success

One of the most effective ways to enhance meetings is to consider a special coach series.

This involves:

• Rotating presenters among the staff, starting with veterans.

• Allowing coaches to choose a topic they are passionate about.

• Using both head coaches and assistant coaches.

• Avoiding sport-specific topics to ensure universal relevance.

• Using this platform to engage a coach by giving them a leadership role.

Conclusion
Ultimately, these meetings are about the impact a coach can make and ensuring your department feels a sense of trust, connection and support. By revitalizing coaches meetings, athletic directors don’t just share information; they leave a lasting legacy of excellence in their departments that has potential to impact the entire program and school.

Kelly Fish, CMAA, is assistant head of school for advancement and strategic initiatives at Currey Ingram Academy in Brentwood, Tennessee. She was the school’s athletic director from 2011 to 2022 before moving into her current role. Fish holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Louisville and a Master of Sport Administration degree from Belmont University. She is a National Faculty member for the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA), and a member of the Safe Sports Zone National Team. She previously coached cheer and basketball at the middle school level.