Promoting Your Physical Education and Sports Programs Through Reliance on Key Core Values, Principles, and Beliefs
written by Bill Utsey, Director of Athletics, Greenville County Schools, Greenville, South Carolina

In my fortieth year in physical education and interscholastic athletics, I can now look back with some validity on what enables teachers and coaches to survive and, at times, thrive in this profession. It did not take me long to realize that my core beliefs and values were going to be critical in order to be considered a contributor and to achieve success in coaching and teaching. Below are some revealing realizations that came to me early in my teaching and coaching career. They became some of my core principles and molded my core values. The objective of this article is to share them with you and let you assess for yourself how relying on core principles may indeed be the best way you can promote your program.

1. "Every day your students will go home and sit down at a supper table with their parents and they will inevitably talk about what you, the coach and teacher, did in your classroom and on your court or field." What your kids will be talking about is the most important public relations promotional you will ever have control over!

   Ultimately, everything you do in the classroom or on the field or court will surely make its way to your students’ and players’ homes. Your students and their parents will then talk to their friends, neighbors, and co-workers about what you said and did. The things you do are ultimately determined by your core values. These core values are those beliefs and principles that will guide every action and every decision you make with your players. Examples of solid core values include, but not limited to: integrity, honesty, love, compassion, the hard work ethic, and the value of preparation.

   When you communicate such values through your teaching, you will make solid decisions about who, what, when, where, and how in every phase of your coaching. Reliance on a strong set of core values will bring huge dividends of good decisions, right actions, and compassionate responses for your students and players.

2. "When kids are knocking your door down to be a part of your program, you must be doing something right." This is, to me, one of the best measures of success your teaching and coaching can ever receive.

   The number of kids wanting to be in your classroom or on your team is a measure of success that is better than being undefeated or winning a state championship. Greater yet is having their parents wanting their sons and daughters to be taught and coached by you. What is it that you have to do and what character traits and teaching skills must you possess to produce large numbers of young people “knocking your door down?” I submit to you that a strong set of core values and principles will get you started in the right direction. However, this is only a start. Other traits are necessary to grow the special skills and talents successful teachers and coaches all have.

   As a high school principal I hired teachers on an annual basis and, still to this day, participate in our district’s recruiting and interviewing of teacher candidates. I have learned that two traits will stick out above all others: Do you have a passion for teaching and coaching? Do you have a passion for kids? If you can communicate these two traits in an interview, your chances of getting hired will be significantly higher. If you can exhibit and demonstrate these passions to your students and players in your teaching and coaching, you will be well on your way to having your “door knocked down” at the beginning of each season.

3. "The most important trait a good coach can have is compassion." In my early football and basketball coaching years I read a lot of books by highly successful college coaches. I came across this quote from the great Joe Paterno and of all the books I read, he is the only one who mentioned compassion as an essential ingredient for success in teaching and coaching.

   A corollary to this quote is one I often use with both teachers and coaches, “Kids won’t care unless they know you care.” This is compassion in action. There is no truer statement in the world of teaching and coaching. After you have yelled at, embarrassed, or humiliated a player, do you realize its impact upon the psyche of the player? More importantly, do you later speak to this player and figuratively put your arm around him or her and show and tell them why you did what you did and what you want them to learn from the experience. This is just one general example of showing compassion. There are many others.

4. "The people you really work FOR are the kids in your classrooms and on your teams AND their parents" (emphasis mine). When your players and their parents are happy with what you are doing, you should never have to worry about security in your job regardless of the number of wins or losses.

   Although a school principal or superintendent is who you must answer to, it is the parents and their kids—your students and players - that will ultimately determine the quality and measure of your work. Again, this is where your core values will come into play day after day in what you say, how you act, and what decisions you make.

5. "Your job as a teacher and coach is to work your kids’ rear ends off!" This was spoken over forty years ago in my Team Sports class at The Citadel, by then head football coach, Jimmy "Red" Parker. Its core meaning applies equally to both the classroom and the athletic field or court.

   Whether going into a classroom, gym or field, the successful coach must know that in order to “work your kids’ rear ends off,” you must have a plan and you must work that plan every day. To produce high level of work ethic and volume, the coach has to be highly organized to the point where repetitions for all players are maximized and transitions from one activity to another activity are quick and smooth. Time should never be wasted and “standing around” (doing nothing) by your players must be minimized.

   The age old axiom, "Time is wins," should be foremost in your planning and organizing. With this thought and a penchant for attention to detail, your practice objective is to create an environment of mental intensity - high levels of listening and focus - through total player involvement. Mental intensity at your practices will result in physical intensity from your players and high retention rates of the knowledge, skills and strategies you are teaching at your practices. Don’t we all want our players’ focus and effort at practices? Don’t we all want them to remember what we taught them and to be able to execute the skills and strategies covered at practices?

6. "Positive feedback trumps negative feedback." Every time! Everyone knows this, but not every coach takes advantage of it. For sure, positive feedback reinforces key teaching and coaching moments on the field and court. It is key, however, that you are aware of the greatest psychological needs of teenagers - those of being loved and accepted by their peers and feeling good about who they are. Because of this fact, great teachers and coaches not only use positive reinforcement frequently, whenever possible they dole it out to their players in front of their peers.

7. "There is great power in goal setting." There are two kinds of motivation, extrinsic and intrinsic. Both are good methods of motivation. Coaches control extrinsic motivation because it comes to the athlete from the coaches and others. Its liability is that it only lasts for short periods of time. However, intrinsic motivation is much more powerful because it is longer lasting and it comes from within your athletes. Kids who make a commitment to the team, their teammates, and to specific goals set by them and their teammates will be motivated from within and this kind of motivation is inherently longer lasting.

   There is a plethora of research that supports the value of goal setting and I encourage you to do your own research and reading (google - "power of goal setting"). Getting kids to dream big and being able to get them to bring these dreams down to a level where they can set realistic and attainable goals is a key step. The most important part of this process is that the goal must be the kid's, not the coach's goal. When the goal is the kid's, the motivation is intrinsic (from within the student) and, as stated above, it is long lasting in its effect.

8. "Great teachers are great information givers." The great John Wooden was studied often by sports psychologists to find out what made him a highly successful teacher and coach. What they all found out is that he was a constant giver of informational feedback to his players all during their practices. The information he gave his players was almost exclusively of an instructional nature. Furthermore, when psychologists noted him giving positive or negative feedback, he followed it with some kind of instructional information.

   In my current position directing athletics in a district with fourteen high and eighteen middle schools, I am observing practices and games in all sports all year long. My observations strongly support the findings of the psychologists who studied John Wooden. Coaches who are constantly giving feedback, information, and instruction are coaches who are at the top of their profession and their teams are consistently competitive year-in and year-out.

Collectively, the eight core principles and beliefs shared above are powerful indeed. What are your core principles and beliefs? Regardless of what your core beliefs may be, it is important that you have a set of your own as they will be guiding forces in all that you do as a teacher and coach. Having a set of core beliefs will be a testimony of your coaching style and leadership. Best of all, a solid set of core beliefs and the actions they will produce in the form of your teaching and coaching style and strategies will be the best public relations tool you will ever have to promote your program.

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