Team Rules..."How To Be a
Better Player"
1. Be on time.
2. No whining.
3. Do what you should, when you should, not just what you have to.
4. Do it before you are asked.
5. Do things that will make your self, team, coach, family and friends proud.
The first one "Be on time" is extremely important to the coach. If a player
can't make the effort to be on time, then it’s difficult for the coach to make
the effort to make them a better player.
The "No whining" rule simply says accept the cards you are dealt with and move
on. For example, if the ref makes a call you don't agree with, accept it and
move on. It won't do you any good to stop and whine about so just move on.
The third rule means that while most people do exactly what is expected of them,
be someone who does more then what is asked and go the extra mile and do a bit
more. If your team is running sprints and the coach wants everyone to do 10
sprints, go ahead and do 11. Be willing to accept more responsibility than you
have to and you will slowly become a leader.
The fourth rule is a matter of being a bit of a leader. Don't wait for your
coach to ask for help in gathering up equipment after a training session. Take
charge and do it yourself. If you see some tape on the ground, don't wait for
someone to ask you to pick it up, you know you should (go back to rule 3) so go
ahead and do it before you are asked. If one person starts doing this, the rest
of the team will follow the lead.
Rule 5 covers a great deal. If you know you can do something that you shouldn't
(for example, you can lie about a doctors appointment and miss a training
session), think about how it will reflect on yourself and the people who mean a
lot to you. If it will reflect poorly on you or your team, then simply don't do
it. One of the things coaches tell teams is to ask themselves before doing
things whether it’s something that he/she would approve of and be proud of them
for doing and if not, then simply don't do it.
