January 25, 2018 | Tagged Coaching,
Developing Core Values for Your Athletics Program
NBC Basketball Camp Coach Matt Logie offers key ways for basketball coaches to develop their basketball program.
Create Culture
One of the most often used buzzwords in athletics today is the word “culture”. Coaches, administrators, and the media love to praise the successful “culture” of championship programs. When things go awry, you will often hear the word “culture” brought up to describe how things got off-track or why things were allowed to be the way they were. Culture is a critical issue in today’s athletic arena. So, how do we address this important aspect of program building and what exactly does it mean?
As defined by the dictionary, culture refers to a set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices of an organization. As we set out to build programs in athletics, most coaches will easily realize the importance of goal-setting for their teams and student-athletes. Goals help to set the mark for what everyone is working towards. The practices of an athletics program really have to do with the day-to-day operation – the action steps. It’s in the attitude and values where you really begin to see “culture” defined for your organization. If the members of your organization have poor attitudes, then your program will not have a successful culture. However, it is in our shared values that we can find oneness in developing the proper attitudes as we embark on chasing the shared goals through our shared practices.
Defining core values for your program should be a representation of your own personal values. All championship programs take on the identity of their leader in some form or fashion, so clearly identifying what is important to you will guide your selection of core values. I would recommend keeping your “shared” values to five or less. There is a reason phone numbers are only seven digits long; people can’t remember them all! If you want your student-athletes and assistant coaches to be able to remember your core values, it’s important to keep them to as few as possible. Here in the Whitworth Men’s Basketball program, we have three core values – trust, love, and commitment.
The purpose of core values is to help guide one’s actions. The values you select can be used as beacons to direct the action steps you wish to highlight or emphasize. For example, in our program, it is extremely easy to identify actions for our student-athletes that develop or demonstrate trust. Whether it is going to class on time, handing in assignments when due, or putting in extra work before and after practice, we can easily point to the shared actions that are consistent with our core value of trust. The same can be said for love and commitment.
Set out to define your vision for the best your program can look. What is it about and how can your personal values shape the values of the program? It is in those core values that you will find your culture beginning to take shape.
About NBC Basketball Camps
NBC Basketball Camps are located around the world. Our programs are dedicated to basketball excellence, building leadership, and creating transformation on and off the court. If you love basketball enough to work hard, you need to be at NBC Basketball Camps.