People tend to do what gets rewarded.
Members of an organization often are unclear about the organization's goals. People discover what an organization's values by seeing what the organization rewards.Many YSOs reward only coaches with the best win/loss record. They choose the coach whose team with the best win/loss record to coach an all-star team that advances to tournaments. Being the all-star coach is an honor that many coaches strive for. Some YSOs working with PCA pick the most Positive Coach as the all-star coach.An educational-athletic organization rewards positive coaches who build character in their players as well as teach skills. An effective way to signal to coaches and parents and athletes that your YSO values positive coaching is to institute a Positive Coaching Award. Steps to Take:
- Find someone to take responsibility for the award. Many good ideas go nowhere because no one has made the commitment to make them happen.
- Distribute an announcement flyer and nomination form. You can use the PCA forms, modify them, or develop your own.
- Pick a selection committee with no conflict of interest such as, for example, board members who are not coaching and thus are not eligible for the award themselves.
- Don't box yourself in by setting an arbitrary number of winners. You may find that you will want to give more or fewer awards than you originally thought.
- Announce the award at registration to send the earliest possible message. Distribute nomination forms at games several times during the season. People may not know that they want to nominate their coach until they have had some experience with him or her.
- Set a date for the announcement of the winners. An end-of-the-year event (tournament, coach appreciation lunch, etc.) that gets a big turnout, is ideal for giving awards.
- Give a tangible memento for the award. Certificates for dinners or gifts are things that people can buy for themselves. They cannot buy this award--only people who win it get this memento. The best award is something that the winners can put on their wall or desk or wear to places where others will see it. It should have the organization's name on it as well as the winner's name and, if your organization is a PCA Partner, the PCA logo.
- Maximize the impact with a "perpetual" plaque with winners' names listed by year. Display this at coaches' meetings to keep the awareness in people's minds. The plaque lets new coaches know who is seen as an outstanding coach by the organization, so they can emulate or seek that person out if they are inclined. Displaying the plaque at the beginning of the season may inspire coaches to be more positive to try to win the award.
- Nominate one (or more) of your most positive coaches for PCA's national " Double-Goal Coach Award." This award will be given out each spring to coaches who embody the principles of Double-Goal Coaching. Every coach nominated will be listed on the PCA web site for a year. All nominees will also receive a memento card from PCA to commemorate their being nominated for this award. National winners will be given an expenses-paid trip to the awards ceremony.
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