Building a successful cross country team culture

1. Building a successful cross country team culture Andy Christie Mill Creek High School GATFXCCA Cross Country Committee Chair

2. Disclaimer • I do not consider myself an expert. I will just share what has worked for me and/or what has worked for others. • What works for one program might not work for another. • Take what might work for your team!

3. Factors that can influence the culture of a school/Team • Academic Performance • Socioeconomics (community, parent involvement, kids/jobs, etc.) • Diversity or lack thereof • Size • History

4. It starts with the coach • Why do you coach? Were/are you a runner yourself? Do you have a passion for coaching XC? Or were you offered a teaching job and then told you would need to coach? • Either way, a positive attitude and willingness to learn go a long way. • Acknowledging what you don’t know and doing something about it helps all involved. • Find mentors, attend clinics/summits, read books, get USATFCCCA/USATF certifications, etc.

5. Be Organized • The more organized you are with team meetings/announcements, workouts, on race day, etc., the less the runners will worry about those details, which can improve your team’s culture. • This involves planning in advance and anticipating any issues that may arrive. • Some coaches are good at “off the cuff” speeches. Decide if this is you or not, as you could end up sending the wrong message or saying something unintended.

6. CommunicATION • Have enforceable rules and clearly communicate them, in printed materials, team emails, and verbally to the team. • Enforce rules consistently, no matter who it is. • Communicate clearly with parents/runners-via text, email, Remind, etc. Communicate when you are available, when you are not (at meets when you are coaching) and when you are off the clock (ie-family time). • Communicate with runners ASAP and clearly about how they will earn spots for certain races, so they know what they need to do beforehand.

7. Social Media • Facebook/Twitter/Instagram, etc. can be a way to recognize the team/team members/Alumni, etc. • Can designate an assistant to handle it if it is not a strength of yours • Can also post motivational messages, links to inspiring races, info on other sports teams, etc. Related: Let the team know when college/professional meets are on tv. Seeing the higher levels of the sport can motivate your team and change the culture!

8. Captains • It is essential to have good leadership on the team, whether in an official or unofficial capacity. • Let the team have a say in it, but also be careful about getting backed into a corner. • One option: let the kids nominate who they want, but you make the final call. • Another option: captains for the summer, then name additional ones for the fall. • Give the captains clear expectations/tasks. Talk to them regularly about how morale is and if anything needs to be addressed. Also seek their input/insight into ideas to bring the team together more.

9. Training/Practice • Limit team meetings either with a time limit or only essential info. • In team meeting, find ways to make info dissemination fun. IE-pictures of runners on course maps. • While kids are doing drills/stretching, either do it with them or take the time to walk around and see how everyone is doing. This can be a good time to talk to the injured. • Take 5 minutes after a hard workout and let the kids nominate teammates that they think did a great job. • Make a point of asking a variety of kids how their workout/run was (not just the top kids). • Comment on the good things first, and then offer suggestions for improvement.

10. Meets • Routine-establish a clear warm up routine, and enlist help from captains/trusted team members. • Having the team wear the same shirt over their uniform can create unity. • Chants-a motivational chant or cheer before the race. • Think about what you want the team members that aren’t racing at the moment to do/not to do while others are racing. Make the varsity excited about watching the jv! • Think about what you say to them during the race. • Mention what they did right immediately after the race.

11. Meets • Make sure you are confident in what you want to say about areas of improvement. Might help them and you to wait until after they cool down to talk about it, to get perspective/space-don’t want to create a culture of focusing on the negative. • Encourage them to congratulate other runners, even if that runner beat them. • After meets-google doc questionnaire having them reflect on their race can help them to embrace their strengths/areas for improvement. • If your program is smaller, then you might consider an away trip for the entire team. This can help with the team culture by creating excitement and motivation for being part of the team. • If you are able, you might make the away trip open to the whole team, but they have to hit standards to earn the trip. Could be based on summer attendance, mileage, no rules infractions, etc. This can help with the team culture by runners knowing they have to work for certain privileges-it won’t just be given to them.

12. Injuries • Explain to the team why you do the exercises/drills/stretches you do: general strength/conditioning, injury prevention, etc. • If runners know specifically what it is helping them with, you might get more buy in from them. • Emphasize the importance of knowing the difference between normal soreness from running and being injured. Use the 1-10 scale of pain but also realize some kids answers could be skewed (sensitive vs high pain tolerance). • Also emphasize the importance of communicating with coaches early instead of trying to tough it out. • Try to avoid a culture of parents going to General Practitioners, who might just say to take time off. Help parents get to knowledgeable doctors, who will get to the root of the problem.

13. Rewards • Easier lettering standards for summer attendance/mileage • Bring watermelon or popsicles to practice • Runner of the Week shirts (could also be a certificate you print out from an online template). Intentionally look to recognize the kids who are in the middle to the back of the pack but working hard. • Give gift cards to kids to do the most fundraising • Shout outs in team emails • Get their names/accomplishments on the announcements if possible • Banquet Awards-not just for top kids. Have a Mental Toughness Award, or unsung hero award. Also can have same awards for varsity and jv (ie-most improved varsity runner and most improved jv runner).

14. Recommended Reads • Coaching Cross Country Successfully by Joe Newton, York High School • Championship Team Building by Jeff Janssen • Can find other suggestions on gatfxcca.org: click on the education tab, then mentor program, then reading