Only 8 Showed for Summer Workouts Last Year...

May 29

Written By randy jackson

Recently on the Arena Podcast, I sat down with Coach Richard Case for an episode called:

New Head Coach: The First 60 Days

(watch it here: https://youtu.be/ytZJQ5cXhu4)

Coach Case is taking over a program in a rural community of roughly 425 students.

One of the first things he was told?

Very few football players attended summer workouts last year.

Not some.

Very few.

And from what he was hearing, that's been the norm for years.

Now before we go any further...

We all understand summer baseball.

We understand vacations.

We understand camps, jobs, and family commitments.

But football season begins in the summer.

And there has to be some urgency around getting players together for weights, speed development, football skills, and team building.

As we discussed the challenge, one of our guest hosts jumped into the conversation. As always, I like bringing other coaches onto the podcast to help facilitate the discussion and provide a different perspective.

For this episode, one of those coaches was 'the goat', Rick Jones.

If you don't know Rick, he was the head coach at Greenwood High School in Arkansas. There, he built one of the premier programs in the country and won nine state championships.

Today, he's the assistant to the head coach at Missouri.

I've known Rick for years.

And one thing I've learned is this:

When Rick says,

"Here's how we did it..."

I listen.

Because what he shared next challenged a lot of what I thought I knew about summer workouts.

If Rick Jones were taking over a program where summer attendance didn't matter, he wouldn't start by posting a workout schedule.

He'd start by building relationships.

His first recommendation was to hold a player and parent meeting in early June.

Get everyone in the same room.

- Share the vision.

- Share the mission.

- Explain why summer matters.

Most parents aren't against summer workouts.

Many simply don't understand how important they are.

Tell them.

The second thing surprised (shocked more like it) me.

Rick said he wouldn't even start workouts until July 6.

I know.

Many of you just rolled your eyes.

Me too.

But hear him out.

Instead of fighting vacations, summer baseball, camps, and family trips, he embraced them.

June became relationship month.

- His staff made home visits (vital). This is going to take some work on your part to get it going.

- Go sit on their couch.

- Talk football.

- Talk family.

- Share the vision.

- Share the expectations.

There's a bond created when a coach has been inside a player's home.

- Players stop feeling like numbers.

- Parents stop feeling like outsiders.

Vacation? Go.

Summer ball? Go play.

Football camps? Go learn.

Use June to build relationships.

Then July arrives.

And this is where things get really interesting...

Then July arrives.

And this is where things got really interesting.

Rick said don't call it Strength & Conditioning. Nobody gets excited about Strength & Conditioning.

Give it a name.

For Coach Case, it might be:

Green Devil Camp

Same workout. Different perception.

And perception matters.

But don't stop there.

Invite everybody.

- Grades 3-12 (the little guys go 60 min-high school 90 min)

- Football players.

- Baseball players.

- Basketball players.

- All female athletes.

- Cheerleaders.

- Parents.

- Community members.

Anybody who wants to get better.

Want to get in shape? Come on!

Want to support the school? Come on!

Want to be part of something? Come on!

When should the camp be?

Whenever you can get them there. Run it at 6:30 AM. Or 6:30 PM.

Whenever you believe your athletes will respond best.

The goal isn't simply attendance.

The goal is to create a movement.

You want people talking about it at the coffee shop.

You want parents posting pictures.

You want kids bringing friends.

You want the entire community to feel like something special is happening.

Then Rick shared something else.

At Greenwood, they called their summer program:

FastDogs

Four weeks.

Monday through Thursday.

Sixteen total workouts.

Anybody who attended all sixteen workouts earned a:

100% Dog T-Shirt

Simple. But powerful.

One year, a woman in her 40s had a funeral to attend. (it was very rare for an adult to attend the camp but it was allowed)

She asked if she could complete the workout earlier in the day because she wanted to earn her shirt.

Think about that.

A grown adult rearranged her schedule to earn a workout shirt.

That's not compliance. That's culture. That's belonging.

And that's what many programs are missing.

Too many coaches simply post a workout schedule and hope players show up.

Hope is not a strategy.

If I inherited a program where summer didn't matter, I'd be thinking way outside the box.

- I'd have daily prizes.

- I'd have weekly attendance drawings.

- I'd have local restaurants donate gift cards in exchange for social media recognition.

- I'd take pictures every day. I'd celebrate attendance, effort and improvement.

I'd go full car salesman.

Because sometimes the answer isn't a better workout.

Sometimes the answer is creating something people want to belong to.

If I read this email (and wasn't friends with Rick Jones) I'd be thinking this: "What about our competition? They're working out in June. They're getting ahead of us."

Maybe.

But you can't build your program by staring at somebody else's.

Heck, last summer there were only eight Green Devils showing up to workouts.

They weren't getting ahead of anybody.

The problem wasn't what the competition was doing. The problem was what wasn't happening in our own program.

That's where the focus has to be.

If you can create a July camp that gets 40, 50, or 60 kids excited to show up...

If there's energy, enthusiasm, connection and momentum.

That's a win.

Maybe it's only 12 workouts this year.

That's okay.

Next year it might be 16.