I have two main rules that players on my team are expected to follow.
1. Never do anything to embarrass the school, the athletic department,
the team or yourself. Remember that at all times you're a representative
of all of those groups and try to conduct yourself with pride and poise.
That means no trash talking. That means no cutting class or being
disrespectful to teachers. It means conducting ourselves as athletes and
good people.
2. Don't walk on the grass (unless instructed to do so by a coach). If
there's grass under their cleats they're either standing or running. The
actual movement isn't the important part - it's the awareness. Being
conscious that they are on the field and that this field is special.
It also encourages them to keep their head in the practice and not get
distracted with other things.
This rule might seem a little hokey - the idea is to pay respect to the
players who've worked and sweated, bled and smiled, won and lost on that
grass in the years past. In the coming years the next generation of
players will pay the same respect to you.
Another guideline I found I had to install was about taking off the
helmet during games. Unfortunately the pros and college players who are
their role models got into the habit of ripping their helmet off after
every good play so they could pose for the cameras. I told my players
that if they took their helmet off during the game, without permission,
they could leave it off because they were done. I don't recall any of
them testing me on that.
Home