What’s Your Motivation?

by: Chip Baker
Assistant Football Coach, Conroe High School (TX)
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At times it can be difficult to motivate students to do the things they are supposed to do to ensure success. As coaches we are the potter and the students are the clay. We have a challenging opportunity to mold that clay into productive, responsible, accountable students. There are number of things that we can do to help motivate our students. I will discuss some things in this article that I have seen to be beneficial.

In order to motivate effectively we must make a conscious effort to build a relationship with each student. When I say build a relationship I do not mean try to be buddies or friends with them. That is not our role. I mean make an effort to find out all about them. For example: What is their background? Where do they live? What are their interests?

What are their goals? What do they want to be when they grow up? How many brothers and sisters do they have? These are all examples of information that can help us build relationships with our athletes. By knowing the answers to these questions we have a better understanding of what may drive the athlete. This can help us relate to them and provide relevance to their lives. If we can show them how the things they learn can be beneficial for them in their life, they will be more apt to learn and retain what we teach them. Each student is going to be different and have different motivations. This is what makes the task difficult. I am sure that it will pay off in the long run.

Another way to motivate effectively is to instill pride. We have to make them understand that they are not just playing for themselves. They are playing for their family, team, school, town or community, and those young children that look up to them. “A careful man I want to be, a little fellow follows me; I do not dare go astray, for fear he’ll go the self-same way” (Coach John Wooden). They must realize the importance of every decision they make. We are not born losers; we are born choosers.

We have the opportunity everyday to make the correct choices to be successful in life. Those that choose to do right have rewards and those that choose to do wrong have consequences. Those consequences affect everyone around them because they are a part of a team. The team is their family as well. “There is no “I” in team but there is an “I” in win. The “I” in win stands for individual responsibility” (Coach Nick Saban).

There should be things done on a daily basis to build self-efficacy to motivate our athletes. Self-efficacy is defined by educational psychologists as the degree to which people believe they are capable or prepared to handle a particular task. If our athletes feel that they are well prepared, they will play well. If they are told that they are capable and can handle anything thrown at them, they will handle anything that is thrown at them. They must understand that with hard work and good attitude they are capable of accomplishing whatever goals they set out to accomplish. It is important that they know that there is always something to work and improve on. Anything can happen if you are willing to put in the work and remain open to the possibility. “Dreams are realized by effort, determination, passion, and staying connected to that sense of who you are” (Michael Jordan). If players fell capable, well prepared and motivated they can achieve great levels of success.

Extrinsic motivation should be used to help our athletes achieve their goals. Examples of these are goal boards, reward stickers, saving new uniforms for consecutive wins or playoffs, big hit, Mr. Hustle, offensive, defensive, or special teams awards, rewards t-shirts etc. Not only should extrinsic motivation be used, strategies involving intrinsic motivation should be taught to our athletes to help them motivate themselves. “In lay terms, you should want to excel and be the best that you can be, regardless of whether you’re reaping the material rewards that come from success. That is, you should want to win the race because it will give you personal fulfillment, not because you will get a medal or a check” (Coach Nick Saban). When they comprehend the concept of intrinsic motivation, they will have knowledge to keep that will help them become successful in life.

I hope this article may help you in your quest for success in motivating your athletes. When I started my career as a teacher/coach I would think to myself that if I could just make a difference in the life of one child I would be satisfied. Well, I think I have achieved that, but I am not satisfied with that. I want to make a difference in as many lives as I can. That is my motivation!

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