"See a problem....fix it" -- The PC ethos

After the first all-staff Project Coach meeting of the new season, a sense of resolve emerged among each of the participants to think deeply about what it takes to form a close, authentic, bond with their youth coaches. Moreover, it became abundantly clear that everyone in the room was unwaveringly committed to this notion: that the strength of this relationship - above all other factors - underpins the success of the program.

With so much of the limited time within the program packed with coach training, sports sessions, and the preparation of PC Radio segments, little opportunity is left for 'redshirts' and their assigned coaches to simply - yet critically - 'get to know each other'.

The email excerpt below embodies the PC-wide notion that if you see a problem, you identify the opportunity to fix it, and implement a solution. We're truly excited to see the results of this new venture.

2/16/11


Dear PC team,

I think we all came away from last night's meeting with a renewed sense of vigor about building authentic relationships with the blueshirts. We were impressed by your desire to invest your time in this process, and accordingly I'd like to run a proposal by you that the three of us are all in agreement with.

We are going to make a small pool of money available for redshirts to utilize when involved in relationship building activities. This could be anything from a movie, to a sporting event (if it's UMASS hockey I expect an invite!), to a birthday lunch, coffee, museum, college trip, etc, etc. I'm sure that as you get to know your group you'll get a sense of what would work best, and in many cases probably already do.

If the event totals less than $50, you can go ahead and plan it without consultation with me, although I'd love to hear about every time we do something like this anyway, so it'd be great if you can informally let me know regardless. For something that is above this amount, we would need to go through it first. My sense is that it would be great to be able to involve as many blueshirts as possible, rather then invest larger amounts on just a few, but we will leave it to your discretion how you manage these aspects. After all, it would be counter-productive to mandate that each redshirt involves each of their blueshirts, if the willingness and desire to do so is not there on either side.

We're excited to launch this, and think it can make a significant and immediate impact; I look forward to hearing from each of you about successful experiences soon!

Andy