in effective motivational techniques and 35 percent in sports skills/tactics. The Aspen Institute report provides this information:
Here is why the skill of effective motivation may be the most important in improving youth sports in America. A youth sports study on why students quit a sports team showed that 39 percent of students responded that they weren’t having fun.4 This is an alarming figure and was by far the biggest reason statistically of why students quit playing. At the core, I believe this is a function of the environment created by the coach. Following the GET MOR3EE formula equips coaches to begin building this environment.
The following is an excerpt from an April 10, 2019, Stack.com post titled “A Shocking Number of Youth Sports Coaches Are Unqualified for the Gig.”
A 2004 report from the University of Maine found that youth athletes who play for an untrained coach drop at a rate of 26% per year, while those who play for a qualified coach drop out at 5%. The NAYS states that kids and pre-teens are more likely to experience a boost in self-esteem when playing for a qualified coach as opposed to an unqualified coach. Qualified coaches know how to make practices fun, safe and age-appropriate …
According to research by the Aspen Institute’s Project Play initiative, kids want coaches who:
• Respect and encourage them
• Exist as positive role models
• Offer clear, consistent communication
• Have a knowledge of the sport
• Have a willingness to listen.5
Knowledge of the sport is just one of the top five traits that players hope for in a coach. The other four are relational by nature—traits of a mentor, teacher, and coach.
“Coaches can often be more helpful to a young player’s development by organizing less, saying less, and allowing the players to do more.”6 As coaches we need to create an environment that naturally empowers and encourages players to do more. An empowered player gains the self-confidence to take initiative in doing more, which fuels their creativity, imagination, and passion and creates even greater momentum and motivation.
Youth sports is such a large demographic that no one really knows how many kids are participating annually, but I’ve seen figures estimating that somewhere between 30 to 45 million kids annually participate in organized youth sports in America alone.
If each kid participated in just one organized sport annually, then the preceding number means there will be possibly 300 to 450 million opportunities over the next decade for a coach to positively impact a child during a season of youth sports. This is a generational opportunity, but let us put aside the number of kids for a moment and focus on what may be the more important figure.
An estimated 3.5 million youth coaches in America are coaching these 30 to 45 million kids a year. That averages out to about 1 coach for every 10 kids participating in organized sports, and this number may not accurately reflect the millions of part-time parent coaches. According to the Stack.com article, the larger challenge facing youth sports is finding qualified coaches. If only 36 percent of 3.5 million coaches have training in effective motivational techniques, then roughly 2.25 million coaches have a need for a practical tool like the GET MOR3EE formula. If the NAYS estimate of only 5 to 10 percent of youth coaches having any relevant training is anywhere close to accurate, then there is a massive need to meet.
Whenever I hear a story from parents or coaches about a coach’s poor behavior or seeming lack of coaching ability, I ask them why they think that is the case. The majority of the responses include a reference to the coach as “unequipped.” Unequipped is exactly what the Alpine Group study describes. Equipping coaches is the greatest value of the GET MOR3EE formula. There is a clear need to equip coaches with a simple motivational tool to apply in coaching their players and teams. If we can do that, I think we will begin to have fewer complaints about the lack of coaching ability. If we do hear “unequipped” associated with the description of a coach’s ability to lead and motivate, then instead of being constantly frustrated, we have a way to encourage and equip more coaches, not just to be more positive but also to be empowering leaders and role models for our youth.
CHAPTER 2
THE GET MOR3EE FORMULA
The GET MOR3EE formula for coaches is so simple to teach and apply. This book organizes the many principles of winning motivational coaching into a simple-to-recall formula for applying in your teams. Whether you are a new coach or a 30-year veteran, the GET MOR3EE formula for motivating and encouraging your teams to higher achievement will improve your coaching acumen. GET MOR3EE is an acronym for the properties that compose the formula I’m sharing with you.
In this chapter I summarize the seven properties that make up the GET MOR3EE formula for you. The properties mentioned more than likely won’t be anything you haven’t heard before. You may even practice some application of these properties already in your coaching. They are all components of effective leadership and coaching. I simply organized the properties into an easy-to-recall system and formula for practical application with my teams.
Don’t get hung up on the ordering of the properties too much. I do think the acronym helps as a reminder to think about them in this order, but I believe that as long as you are making sure to connect and touch on each of these properties with your team, you will have success. Motivation and ownership are definitely more foundational, so I like to start with establishing the foundation of those components with my players and team. I try to convey the concept of ownership early with my teams, as the R3 properties are best enhanced and understood through the concept of ownership. Encouragement can and should be sprinkled around anywhere and everywhere. You may even begin the relationship by encouraging a person, and that is what brings them into a relationship with you. Encouragement is effective anywhere. Empowerment is the product we are seeking as a result of mixing together the other properties fully.
Developing your understanding and building your coaching acumen in any one of the properties will help you develop as a coach, but learning how to mix them all together and why will equip you to take your players and your team to heights that you and they didn’t know they could go. Whether you are a new coach or 20-year veteran, I applaud you for being curious and seeking additional ideas for getting the most out of your teams. Maybe you are looking to break through to the playoffs for the first time or desiring a systematic approach for motivating your players.
Whatever your motivation as a coach, I challenge you to put GET MOR3EE into practice with your team during your next season. Each season your team is a new mystery, and the GET MOR3EE formula can help you decipher the clues to solve the mystery and find the keys for unlocking your team’s greatest potential.
Let’s look briefly at each property of the GET MOR3EE formula.
MOTIVATION: Motivation is the ability to inspire someone to something more. To truly inspire is to breathe life into another. Another factor is getting to know your people and understanding their motives. Discovering their “have-to” and “want-to.”
OWNERSHIP: Ownership is the value individuals bring to a role and the equity they create in it. When individuals avoid taking ownership, they are just consuming and using everything and everyone around them and not adding value to themselves or anyone else. They are not building equity in themselves or within
